2024 CX-5 GS Ride Quality and Noise Levels

[24CX-5GS-RW]

I totally forgot to mention, your gripes with the ride comfort on your car could be something as simple as slightly overinflated tires.

Check the inside of the drivers door jamb for a sticker with the recommended tire pressure. (For example, mine is 36PSI.) That's the cold tire pressure. Have a little pressure gauge handy. I got a decent analog one from Canadian Tire. Check your tire pressures in the morning, after your car has sat for several hours, and before sunlight gets a chance to beam onto your tire's sidewalls and warm them up. You won't get an accurate reading.

I find that, the recommended tire pressure (36psi) is a bit rough over the worst of roads here. I inflate somewhere around 35-36psi, no lower or higher than that.

Keep in mind, every ~5c fluctuation in outdoor temp will cause a roughly 1psi variation in pressure onto your tires. On sunny days where the sun is exposed onto your sidewalls, again, this will cause pressure to increase inside the tires as well.

If I am aiming for a 35-36PSI cold tire temperature, I find roughly 38-39PSI warm temp seems to work well.

I highly recommend you tinker with the cold and warm tire pressures thoroughly first before deciding that there is something you need to change with your car or it's tires.

FWIW, I like a firmer ride, and sharp handling. I am willing to make some sacrifice over rough road surfaces to maintain the handling response i'm looking for. However, this is still a sedan (in your case, a crossover,) which ultimately is designed to be a comfortable car.

My door jamb says 32 psi all seasons. I lowered to 27 psi should be better ride quality without sacrificing safety.
I might wear it faster but I hate the Yokohama Geolandar G91 tires.

 

[Lazy2.5]

My door jamb says 32 psi all seasons. I lowered to 27 psi should be better ride quality without sacrificing safety.
I might wear it faster but I hate the Yokohama Geolandar G91 tires.

No, that's too low. Maybe 31,30, no lower.

 

[24CX-5GS-RW]

No, that's too low. Maybe 31,30, no lower.

Oh shoot really? 32 psi is the recommended but I tried 29 and no difference.
Last I checked you can run it down to 20 psi but it's not recommended. Anything below 20 is flat tire according to JD power.

A 1 psi drop won't be much for fixing ride quality

 

[N7turbo]

Unfortunately they aren't meant for lowering springs.

I found more information on this and wanted to share. Not that it applies to you, but it does to me and others who have lowering springs.

Here is a response from Koni when asked about their Special Active shocks with lowering springs:

Thank you for contacting us here at KONI NA. If planning on running the H&R Sport springs we would highly suggest pairing the springs with the rebound adjustable KONI Sport yellow shocks. KONI's patented selective damping feature that smooths out the high frequency impacts from the road surface while improving handling control over lower frequency suspension motions adds another wildcard into the mix and thus requires actual testing to see what works appropriately or not when it comes to lowering. Unfortunately, this is not an application that the Special ACTIVE dampers have been tested in combination with the lowering springs. Thus our recommendation would be sports. However, the Special Active dampers do not care if you have OE or lowering springs at all, but to work properly you do need to do your best not to allow the car to impact the bump rubbers very often during normal use. Some spring manufactures design there springs to use more bumpstop, while others will use less. This is why we cannot say that yes, the ACTIVE dampers will work with all lowering springs. They may work very well with some and not others due to the spring design.

Although it does no damage to the selective damping system, a harsh, high frequency impact into a bump rubber will be seen by the system just like a high frequency road surface impact and it will be in blow-off mode to allow the energy to be un-damped for a smooth ride,. Since normally a bump rubber impact needs more damping control and not less, the car may likely feel under damped when you spike the bump rubbers hard (this will happen more often with the lowered suspension. Because of this, it is very important for proper function for the car to a keep ride height and spring rate combination from allowing too much bump rubber contact.

So it's not really about the ride height, but the bump stops. This makes sense.

Since most of us cut our bump stops so we stay off of them, we shouldn't have the issue they describe.

Now the hurdle remains that they don't list them for the 2nd Gen CX-5, only 1st gen. I've contacted them about this but have not received a response.

 

[24CX-5GS-RW]

I found more information on this and wanted to share. Not that it applies to you, but it does to me and others who have lowering springs.

Here is a response from Koni when asked about their Special Active shocks with lowering springs:



So it's not really about the ride height, but the bump stops. This makes sense.

Since most of us cut our bump stops so we stay off of them, we shouldn't have the issue they describe.

Now the hurdle remains that they don't list them for the 2nd Gen CX-5, only 1st gen. I've contacted them about this but have not received a response.

I have SA shocks with stock spring on my 2014 Mazda3 and while it's still stiff riding the crashy bumpiness is reduced a lot.

It would mean the world to me if they develop SA for CX-5...

 

[24CX-5GS-RW]

No, that's too low. Maybe 31,30, no lower.

I went to 30. 34 is the recommended.
I dare say, it's noticeably less bumpy and more cushy which I LOVE Now on to 16" steel rims and new winters WOW :O

 

[Lazy2.5]

I went to 30. 34 is the recommended.
I dare say, it's noticeably less bumpy and more cushy which I LOVE Now on to 16" steel rims and new winters WOW :O

Awesome! I really hope you're happy now. I decided that I'm not happy with anything less than recommended pressure for my car. It's better over bumps, but I like the "firm" ride and sharp response around turns. I just can't stand the sections of bad road here!

If you are a careful and gentle driver, going 2psi below recommended is fine, but at highway speeds, I would not go any lower than 1-2psi below recommended, especially if you are speeding or cornering.

 

[24CX-5GS-RW]

Awesome! I really hope you're happy now. I decided that I'm not happy with anything less than recommended pressure for my car. It's better over bumps, but I like the "firm" ride and sharp response around turns. I just can't stand the sections of bad road here!

If you are a careful and gentle driver, going 2psi below recommended is fine, but at highway speeds, I would not go any lower than 1-2psi below recommended, especially if you are speeding or cornering.

I'm doing 30 max. On pavements I go to the roads are ROUGH. It is noticeably less bumpy on the same low quality Yokohama Geolandar G91a tires I dislike.

The cushioning is noticeable. Also today, drove a 2025 Honda CRV Touring Hybrid.
Came with 19" Continental LX Sport tires. It's fairly quiet with hybrid and smooth enough over bumps. But it's no Lexus. It's $58k CAD after tax! My CX-5 is way quieter. Not as much tire and road noise and almost smooth as a ride. I love it

I rarely take highways but I might do 70km/hr or even up to 90 or 100km an hour.
I hope it's fine for the 30 psi tires

 

[Lazy2.5]

I'm doing 30 max. On pavements I go to the roads are ROUGH. It is noticeably less bumpy on the same low quality Yokohama Geolandar G91a tires I dislike.

The cushioning is noticeable. Also today, drove a 2025 Honda CRV Touring Hybrid.
Came with 19" Continental LX Sport tires. It's fairly quiet with hybrid and smooth enough over bumps. But it's no Lexus. It's $58k CAD after tax! My CX-5 is way quieter. Not as much tire and road noise and almost smooth as a ride. I love it

I rarely take highways but I might do 70km/hr or even up to 90 or 100km an hour.
I hope it's fine for the 30 psi tires

If the roads are really bad (like minimal stretches of smooth pavement) it should be fine. I think it's mostly faster or harder corners that could be cause for concern.

It's a shame that the roads here in Canada are in such awful condition compared to what these Japanese cars are designed for. On smooth stretches of pavement, it's obvious to me that this vehicle with it's recommended tire pressure is quite obviously designed for smooth roads.

Remember that the recommended tire pressure on your snow set will likely be different.

 

[24CX-5GS-RW]

If the roads are really bad (like minimal stretches of smooth pavement) it should be fine. I think it's mostly faster or harder corners that could be cause for concern.

It's a shame that the roads here in Canada are in such awful condition compared to what these Japanese cars are designed for. On smooth stretches of pavement, it's obvious to me that this vehicle with it's recommended tire pressure is quite obviously designed for smooth roads.

Remember that the recommended tire pressure on your snow set will likely be different.

With 16" and a softer compound I'll have a cushy ride so 34 or 36 psi will still be smooth enough

I'm going with Michelin X-Ice Snow SUV or Continental VikingContact7. Any suggestions?

 

[Lazy2.5]

With 16" and a softer compound I'll have a cushy ride so 34 or 36 psi will still be smooth enough

I'm going with Michelin X-Ice Snow SUV or Continental VikingContact7. Any suggestions?

I liked Yokohama iceguard. My favorite winter tires. Good in all conditions, even dry or wet, quiet, amazing in slush. Basically ideal and well designed for real winter conditions.

 

[24CX-5GS-RW]

I liked Yokohama iceguard. My favorite winter tires. Good in all conditions, even dry or wet, quiet, amazing in slush. Basically ideal and well designed for real winter conditions.

Hm I think Michelin and Continental are tier 1 so might get those.

Nokian is good too but no warranty...

 

[Chocolate]

Ok sorry for the conversation I just DMed him this week. Wow he's no longer here? I was getting replies. Ok thanks everyone

225/70/16 I think or even 235/70/16 if I get bigger rims

No it was Jack Rabbit who got banned, not me. He got banned because he made a fake post about having an engine failure on a duplicate account.

 

[Chocolate]

I recently sold my CX-5 (need a cargo van) but before I did switched back to the 17s for a few months (flat tire from a damn broken razor blade on one of the 16s) before selling the Enkeis separately. I notice a big improvement in ride going to 30 psi on the 17s. Handling is fine.

 

[24CX-5GS-RW]

I recently sold my CX-5 (need a cargo van) but before I did switched back to the 17s for a few months (flat tire from a damn broken razor blade on one of the 16s) before selling the Enkeis separately. I notice a big improvement in ride going to 30 psi on the 17s. Handling is fine.

Big improvement here . Much less stiff over bad roads I'm happy. Not sure why I didn't notice it last time I experimented at 29.
.

Thanks for the advice and sorry if I thought you were banned. The 16" tires would be cushier than 17"?

 

[24CX-5GS-RW]

If the roads are really bad (like minimal stretches of smooth pavement) it should be fine. I think it's mostly faster or harder corners that could be cause for concern.

It's a shame that the roads here in Canada are in such awful condition compared to what these Japanese cars are designed for. On smooth stretches of pavement, it's obvious to me that this vehicle with it's recommended tire pressure is quite obviously designed for smooth roads.

Remember that the recommended tire pressure on your snow set will likely be different.

Darn it I'm noticing the CX-5 is even thirstier. From home to office it took 27 km of range. Normally not this bad maybe 14 km.
Is it the 30 PSI doing this?

 

[SimpleCanuck]

Darn it I'm noticing the CX-5 is even thirstier. From home to office it took 27 km of range. Normally not this bad maybe 14 km.
Is it the 30 PSI doing this?

Yes. Decreasing tire pressure to a lower than recommended level increases fuel consumption.

 

[24CX-5GS-RW]

Yes. Decreasing tire pressure to a lower than recommended level increases fuel consumption.

Idk by how much. I thought 1 or 2 mpg drop

 

[Mazdiod2]

The tire pressure on the door jam is intended to enable the prescribed tires to support the weight of the vehicle. If you use a lower pressure you will probably not have the ideal tire contact patch and you will have more sidewall flex.

Sidewall flex can lead to overheating and blowouts under certain conditions and the energy used in the tire flex decreases your fuel economy. It's a little like driving in sand if the tires are too low.

If you experiment with different sized tires you might need to adjust the pressure to have enough air to support the weight you are carrying.

Some people apparently like to use the maximum rated pressure noted on the tire (which can support the maximum weight) but this could lead to a rough ride.

Here's a web site with lot's of information on tires, etc...

Barry's Tire Tech

Barry talks about tires and related topics.

barrystiretech.com

 

[RZRider]

Maybe you can get some wheels from a Mazda Tribute.

Just picked up four slightly used Tribute GT wheels and ordered four 225/60R16 Winters for my CX-5 pictures to follow when I get it together.