Frank the Tank 2.0

[CruzinCX]

Just got my 2016 CX5 GS yesterday. Talk about a wait. Got to the dealership 8 am so they could swap the wheels over from my 2011 CX7 and get my 2016 CX5 ready for me, but they had 21 customers already booked and since they closed at 2, the service department was going to do their best to get me in and out.
At least they let me borrow a 2020 CX5 GT NA 2.5 for the morning so my wife and I didn’t have to sit around waiting.
Definitely an improvement over the CX7, which my wife hated. She feels more comfortable in the 5 than she ever did in the 7, so I’m ok with that.
And of course I like that it was better built and had more power than the old MPI MZR 2.5 motor.
This has the cloth seats but with power driver seat and heat which apparently was a rare combination for 2016 as most people didn’t take the power seat.
The dealership did fix up the damaged rear bumper and the TSB on the power driver seat since it was squealing like a stuck pig when I moved the seat on my test drive.
It has 124,000 kms on, I’m the third owner of it and the previous owner did 60,000 kms between February 2021 and October of last year when it was traded in.
Dealership replaced the brake pads and rotors and did all the fluid changes before I signed the paperwork.

I plan on adding rokblokz mudflaps, upgrading the speakers, LED fog lights and interior lights, and maybe the exhaust over the next few months. My wife and I are looking forward to running Frank the Tank 2.0 into the ground.

 

[yrwei52]

⋯
Just got my 2016 CX5 GS yesterday.
This has the cloth seats but with power driver seat and heat which apparently was a rare combination for 2016 as most people didn’t take the power seat.

Congrats.

Heated cloth seats are only available on 2016.5 CX-5 Touring in the US. Not sure if yours is also a 2016.5 in Canada.

The dealership did fix up the damaged rear bumper and the TSB on the power driver seat since it was squealing like a stuck pig when I moved the seat on my test drive.

Yeah this’s a common power seat problem on gen-1 CX-5 due to a poorly designed motor cable which is vibrating while the motor is turning.

 

[CarpeDiem]

Congrats, hope you both enjoy the heck out of it.

 

[CruzinCX]

Congrats.

Heated cloth seats are only available on 2016.5 CX-5 Touring in the US. Not sure if yours is also a 2016.5 in Canada.



Yeah this’s s common power seat problem on gen-1 CX-5 due to a poorly designed motor cable which is vibrating while the motor is turning.

From what I could find it was built in December of 2015, so I don’t know if it is a 2016.5

 

[CruzinCX]

Congrats, hope you both enjoy the heck out of it.

This will be our second 2016 CX5. My wife use to have a 2016 CX5 GX. But because she lost her job last year we decided to sell hers off since it was worth more than my CX7 and both were paid off. We got her a Honda Fit until she found a new job.
I promised her that once it was a stable one, I would get another CX5.

 

[yrwei52]

This will be our second 2016 CX5. My wife use to have a 2016 CX5 GX. But because she lost her job last year we decided to sell hers off since it was worth more than my CX7 and both were paid off. We got her a Honda Fit until she found a new job.
I promised her that once it was a stable one, I would get another CX5.

If your CX-5 was built in Dec. 2015, it’s a 2016, not a 2016.5. Mazda Canada would select a bit different features for different trim levels on CX-5 from US Mazda North American Operations. Another example, your CX-5 GS which is similar to US CX-5 Touring has heated outside rearview mirrors, but the same feature is only available on higher GT trim in the US.

I always believe the 2016.5 CX-5 is the best CX-5 ever on design and reliability. 2016 is not that far behind. The only thing major is the EPB rear disk brake dragging issue. The worst is you need a couple of new revised rear disk brake calipers. Serpentine belt tensioner is another problem area which is prone to leak.

Your 2016 CX-5 GS with 124,000 kms / 77,050 miles may need the spark plug change which is due at 75,000 miles. I’d also check the tires and suspension as your CX-5 seems to have bigger tires and aftermarket black wheels installed by previous owner.

 

[CruzinCX]

If your CX-5 was built in Dec. 2015, it’s a 2016, not a 2016.5. Mazda Canada would select a bit different features for different trim levels on CX-5 from US Mazda North American Operations. Another example, your CX-5 GS which is similar to US CX-5 Touring has heated outside rearview mirrors, but the same feature is only available on higher GT trim in the US.

I always believe the 2016.5 CX-5 is the best CX-5 ever on design and reliability. 2016 is not that far behind. The only thing major is the EPB rear disk brake dragging issue. The worst is you need a couple of new revised rear disk brake calipers. Serpentine belt tensioner is another problem area which is prone to leak.

Your 2016 CX-5 GS with 124,000 kms / 77,050 miles may need the spark plug change which is due at 75,000 miles. I’d also check the tires and suspension as your CX-5 seems to have bigger tires and aftermarket black wheels installed by previous owner.

Those tires and wheels are mine from my CX7.
I will do the spark plugs later this year as well as the serpentine belt and tensioner.
I won’t be going to the Mazda dealership as I will get the parts and go to my mechanic.

 

[yrwei52]

Those tires and wheels are mine from my CX7.
I will do the spark plugs later this year as well as the serpentine belt and tensioner.
I won’t be going to the Mazda dealership as I will get the parts and go to my mechanic.

You should also get the spare tire from th CX-7 as the spare in the CX-5 is smaller than it’s supposed to be especially if you have an AWD.

 

[CruzinCX]

You should also get the spare tire from th CX-7 as the spare in the CX-5 is smaller than it’s supposed to be especially if you have an AWD.

The cx7 also came with a donut spare. The original size for a CX7 was a 215/70/17. But Mazda revised that a few years later and switched to a 235/65/17 as a minus size from the 235/60/18 on the GS and GT trims.
No, my CX5 is FWD, so I get the better gas mileage and less wear and tear on the drive line. I’m ok with not having AWD since the CX7 was FWD as well and I never had any problems in the winter, especially in 6” of snow with the proper winter tires.
I just have to get new snow tires in October or November as the ones I had for the CX7 I bought from Hamilton Subaru for $300. Goodyear Ice WRTs, and they were damn loud! They sounded like mud terrain tires all winter. They drowned out the radio, so I am getting rid of them for what I paid for them.

 

[CruzinCX]

These are the winter wheels. Fast FC04 17x8 35 mm offset.

 

[yrwei52]

The cx7 also came with a donut spare. The original size for a CX7 was a 215/70/17. But Mazda revised that a few years later and switched to a 235/65/17 as a minus size from the 235/60/18 on the GS and GT trims.

It isn’t the matter of donut spare, but the diameter. Many members here got the 18 x 4 rim from the CX-7 and CX-9 as the spare for the CX-5 just for the proper diameter:

Rather than a full sized spare, you can run a CX-7 temp spare. It is the diameter of the OEM tires, carries a higher load rating and an 81 mph speed rating. That tire is at least 13 pounds lighter than the OEM wheel and tire. it will also fit into the spare well while an OEM tire is too wide for the cover to sit down where it is supposed to.

just FYI, the CX-7 had two types of spares also,

the AWD CX-7 got the 18x4 rims T155-90D18 (28.9" diameter)

https://www.ebay.com (commissions earned)





and the FWD CX-7 got smaller 17x5-1/2 rims (sorry don't know the tire size, eBay listing didn't have this info) but I bet it's like the CX-5 FWD (26.3" overall wheel diameter) picture below shows tons of empty space like it is a 26.3" diameter wheel

https://www.ebay.com (commissions earned)




I might be wrong, but I think OP should have gotten the 18" rims with T155-90D18 tires.

The 17" rims are suppose to be compact but I think OP made up the difference with thinner tire width 165mm instead of 185mm and taller sidewall tires which may or may not have been designed for that at highway speeds or quick turns....... I'm not an expert , so OP might be just fine but just doing a search showed that the CX-7 also had two types of spare tires. One for AWD (18" rims) and one for FWD (17" rims) models.

I myself got a 18X4 compact spare steel wheel with a Dunlop Space Miser MKIII T155/90D18 103M tire from a 2015 Mazda CX-9:

2017 Spare Tire Mod for U.S.

 

[CruzinCX]

It isn’t the matter of donut spare, but the diameter. Many members here got the 18 x 4 rim from the CX-7 and CX-9 as the spare for the CX-5 just for the proper diameter:





I myself got a 18X4 compact spare steel wheel with a Dunlop Space Miser MKIII T155/90D18 103M tire from a 2015 Mazda CX-9:

2017 Spare Tire Mod for U.S.

No one is selling a used donut for a CX7/CX9 on Kijiji here in Ontario and I don’t use EBay anymore and I'm not buying one from the dealership, so I’m just sticking to CAA and if I get a flat, have them tow me to a tire shop and I will pay to fix the flat.
Plus I don’t trust the scissor jack that comes with the car since when I had to use the one on the mazda3 I had, the thread stripped off the jack and I couldn’t use it during an emergency, and I'm not carrying my 3 ton shop jack with me.

 

[yrwei52]

No one is selling a used donut for a CX7/CX9 on Kijiji here in Ontario and I don’t use EBay anymore and I'm not buying one from the dealership, so I’m just sticking to CAA and if I get a flat, have them tow me to a tire shop and I will pay to fix the flat.
Plus I don’t trust the scissor jack that comes with the car since when I had to use the one on the mazda3 I had, the thread stripped off the jack and I couldn’t use it during an emergency, and I'm not carrying my 3 ton shop jack with me.

I was saying if you’ve transferred the road tires from your previous CX-7, might as well transfer the spare to your new CX-5 too which is better suited than the factory spare for the CX-5.

I have to agree with you on the scissor jack though, and using the tire service such as the CAA (AAA?) is another way to handle the flat safely. I had several tire changing experience on the highway when I had a set of Michelin’s on my 1987 VW Vanagon which kept blowing-out for some reason. It’s very dangerous especially if I was changing the tire on the driver side on the shoulder with 18-wheelers kept passing by.

 

[Chocolate]

It isn’t the matter of donut spare, but the diameter. Many members here got the 18 x 4 rim from the CX-7 and CX-9 as the spare for the CX-5 just for the proper diameter:





I myself got a 18X4 compact spare steel wheel with a Dunlop Space Miser MKIII T155/90D18 103M tire from a 2015 Mazda CX-9:

2017 Spare Tire Mod for U.S.

This is one of the first things I did after buying the CX-5 and honestly should be pinned in the forum. Why Mazda uses a wrong sized spare tire fitment is a mystery especially since there is space for the correct sized tire.

 

[CruzinCX]

I was saying if you’ve transferred the road tires from your previous CX-7, might as well transfer the spare to your new CX-5 too which is better suited than the factory spare for the CX-5.

I have to agree with you on the scissor jack though, and using the tire service such as the CAA (AAA?) is another way to handle the flat safely. I had several tire changing experience on the highway when I had a set of Michelin’s on my 1987 VW Vanagon which kept blowing-out for some reason. It’s very dangerous especially if I was changing the tire on the driver side on the shoulder with 18-wheelers kept passing by.

For me, in twenty years of driving only twice have I had a flat tire. Once a pothole on a street blew out the sidewall. Trying to change the tire in a parking lot is how I discovered the scissor jack didn’t work.
The other flat happened on the 401/410 area of Brampton/Mississauga on the on ramp. I was not that crazy enough to change a tire there so I just called CAA and had my car towed home where I threw on the winter tires since it was late October early November.

 

[murky]

I was saying if you’ve transferred the road tires from your previous CX-7, might as well transfer the spare to your new CX-5 too which is better suited than the factory spare for the CX-5.

I have to agree with you on the scissor jack though, and using the tire service such as the CAA (AAA?) is another way to handle the flat safely. I had several tire changing experience on the highway when I had a set of Michelin’s on my 1987 VW Vanagon which kept blowing-out for some reason. It’s very dangerous especially if I was changing the tire on the driver side on the shoulder with 18-wheelers kept passing by.

I'd at least take the spare wheel. Rubber tires have a finite life based on time, not just usage, and its been a while since CX-7s were produced.

 

[CruzinCX]

I'd at least take the spare wheel. Rubber tires have a finite life based on time, not just usage, and it’s been a while since CX-7s were produced.

Frank the Tank 1.0 aka the CX7 was traded in last weekend. So even if I wanted to take the spare, I wasn’t going to