New 2023 CX-5 owner questions re: Traffic Sign Recognition

[smartblonde]

Just purchased a 2023 CX-5 Preferred. Bought a Nav chip from Am*zon per the recommendation of my salesman to save $. Questions:
Does the TSR only work when I have Navigation on?
Does it only work at a minimum speed level?
The 55mph speed sign showed up on the map screen on the Infotainment System and did turn red if I went over the speed limit, but when I turned onto another street it didn't register the 40mph at all.

So much to learn.....thanks for your help.

 

[HyFlyer]

In my experience, I believe the speed limit data is coming from the map data, not actual road signs.

It works all the time , don't have to have the nav screen actually up

 

[GTEyes]

In my experience, I believe the speed limit data is coming from the map data, not actual road signs.

It works all the time , don't have to have the nav screen actually up

I've had the same observations.
Specific example, with a recent twinned portion of highway opening that is now posted for 110 km/hr but is still coming up as 100 km/hr in my gauges as that is what it is in the now out-of-date Nav data for the previous non-twinned mapping.

 

[erhayes]

My NAV screen shows MPH about3-4 seconds after passing a speed limit sign. 2022 PP

 

[smartblonde]

In my experience, I believe the speed limit data is coming from the map data, not actual road signs.

It works all the time , don't have to have the nav screen actually up

Then does the speed limit sign show up somewhere else (the center console?) if I have something else on the Infotainment Screen? I have "Instrument Cluster Type B" I think--round display on right with all the optional screens. Thanks.

 

[Joebaba]

I have a 2021 CX-5 with TSR.

Based on my experience, the TSR is totally unrelated to the Nav system. It does not use the NAV system to know where the speed limits change. Rather, it actually reads the signs, using a camera system.

This leads to some limitations....

1. If the sign indicating a speed change is missing (got blown over, or something like that), then the car will not pick up the change in speed limits (because there is no sign to read).

2. Where I live, school zones have signs at the entrance to the school zone saying “Speed limit 20” or something similar. However, at the end of the speed zone, the exit sign just says “End of school zone”. So the car recognizes the speed limit change at the entry, but does not recognize the raised speed limit on exiting the school zone (because there was no sign saying 30 MPH again).

Because of these limitations, I only trust the system about 80% of the time. I would never base my driving habits on the TSR system.

Where it is very useful, is for highway driving, when you enter a reduced speed zone, but then forget if/when you’ve seen a sign indicating the end of the speed zone. If the car says 65mph, then says 50 mph, then you drive a bit, and its says 65mph again, then I’d trust that because it must have seen a sign that I missed.

And I concur with erhayes - the TSR system shows the new speed limit shortly after passing a speed limit sign - not 3 or 4 seconds though - more like 1/2 second.

And it defintely works even when you have the NAV off.

 

[Joebaba]

P.S. - when you said "but when I turned onto another street it didn't register the 40mph at all" - did the street that you turned on to have a 40mph sign? Probably not, as they wouldn't have signs at every corner - so this would be further proof that the system actually reads the signs, and because there was no 40mph sign, it didn't register. It should have shown 40mph, once you passed a 40mph sign.

 

[smartblonde]

P.S. - when you said "but when I turned onto another street it didn't register the 40mph at all" - did the street that you turned on to have a 40mph sign? Probably not, as they wouldn't have signs at every corner - so this would be further proof that the system actually reads the signs, and because there was no 40mph sign, it didn't register. It should have shown 40mph, once you passed a 40mph sign.

actually I passed a 40 mph sign twice and nothing showed up.

 

[wlong01]

As far as I know the system will use the map speed limit until it recognizes a speed limit sign. I've watched the speed limit change on the HUD as soon as a speed limit sign came into view.

I've verified this when the speed limit was dropped on a road near my house. The HUD displayed the
correct speed limit, if it was using the NAV database exclusively it would not of registered the change but still displayed the higher speed limit.

 

[smartblonde]

So I have this display and it doesn't even list TSR as what will show up, only these items:

Odometer
Trip meter
Engine coolant temperature gauge
Fuel gauge
Outside temperature
Distance-to-empty
Average fuel economy
Current fuel economy
Maintenance Monitor
Blind Spot Monitoring (BSM) Display
Distance Recognition Support System (DRSS) Display
Mazda Radar Cruise Control with Stop & Go function (MRCC with Stop & Go function)
System Display
Traffic Jam Assist (TJA) Display
Lane-keep Assist System (LAS) & Lane Departure Warning System (LDWS) Display
Cruise Control Display
Compass Display
Message Display

It DOES list TSR on Instrument Cluster Type A. So....maybe it will only show up with the Nav Screen on.

 

[Joebaba]

Check out this link.....

Mazda Safety Technology - Traffic Sign Recognition (TSR) Explained

For Mazda, safety is always forefront. i-Activsense is a suite of revolutionary technologies that make our cars smart and safe. It utilises detection devices in milliwave radars and cameras to help recognise hazards and avoid collisions.

www.mountgravattmazda.com.au

though things might have changed for the 2022/2023 model years.....

 

[cz5gt]

the way TSR works is this
1. (default) speed limit comes from the Nav only for streets which are having it in the Nav db. Most dont have a record.
2. Front camera watches for road signs all the time - if a road sign is there then the speed limit icon is changed with that immediately if its different than the nav or if none.
If the same, no change.
If no traffic sign and no record in NAv db you may not see anything or it may be the last shown road sometimes.

At least in US, cars with HUD and/or cars with the digital speedo cluster show the traffic sign icon. nav sd card is needed as well to enable TSR. For some reason mazda may have disabled the tsr icon to show on the non digital cluster. At least thats how it is on my 2018 with hud but non digital cluster.
On my 2022 I got the digital cluster and hud.


Hud

Cluster

 

[ceric]

I agree with cz5gt. When I got my '22 Turbo, it did not come with the SD card. I drove it for a few weeks. I knew how it behaved without SD card. Then, I got a SD card from A*.com. What cz5gt describes above is close to my observation.

For STOP signs, I believe it is purely based on sign recognition, not the map data.
Same for "DO NOT ENTER"

 

[smartblonde]

Thanks all. I will drive it awhile and get more familiar with it. It's SO different than my previous car, a 2009 Camry XLE that got totaled last month. I'm an old dog learning new tricks!

 

[cz5gt]

Its a very nice car. I think you would probably like it after few months.

 

[smartblonde]

Its a very nice car. I think you would probably like it after few months.

I like it a LOT now! And this forum is super helpful.

 

[ceric]

I like it a LOT now! And this forum is super helpful.

No doubt. I have been here since 2008.
Four Mazdas currently in my family.

 

[smartblonde]

For some reason mazda may have disabled the tsr icon to show on the non digital cluster. At least thats how it is on my 2018 with hud but non digital cluster.

I think that is the case. I have a 2023 Preferred trim without HUD and a non-digital cluster. So the TSR seems to only show up on the Nav screen. It's not a big issue--I've been driving for 50 years without TSR. Just trying to understand all the features I actually DO have.

 

[cz5gt]

There is a way to activate it in the non digital cluster but its not publicly shared unfortunately.
I tried for my 2018 but the guys that know how want $$

 

[smartblonde]

There is a way to activate it in the non digital cluster but its not publicly shared unfortunately.
I tried for my 2018 but the guys that know how want $$

I've already spent my limit....not about to pay for that info.