New CX-5 Akera delivered today

[Moonlighter]

Hi Moonlighter. I have just joined the forum today. Your car looks amazing. We picked up our brand new Mazda CX5 Akera G25 from a dealer in Tas 2 days ago on 26 Sept ‘24. The same beautiful red as yours which is a definite step up from the previous Soul Red (I think). We traded a 2021 CX30 G25 Akera. Great car but too small. Lacked ground clearance and height. The CX5 is in the garage and the colour is magical. Slightly disappointed that it does not have the option of digital speed display as the CX30 did. We are well into our senior years and it was good for ageing eyes. We are going to have to become familiar with the HUD. I am tall and getting thick around the middle and getting in and out of the CX30 was becoming unpleasant. The CX5 is just so much higher and roomier. What a beautiful car. I am not sure Mazda can improve on the latest updated series. It is a pleasure (early days) to just sit in it. Only done 75k’s in 2 days but a long trip coming up to Hobart. A massive 300kms! Taswegians think anything over 200 kms is a long trip. The problem of living on an island not half the size of Vic. Will be great if you can tour Mazda in Hiroshima. Been there but was driving a Honda CRV and a brilliant little Jazz back then. Honda seems a little lost these days.

Congratulations! They sure are a big step up from the earlier versions (not that they were bad at all) but the advancement in technology and finish quality are very obvious. Right up there with the Euro’s in my opinion.

And agreed, the SC red is the best red on any car.

The HUD takes a little getting used to but once you do, is very good.

Have you programmed the key fobs yet for each of the main drivers? It will set and adjust the seat position and the HUD position to suit each driver. In our case this is important because The Admiral is 5’5” and I am 6’6” .

I was going to say something when you commented about going on a long drive in Tasmania about being careful not to drive off the edge ……but you beat me to it .

Of course, here in Queensland we barely get out of the south east corner in 2 hours. Did a trip earlier year north to central Qld coast - Yeppoon - from Brisbane that took around 8 hours with only breaks for fuel and a quick bite to eat. Then back home the next day, another 8 hours.

We have already put nearly 1800kms on ours in just over 3 weeks.

I just checked again on the Mazda Hiroshima website and they haven’t yet opened bookings for January 2025.

But at least now we have confirmed our Japan trip itinerary and booked accommodation in a really nice hotel overlooking the river and the Peace Park for the whole of the second week in January, so as soon as tour bookings open I will do my best to get us in.

 

[Kennykoala]

I did not realize that so thank you muchly for the update. At first the black bumper surrounds seemed to be a very good and practical paint protection inclusion (a guess on my part) from Mazda. But the entire paintwork uninterrupted from top to bottom looks stunning. Plus the CX5 is considerably larger so the impression is greater. And of course it is brand new. Cheers.

 

[Kennykoala]

The Soul Red Crystal Metallic on your CX-5 is the same as that of your CX-30. The original Soul Red Metallic was discontinued prior to the CX-30 intro.

Hi Paris 1. My reply to your recent message went to our friend Moonlighter. This is my first ever car forum and I will get it right eventually! Many thanks for the clarification on the paintwork. Mazda seem to capture a brilliance in their red that not many other manufacturers can. If you are in the USA you will have access to more colours and different versions of each Mazda model. A big country here but tiny pop. of 27M compared to that in the the US. So we don’t quite get the entire range. You have a Mazda 3 GT hatch which is no doubt very upmarket compared to my son-in-law’s base Mazda 3 sedan also 2018 which is a second car. But this is his 3rd Mazda 3 and he raves about the improved engine technology compared to the 2 previous models he had. He still has the 2.0 litre engine but it runs better in every aspect and the fuel economy improvement is a standout for him. He is in Brisbane with our daughter and 3 grandchildren. It is the capital of Queensland where Moonlighter resides also. Warm to hot all year compared to our cold winters and milder summers down at the bottom.

 

[paris1]

Hi Paris 1. My reply to your recent message went to our friend Moonlighter. This is my first ever car forum and I will get it right eventually! Many thanks for the clarification on the paintwork. Mazda seem to capture a brilliance in their red that not many other manufacturers can. If you are in the USA you will have access to more colours and different versions of each Mazda model. A big country here but tiny pop. of 27M compared to that in the the US. So we don’t quite get the entire range. You have a Mazda 3 GT hatch which is no doubt very upmarket compared to my son-in-law’s base Mazda 3 sedan also 2018 which is a second car. But this is his 3rd Mazda 3 and he raves about the improved engine technology compared to the 2 previous models he had. He still has the 2.0 litre engine but it runs better in every aspect and the fuel economy improvement is a standout for him. He is in Brisbane with our daughter and 3 grandchildren. It is the capital of Queensland where Moonlighter resides also. Warm to hot all year compared to our cold winters and milder summers down at the bottom.

My experience with the Mazda 3 2.5 ltr, book-ended by two CX-5s (a 2013 2.0 ltr and 2023 2.5 ltr) has been a lesson in power to weight ratios. In 2012, when the CX-5 was introduced) all that was offered in the US was the 2.0 and the car was criticized for being somewhat under-powered. I found the power "adequate", but nothing more. I sold it in 2019 and bought the 3 hatchback. What a revelation! The 2.5 with 184 hp made it a virtual rocket ship compared to what I had become used to. Fast forward to 2023 and the purchase of another CX-5, this one with the 2.5 which is all that is offered here (along with the turbo version) and we're right back to "adequate" power. The reason for all this is simply curb weight: ten years later, the CX-5 has gained approximately 500 pounds. So the larger 2.5 engine provides more or less the same lackluster performance the 2.0 did back in 2013. Meanwhile, I'm still enjoying the heck out of driving my 3, which is significantly lighter than both CX-5s I've owned and benefits from the larger engine!

 

[Kennykoala]

Thanks for that. The Mazda 3 GT being lighter and with the 2.5 would be quite quicker power wise, especially off the mark and when needing to overtake etc. I immediately noticed that the lighter FWD CX30 with the 2.5 was more powerful at normal acceleration than the new CX5 Akera with the 2.5, when I drove home after picking it up. Plus being AWD etc adds a bit more weight over the base model CX5. I thought about the extra power with the turbo but I was a bit conscious of fuel costs. Prices are coming down at last. But you have always paid far less than us. We import most of the oil unlike the U.S. An imperial gallon in the U.S. has the equivalent of 4 litres (I think). Here where I live in the small island state at the very bottom, next stop Antarctica, we are currently paying AUD $1.69 a litre. But our $1 currently only fetches about 69 cents of the mighty USD. So there is a major cost difference in filling up the tank when compared to the U.S. But I think we are still cheaper than the UK, much of western Europe and our dear cousins not far away across the Tasman in N.Z.

 

[paris1]

Keep in mind that the US is not a monolithic market for gas or anything else. Here in Calif. we get to pay about $1.50/gal more than the rest of the country due to sky high taxes and regulatory issues.

 

[Kennykoala]

Keep in mind that the US is not a monolithic market for gas or anything else. Here in Calif. we get to pay about $1.50/gal more than the rest of the country due to sky high taxes and regulatory issues.

Hi. In the land down under while almost the size of the USA there is only 6 states and two Federal territories. The Feds in Canberra set the excise and taxes payable for the entire country on petroleum and gas products. Your states wield what seems to be almost unilateral powers separate from Washington DC. The minimum wage is set nationwide in Aust. I may be wrong but while there is a Fed minimum in the US, each of the states set their own. We were brought up believing US motorists paid next to nothing for gas. That was shattered in 1974 when OPEC reduced oil exports worldwide to a trickle. Payback for the US arming Israel in 1973/74 as Egypt & Syria failed militarily to regain territory lost in the 1967 war. I will never forget petrol rationing! In the US prices quadrupled, 10 gallons was the limit, and President Nixon reduced the speed limit on Fed highways to 50mph/80kmph. Not much better here. OPEC dominated by Saudi Arabia did the U.S. a favour indirectly. It started a sort of modern day gold rush for oil in continental USA. But I now appreciate even more the power of each state to set their own taxes etc. Being a British settled penal colony (without a War of Independence) we follow the Poms when it comes to a political system of governance. We have only one sales tax (GST) and Canberra sets it. It has not increased since being introduced nearly 20 yrs ago. Sorry about the ramble! OPEC turning off the oil was the tiny chink that started some Americans looking for more fuel efficient cars than the V8 Cadillacs and Pontiacs.

 

[Moonlighter]

Damn just found out that the Mazda museum and factory tours are cancelled from December to the end of February 25 - due to a major refurbishment being underway.

Poo so cancel that plan …..

 

[RedBaron]

We were brought up believing US motorists paid next to nothing for gas.

Funny you should say that... I've always heard about how cheap gas used to be here ("a few cents per gallon"), and while that price was largely true, I came across this inflation-adjusted graph that shows, in actuality, the real price of gas hasn't changed much - other than a couple of spikes - in 70+ years!

 

[Kennykoala]

Funny you should say that... I've always heard about how cheap gas used to be here ("a few cents per gallon"), and while that price was largely true, I came across this inflation-adjusted graph that shows, in actuality, the real price of gas hasn't changed much - other than a couple of spikes - in 70+ years!

View attachment 331817

When you compare wages to prices over the decades in the USA and even including the above big spikes, comparably you folk are still doing pretty well when it comes to gas prices. You are almost self sufficient and the screaming for us all to drive EV’s by 2030 or whenever has hit a brick wall. Fire after fire and hours later thermal explosions have dampened enthusiasm. Recharging is also a problem. A number of E scooters went up in a garage of a house in Adelaide last year. Firies thought they had put them out. A learning curve. Saved most of the house. No way! Several hours later while still stacked together in the driveway and visibly deceased they came back to life and started exploding with pieces hitting houses in the locale. If reports are correct EV sales have collapsed. In Melbourne a major LPG supply company decided to be the first to install full electrics into a prime mover (tractor in the US?). Fully articulated LPG tanker towed by the prime mover (Ford or Volvo) all brand new. On the busiest highway on the edge of the city of 6M the driver felt his bottom getting hot. Bailed just in time in mid lane. Up went the lithium batteries. It took awhile but the tanker exploded leaving a 6 metre (18ft) deep crater in the highway. Firies would only fight it with cranes a 100 metres away. Took a huge quantity of water and foam over several hours to put it out. The remaining pile of scrap sat there for a long time waiting for a thermal runaway before they were game to go near it. EV boffins remind me of those who built the Titanic. Absolutely unsinkable! Gas and diesel is here to stay in my humble opinion.

 

[Kennykoala]

Damn just found out that the Mazda museum and factory tours are cancelled from December to the end of February 25 - due to a major refurbishment being underway.

Poo so cancel that plan …..

Hi Moonlighter. What a bummer. You have helped keep the huge plant ticking being a loyal Mazda only owner/driver for many years. I suspect there are more Mazda’s sold per head of pop. in Aust except perhaps for Japan. They are everywhere. We even bought the great ‘jelly bean’, a brand new 1996 121. The rarish 1.5L version, at least in little TAS. A Hobart Mazda dealer sold it to us while visiting the big city. Buying that month meant we went in the draw for a trip. We won all expenses to LA and SF, airfares, Sheraton hotels, $5000 spending money and a weeks entry to Disneyland. I don’t think the owner was overly impressed. We lived 300kms away in our version of the Outback. Very parochial mob in Tas. Wanted a capital city dweller to win. It’s a wonder he didn’t have a re-draw. It’s a shame they cannot delay the refurb start until 24 hrs after you arrive in Hiroshima. Another trip to Japan may hopefully be in the tea leaves.

 

[RedBaron]

@Kennykoala, I just LOVE your prose! I'm an ex-pat Pom, living in America for 40+ years. Your wording and words takes me back

Keep posting! (I may have to 'follow' you )

 

[Moonlighter]

Hi Moonlighter. What a bummer. You have helped keep the huge plant ticking being a loyal Mazda only owner/driver for many years. I suspect there are more Mazda’s sold per head of pop. in Aust except perhaps for Japan. They are everywhere. We even bought the great ‘jelly bean’, a brand new 1996 121. The rarish 1.5L version, at least in little TAS. A Hobart Mazda dealer sold it to us while visiting the big city. Buying that month meant we went in the draw for a trip. We won all expenses to LA and SF, airfares, Sheraton hotels, $5000 spending money and a weeks entry to Disneyland. I don’t think the owner was overly impressed. We lived 300kms away in our version of the Outback. Very parochial mob in Tas. Wanted a capital city dweller to win. It’s a wonder he didn’t have a re-draw. It’s a shame they cannot delay the refurb start until 24 hrs after you arrive in Hiroshima. Another trip to Japan may hopefully be in the tea leaves.

Well done on winning the trip!

Tasmanian “outback”? LOL no such thing!

We will find plenty of other things to do around the Hiroshima area without much trouble. And yes, I dare say another Japan trip will happen down the track. My wife is already organising a trip to Okinawa in March 25 to visit her karate dojo and do her 2nd dan black belt grading tests in front of the masters.

One of our Japanese friends drives a CX5 too, despite them living near Nagoya which is Toyota’s home base and the streets are thus dominated by them.

The Japanese are very parochial too - last trip, I went to Hamamatsu which is hometown to Suzuki and have never seen so many Suzuki cars on the roads! The locals must get a good discount!

I went there to visit the Suzuki and Yamaha equivalents of the Hiroshima Mazda museum, both of which were very interesting. Being a Suzuki outboard owner I was interested to see the display of early versions.

 

[Moonlighter]

Found these photos after I had just polished the 2015/16 Akera a couple of years ago.

Soul Red Metallic

Colour comparison beside the new 2024 Akera. This car had just had the ceramic paint treatment done professionally. 10 year warranty - we shall see!

Soul Red Crystal Metallic

The new one is taken inside the garage, while the old one is outside in the sun.