Off Topic New Vehicle Time

The CX5 checks all the boxes except it's FWD based and terribly nose heavy.

As for reliability, Mazda of late isn't exactly "problem free", so...YOLO! I'd rather YOLO in a 50/50 weight distributed Italian vehicle than a FWD based front-heavy one, so it is what it is.
It’s funny, you replaced your old CX-5 with the new 2.5T CX-5, upgraded to the Prime, realized that while it was an improvement it still wasn’t as enjoyable to drive as you’d like. Now you’re getting the car you really want. The car you’re actually going to enjoy driving.

In my case I put down a deposit for the Prime to replace my old CX-5. Realized I was going to have to wait too long for the Prime, compromised and got the Signature instead. Drove the Signature for about the same amount of time as you’ve had your Prime, and now I’m getting the car I’ll actually enjoy driving. You’re my automotive brother from another mother!
 
Well, I drove a 2018 Stelvio Ti today. Yuck. Im honestly stunned.


2018 Stelvio Ti w/ 11K miles was what I drove.

The good: I loved the lines. Beautiful car! The paint was some of the nicest I've seen, and reminded me of Porsche. No orange peal. Beautiful and smooth. The vehicle felt rigid. Solid.

The bad: Acceleration from a stop was very laggy. There was a split second between the pedal hitting the floor, and anything happening. My CX5 was the same, so equally annoyed. However, once it decided to move, it was rather laggy from a stand-still while the CX5 moved on a wave of near instant torque after about 1200rpm. The power built well toward the top of the rpm range, but was quite boring before then, and it wasn't exactly special even then. I'd say very close to CX5 level. No real grunt off the line compared to the CX5 and especially my Prime, though. I'd slaughter this thing in my Prime without a brake-boost launch. Absolutely skulldrag. From a roll at 60, it felt pretty good. It did take the ZF a bit longer to get it togather than the SA 6-speed in the CX5, though. I'd say this is a case of too many gears. The 6-speed in the CX5 really makes me appreciate it after driving this Stelvio. I would say it was roughly the equal of my CX5 from 60, perhaps a hair faster, but nothing crazy. From a 20mph punch it took forever to get its **** together and actually DO something. This was in N mode, though, so maybe you need to drive in D for responsiveness (My other driving was all in D, only the 20 punch was in N).

The handling I did not test out, as the test drive was on/off ramps, highway and city/residential, however, nothing special was noted about the steering or suspension in these limited curves, except that the quicker ratio was apparent. My response to that is "So? Cool bro...I can turn the wheel less and get the same." I did not notice as much feedback from it as I did my CX5. Mazda NAILED EPAS in that car. It also didn't feel any better on the on/off ramps than I recall the CX5, certainly no-more planted. This vehicle had 255 series tires on it. Maybe that just made the steering a bit numb. I dunno. Either way, the whole driving experience reminded me of that teenage kid who won't make eye contact and gives you a limp handshake...was his name Tim? Tom? Does it even matter? You forget his interview before he's even out the door.

The horrible: It was a 2018, so grain of salt here, but the interior. This car had ZERO redeeming features aside from the paint, and the interior was damn well determined to drive the point home. I am glad they fixed that supposedly in 2020.

My roommate was along for the test drive, as was the sales rep. The sales rep was content to just let me drive and got bored and began fiddling with the radio. My roommate said the word that best defined the vehicle was "forgettable".

Bottom line is this is not a car I would want to have to drive, much less be forced to get serviced for warranty work 200 miles away. Might it have revealed some brilliance if I were allowed to take it home and hit the corners in it? I don't know, but I doubt it unless I pushed it to the point that the front end on the CX5 would start to wash out, which was darn near impossible if you were aggressive with the throttle, but I do think after 6/10 the Stelvio likely would have had better manners, but that is just a guess based off paper numbers. It felt absolutely mundane. It was laggy, it was very quiet under WOT, the ZF tripped over itself in any situation that didn't involved WOT upshifts, and I just can't honestly get over how disappointing the experience was as a whole. I agree with the sales rep. Futzing with the radio control knob was more entertaining than the ride. I did not bother listening to the HK sound system.
 
Thanks for the feedback. Any plans to test drive a '22 Stelvio Veloce as originally planned?
 
Thanks for the feedback. Any plans to test drive a '22 Stelvio Veloce as originally planned?
No, as the suspension/transmission/engine are unchanged in tuning and in rated performance, as I understand it. The interior is worlds better, but the car was just completely unengaging in every way.
 
No, as the suspension/transmission/engine are unchanged in tuning and in rated performance, as I understand it. The interior is worlds better, but the car was just completely unengaging in every way.
That is the exact opposite of what I expected. I figured reliability would be its weakest link.
 
So now what?
I've looked at pretty much everything, and the German stuff is so maintenance intensive, and the M cars have VANOS failures basically guaranteed before 100K miles (to add insult to injury, the VANOS system in the M40i lives against the firewall side of that B58), so X3M40i is out, the AMG 35 AMG is an absolute maintenance queen (My roommate temporary just bought one), as in, to the tune of costing me another $300/mo basically to keep it alive, if we amortize that with me driving 30K miles per year (Service A is $400, Service B is $800 (alternates every 10K miles), brakes are a 20-30K mile item at $2000 F/R, and MB won't turn AMG rotors). In 30K miles (1 year of ownership), that is $3400, and THEN take into account the $600 plugs (50K) and the $900 DCT service (60K) for the next year? Maintenance packages can shave off some, but won't handle the brakes. In short, it would cost me nearly $300/mo JUST IN MAINTENANCE, and I don't really see the upside there, at that point in the bleeding, lol!

I've looked and looked and looked, and I will probably snag a 2022 CX5 signature or turbo, much as I wanted to try something else. There just ISN'T anything else for under $1K/mo that can compete.

My hopes are that the AWD system is more aggressive (based on videos, it absolutely is) than in my 2019 GT Reserve, and the infotainment is improved (It seems to be). I am curious how re-tuned the transmission is for 2022, as they do remark on it.
 
I've looked at pretty much everything, and the German stuff is so maintenance intensive, and the M cars have VANOS failures basically guaranteed before 100K miles (to add insult to injury, the VANOS system in the M40i lives against the firewall side of that B58), so X3M40i is out, the AMG 35 AMG is an absolute maintenance queen (My roommate temporary just bought one), as in, to the tune of costing me another $300/mo basically to keep it alive, if we amortize that with me driving 30K miles per year (Service A is $400, Service B is $800 (alternates every 10K miles), brakes are a 20-30K mile item at $2000 F/R, and MB won't turn AMG rotors). In 30K miles (1 year of ownership), that is $3400, and THEN take into account the $600 plugs (50K) and the $900 DCT service (60K) for the next year? Maintenance packages can shave off some, but won't handle the brakes. In short, it would cost me nearly $300/mo JUST IN MAINTENANCE, and I don't really see the upside there, at that point in the bleeding, lol!

I've looked and looked and looked, and I will probably snag a 2022 CX5 signature or turbo, much as I wanted to try something else. There just ISN'T anything else for under $1K/mo that can compete.

My hopes are that the AWD system is more aggressive (based on videos, it absolutely is) than in my 2019 GT Reserve, and the infotainment is improved (It seems to be). I am curious how re-tuned the transmission is for 2022, as they do remark on it.
Your annual mileage is really working against you. As noted, the operating cost on the Germans grows exponentially as the mileage goes up.

It’s a shame Infiniti abandoned the FX, and Acura hasn’t released a more potent RDX. Those would be two options that offer performance, reliability, and a degree of affordability. Do any of the electrics work for you? Model Y or Mach E? Is there a limit on the number of EV tax credits a person can claim? I’m assuming you had one for your Prime.

While the ‘22 CX-5 has been updated, I wonder if it would be enough to keep you happy for an extended period of time. Going back to a car you’ve already owned and became disenchanted with is kinda like going back to an old girlfriend. You’re quicker to notice the things that bugged you, and a lot less tolerant of said things. Although, if Mazda improved the transmission and infotainment on my ‘20 CX-5 I might actually keep it for a couple more years. As it is, those are two things I find myself dropping F-bombs on at least once a week. Thankfully the cold weather performance has been addressed. I pulled off a 6.47 second 0-60 in -6 degree weather tonight. That was with a fair amount of wheel spin in first.
 
Edit: Add the Subaru Forester XT to the list of fun, reliable, and affordable crossovers that manufacturers have abandoned. Stock, those things were running 13.8 in the 1/4 back in ‘04. I absolutely abused mine for 103k miles. Only needed brakes and fluid changes. And tires of course.
 
Your annual mileage is really working against you. As noted, the operating cost on the Germans grows exponentially as the mileage goes up.

It’s a shame Infiniti abandoned the FX, and Acura hasn’t released a more potent RDX. Those would be two options that offer performance, reliability, and a degree of affordability. Do any of the electrics work for you? Model Y or Mach E? Is there a limit on the number of EV tax credits a person can claim? I’m assuming you had one for your Prime.

While the ‘22 CX-5 has been updated, I wonder if it would be enough to keep you happy for an extended period of time. Going back to a car you’ve already owned and became disenchanted with is kinda like going back to an old girlfriend. You’re quicker to notice the things that bugged you, and a lot less tolerant of said things. Although, if Mazda improved the transmission and infotainment on my ‘20 CX-5 I might actually keep it for a couple more years. As it is, those are two things I find myself dropping F-bombs on at least once a week. Thankfully the cold weather performance has been addressed. I pulled off a 6.47 second 0-60 in -6 degree weather tonight. That was with a fair amount of wheel spin in first.
I agree fully. My question is...what is spinning? Front, or all? I literally NEVER got my CX5 to spin the tires, even in the rain. I also was clocking 6.8 0-60's at best in it. In fact, let me hunt up a video of me trying to (Granted, these are LX25's, not OEM A36's, but still...IN THE RAIN!). WEre you brake-boosting off launch to hit those numbers? Tell me more about this, lol! Was it spinning just a hair because of weight transfer, was the road in any way dusty or something, what's the deal? It can lock the F/R with the center clutch for 50/50 power dist, did it feel like this occurred?

The cold weather performance was a MAJOR reason I left the car...fixed.
The infotainment was pretty lame...fixed enough for me.
The money (Tax credit) was a big reason...got it.

I am just not huge on electric at present. I don't want a Mach E, etc. The range is just not enough.

*Could not find rain videos, but timed about 6.8-7 in rain or dry.
 
Edit: Add the Subaru Forester XT to the list of fun, reliable, and affordable crossovers that manufacturers have abandoned. Stock, those things were running 13.8 in the 1/4 back in ‘04. I absolutely abused mine for 103k miles. Only needed brakes and fluid changes. And tires of course.
The new ones are very "meh", as well as discontinued. A friend had a 2013. It ate the transmission and AC compressor by 80K miles or so.
 
I agree fully. My question is...what is spinning? Front, or all? I literally NEVER got my CX5 to spin the tires, even in the rain. I also was clocking 6.8 0-60's at best in it. In fact, let me hunt up a video of me trying to (Granted, these are LX25's, not OEM A36's, but still...IN THE RAIN!). WEre you brake-boosting off launch to hit those numbers? Tell me more about this, lol! Was it spinning just a hair because of weight transfer, was the road in any way dusty or something, what's the deal? It can lock the F/R with the center clutch for 50/50 power dist, did it feel like this occurred?

The cold weather performance was a MAJOR reason I left the car...fixed.
The infotainment was pretty lame...fixed enough for me.
The money (Tax credit) was a big reason...got it.

I am just not huge on electric at present. I don't want a Mach E, etc. The range is just not enough.

*Could not find rain videos, but timed about 6.8-7 in rain or dry.
It was -6 and there was some salt residue on the road. No brake boost, I just let off the brake and mashed the gas. I wasn’t even trying for a good time, I was more interested in testing the software update in sub zero temps. Making sure Mazda didn’t just move the threshold down as opposed to clearing it all together. It felt like all 4 were spinning. Also, that was stock. I only have the JB4 setup for logs right now.
 
It was -6 and there was some salt residue on the road. No brake boost, I just let off the brake and mashed the gas. I wasn’t even trying for a good time, I was more interested in testing the software update in sub zero temps. Making sure Mazda didn’t just move the threshold down as opposed to clearing it all together. It felt like all 4 were spinning. Also, that was stock. I only have the JB4 setup for logs right now.
Thats legit faster than mine ever was. I had a 2019. Best ever with full hook was 6.7ish. I am hoping my 2022 is like yours! Whats your 0-100?
 
Well sorry you're not finding what you wanted, I do hope the 2022 CX-5 meets your needs better.

I was a little surprised you were looking at an Alfa Romeo. At least to me Alfa Romeo and Reliability don't seem to go together from what I've heard.
 
Hold out for the upcoming CX-70? Is that a possibility? Or maybe a pre-owned (2018+) Macan S or new Macan?
 
Hold out for the upcoming CX-70? Is that a possibility? Or maybe a pre-owned (2018+) Macan S or new Macan?
Macan's are absolute money pits, AND we do not have a local Porsche dealer.
I am very into the CX70, but that will be out in 2 years or so likely. Also, I have heard numbers as low as 280bhp, and as high as 350, and we don't know the weight.
 
Thats legit faster than mine ever was. I had a 2019. Best ever with full hook was 6.7ish. I am hoping my 2022 is like yours! Whats your 0-100?
I haven’t had the opportunity to do a 0-100 run. Honestly, I don’t know how many times I’ve had it over 100. I’m not a fan of the CX-5’s high speed stability. My old CX-7 felt much more planted.
 
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