Should I expect my CX-5 to handle as well as my rental CX-9?

I took my CX-5 (2016) in to the local dealership for alignment and some other minor services. They provided me with a CX-9 (2017) and I really enjoyed driving it, the steering wheel always held center with very little guidance. Turning required little effort. With my CX-5, the steering seems a little....stiffer I guess? I am always having to correct while driving, even after the alignment, and it requires more strength to hold it center. I am having them look at the alignment again this weekend, but maybe this is just the CX-9 being a better car? Should I expect my CX-5 to drive similarly or will the CX-9 generally outperform in this aspect?
https://tplinklogin.one/
https://sarkarijobs.gen.in
https://192-168-1-128.link/
 
Last edited:
Not sure 100% what you are asking. We have a Mazda 3, a CX-5 and a CX-9 and without question, the CX-9 is the worst handling of them all.

A car, if it is properly aligned, should require no effort to stay in a straight line. The CX-9 does have the lightest steering of them all and maybe that is what you don't like?
 
One thing that I noticed right away when we purchased our CX-5 was how stable the steering was. I've never had a car that I could take my hands off of the steering wheel for so long and still be going straight down the road. Also the steering is very light, not as light at my MX-5 but light just the same.

There must be some sort of issue with yours if you're having those problems.
 
Maybe it has something to do with the tires? Even treadwear all around?

The power steering on both models is electric, so maybe the CX-9's power steering was slightly tweaked?
 
As mentioned above, properly aligned it should not require any effort to stay centered and mine has always held center very good. You might go back to the dealer and ask why it doesn't hold center after they did an alignment. You might have a tire pulling so try swapping tires from front to back and vice versa.

More concerning is requiring constant correction. This is could be an issue where steering components like tie rod ends or ball joints are binding and hold the last correction you made and then hold the next correction and so on, so you keep going back and forth. Maybe it's in the electric assist assembly on the steering column. This is the first car I've had with electric steering so it's uncharted water for me as far as experience with electric steering.

I can tell you that I had the same constant correction problem with a previous car that was in fact due to binding tie rod ends and ball joints and it was making me crazy. I noticed that after jacking the front end up and after lowering it back to the ground that the problem went away briefly. Theorizing that the jacking allowed the grease in the permanently sealed ball joints and tie rod ends to be redistributed, I injected grease into those joints with a grease needle (right through the rubber boots ) and it fixed the problem for a while. I ended up sealing the boot holes on the ball joints (never did change them) but changed the tie rod ends to a style with a grease fitting. Never had the problem again. I think GM had some problems with those tie rod ends because my friends wife had the same car and hers were changed a couple of times. I'm not recommending you start injecting grease but you may want to have these joints checked. Ain't cars fun?
 
The cx9 is heavier, that might make it 'toe-out' and feel more stable.

If the front is 'toe-in' it can make the steering feel skittish.
 
How many miles do you have on your ‘16? My ‘13 CX-5 was starting to require constant correction around 75k miles. I changed the shocks and struts around 80k miles and found one of the shocks was busted. Fluid had leaked and the shaft was retracted a full 3 or 4 inches relative to the other shock. I got an alignment done after all that suspension work. That was improvement number 1. The steering was still touchy but it didn’t require constant correction anymore, likely because the car wasn’t bouncing slightly on that rear corner with the busted shock.

Improvement number 2 was new tires. My old set were Goodyear ComforTred Assurance with about 50k miles on them. Still had an even 25% tread left but I suspected they might be due for replacement as the wet traction had degraded badly by that point. My Cx-5 drives like new with the Michelin Cross Climate 2 tires I just got installed. The V tread design seems to pull the wheel towards center, and the wheel isn’t as touchy. The steering feels a little numb at center with this particular tire but everything handles like new now.
 
ruthrj brings up good points. Funny thing, now that I think about it, on that same car , it had a bad rear shock that affected handling. It drove normally on good road but had to struggle to keep it in my lane when going on rough road. Thus requiring constant steering correction but only on rough road. Found the inexpensive aftermarket shock covered in oil and gravel at only 5500 miles. That was the 10th vehicle I owned and the first time ever for that.
 
How many miles do you have on your ‘16? My ‘13 CX-5 was starting to require constant correction around 75k miles. I changed the shocks and struts around 80k miles and found one of the shocks was busted. Fluid had leaked and the shaft was retracted a full 3 or 4 inches relative to the other shock. I got an alignment done after all that suspension work. That was improvement number 1. The steering was still touchy but it didn’t require constant correction anymore, likely because the car wasn’t bouncing slightly on that rear corner with the busted shock.

Improvement number 2 was new tires. My old set were Goodyear ComforTred Assurance with about 50k miles on them. Still had an even 25% tread left but I suspected they might be due for replacement as the wet traction had degraded badly by that point. My Cx-5 drives like new with the Michelin Cross Climate 2 tires I just got installed. The V tread design seems to pull the wheel towards center, and the wheel isn’t as touchy. The steering feels a little numb at center with this particular tire but everything handles like new now.
Hmm...haven't thought about shocks. Just hit 101k miles on my 2014. Maybe something I should look into.
 
How many miles do you have on your ‘16? My ‘13 CX-5 was starting to require constant correction around 75k miles

Improvement number 2 was new tires. My old set were Goodyear ComforTred Assurance with about 50k miles on them. Still had an even 25% tread left but I suspected they might be due for replacement as the wet traction had degraded badly by that point. My Cx-5 drives like new with the Michelin Cross Climate 2 tires I just got installed. The V tread design seems to pull the wheel towards center, and the wheel isn’t as touchy. The steering feels a little numb at center with this particular tire but everything handles like new now.
I don't have a lot of experience with them yet, but my new Continental LX25 s seem to be more directional than the OEMs were. Almost a little twitchy, but l haven't driven more than 50 miles from home in over a year now.
 
The cx9 is heavier, that might make it 'toe-out' and feel more stable.

If the front is 'toe-in' it can make the steering feel skittish.

The very opposite is true. Toe-out will make the front tires randomly pull the front in different directions.

Weight has no effect of toe, if the suspension is correctly designed, without bumpsteer.
 
Have both a 2020 cx-5 and 2020 cx-9. The 9 has a lighter easier wheel with a bit more play than the cx-5. The 5 has less play and is stiffer feeling. Normal.
 
Wait, a dealer service dept gave you a 4 year old CX-9 as a loaner? That makes zero sense. All of our loaners right now are 20/21 models.
Agreed. Service loaners are in part sales tools. Typically a dealer gives the service customer a current model, in effect a test drive they didn't ask for, in the hope the customer gets an itch they need to scratch. Maybe all the loaners were out so they pulled the CX-9 off the used car lot. They wouldn't hand out a new car for a one-off circumstance--they'd have to buy it and title it making it instantly used.
 
Agreed. Service loaners are in part sales tools. Typically a dealer gives the service customer a current model, in effect a test drive they didn't ask for, in the hope the customer gets an itch they need to scratch. Maybe all the loaners were out so they pulled the CX-9 off the used car lot. They wouldn't hand out a new car for a one-off circumstance--they'd have to buy it and title it making it instantly used.
Can confirm I have had new CX-5 loaners both times I used a local dealer for work I didn't want to do.

Neither made me want to switch though. Pretty happy with my 2014 even if it isn't "upmarket".
 
Back