Sport and Manual mode questions

[Dash Riproc]

Is the steering and/or suspension changed when you switch to Sport mode? I can't find a clear answer on this.

I've been playing around with the various modes on my wife's 2024 Prem Plus NA. I might be imagining things but it seems like steering is a little tighter/more precise when I'm in Sport mode. Ride seems a bit smoother also. Or it may just be the higher RPM's playing tricks on me.

Also, it took me a while but I finally got the "hang" of manual mode and it seems like switching to Manual while in Sport mode is the secret sauce. But since I'm in control of RPM's in manual mode, I don't understand why that would be unless something else was going on with the steering and/or suspension.

fwiw, I don't really like using Sport mode in Auto for drives around town. The shiftpoints, particularly in the lower gears (1-2 and 2-3), get close or into 4K RPM's and that feels too high to me. But if I do it manually and shift around 3K, it's really nice. Am I missing something?

 

[gtbigup]

On my 2022 challenger scat pack, changing to sport mode adjust some suspension settings as well. I doubt on this CX-5 it makes any suspension changes, it just adjust shift points in that it seems to hang on to the gears longer. Since this isn't a performance car, i doubt Mazda went that hard-core to make suspension adjustments in sport mode.
I could be wrong though.

 

[youri]

The CX-5 definitely does not have adjustable suspension. The older Cx-5 (2018 ish) did not modify steering or throttle input either. It is possible that that may have changed, Mazda sometimes introduces little tweaks like that year over year, but has far as I know on current CX-5 it is only shift points that changes

 

[N7turbo]

It only affects transmission behavior. The suspension is entirely conventional and not connected to any electronics.

 

[vrsick]

I'm puzzled. 2 days ago I needed to park my car on the side of the road so I could launch my drone. The road was slightly bumpy. As I drove in, I saw the dash displaying "Off Road Mode."
I'm wondering, did the car detect the imperfection of the ground and automatically go on Off Road Mode?

 

[Dash Riproc]

It only affects transmission behavior. The suspension is entirely conventional and not connected to any electronics.

What about steering? Because it feels to me like the steering gets tighter in Sport mode. Is that possible?

 

[stickerbush]

I'm puzzled. 2 days ago I needed to park my car on the side of the road so I could launch my drone. The road was slightly bumpy. As I drove in, I saw the dash displaying "Off Road Mode."
I'm wondering, did the car detect the imperfection of the ground and automatically go on Off Road Mode?

I've driven on some rough gravel roads in my 2024 and never has it automatically switched to Off Road mode.

 

[N7turbo]

What about steering? Because it feels to me like the steering gets tighter in Sport mode. Is that possible?

Since it's electronically controlled, it's possible to do. But I haven't noticed a difference.

 

[Dash Riproc]

I'm puzzled. 2 days ago I needed to park my car on the side of the road so I could launch my drone. The road was slightly bumpy. As I drove in, I saw the dash displaying "Off Road Mode."
I'm wondering, did the car detect the imperfection of the ground and automatically go on Off Road Mode?

I haven't had it come on randomly by itself, but we've only had this car a couple of months and I haven't taken it off pavement yet. I can't tell any difference in anything when I've turned it on while driving on pavement.

Honestly, I don't even know what "Off Road Mode" is supposed to do, other than turning on some cool brown graphics in the dash. I guess it changes the way power is distributed to the wheels? I don't know. That was going to be my next question to the group. Nothing I've read from Mazda is much help.

I wish Mazda would be more clear about what all these things do and why.

 

[N7turbo]

It is their current way to disable traction control (notice there is no button for it) and get full power to the wheels. It is my understanding this only works up to 20 mph. It may also adjust front/rear power but don't quote me on that.

 

[Dash Riproc]

It is their current way to disable traction control (notice there is no button for it) and get full power to the wheels. It is my understanding this only works up to 20 mph. It may also adjust front/rear power but don't quote me on that.

Hmmm... now that's interesting...

Thank you - that would explain why some of the articles I've come across talk about turning off the traction control button, which had me even more confused. I didn't specifically check to see if this vehicle (2024 Prem Plus) has one or not, I'm guessing not.

We bought our daughter a 2022 Select a few months ago. It only has Sport mode option, not Off Road so her vehicle will probably have the TCS button I assume? I'll check tonight.

 

[youri]

Off road mode does more than disable traction control. It gets complicated, but in all awd with open differentials, you end up in situations were if a wheel on one side of the car spins freely (off the ground, on ice or very loose material) then the wheels on the other sides gets no power at all. If you had a locked differential then both left and right wheel would be locked together and this wouldn’t happen.

One way to transfer power back to the wheel with traction is to use the brake to apply a force on the wheel that is freely spinning. When the free spinning wheel is braked then the power is automatically transferred to the other wheel, which helps the car move forward and get unstuck. This is what the off-road mode does.

Go watch offroad tests on youtube, there are alot of reviewers who shows the difference with and without it.

I don’t think It is a setting that get engaged automatically though.