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Drive-By-Wire... part 2 I've been putting off car maintenance for a long time. With a shopping list of things that needed to be done, I arranged car rental and the mechanic got me his corporate rate. That allowed me to get an SUV for the same price as a compact. This worked out great as the larger vehicle saved me another trip to Miami to bring up computers, TV, clothing and some household items in our never-ending relocation project. I selected a 2019 Mazda CX-5 that has an MSRP of $35,000 with all the options. While they state 26-28mpg combined, I was getting around 20 miles per gallon. Keyless entry and push start ignition seems to be standard for all new cars. The CX-5 has an electric tailgate that only locks when the key fob is more than 40 feet away. The bad part is you could be inside a restaurant and the car hatch just outside is unlocked. The doors are locked but the hatch isn't! We checked it a few times to to be sure. Lane assist. Since the steering is electronic, you can feel the steering stiffen and resist if you change lanes without signalling. It attempts to pull you back into the lane. If you drift in your lane, it will give a visual warning on the console and if you're on the highway it will beep with a visual warning. The same thing happens if you start to change lanes and the sensors detect cars coming up from behind in adjacent lanes. You can feel the steering wheel, hear and see the alert. The steering, brakes, transmission control are 'by wire' and electro-mechanically or fully electronic and not solely connected mechanically. . |
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Although smaller in size to other SUV's the CX-5 was more car than I would want for anything long term, but nice to experience for a few days. Softer ride than I'm accustomed to, but I disliked the hard leather seat. Fully controllable electric with lumbar support, I was unable to find comfort with that.
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