martman
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« on: August 08, 2006, 02:40:29 PM » |
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Since there has not been a lot of activity on the Mazda 5 side of this forum, I thought i would share my first long drive with the 5. Just came back from a 1,000 km round trip to Kelowna. Had the 5 loaded up with me and my significant other, and two kids PLUS a week's worth of supplies and luggage. The 5 performed flawlessly on the Coquihala, although I probably would have wanted two things: a bit more power, and a 5 or 6 speed auto tranny. Hitting the coq, it would have been nice to have a bit more power instead of downshifting all the time to keep the speed up. I found that I was on Manual shift mode most of the time I was on the Coquihala. Considering my load, though, the 5 still performed great! The suspension really shone as I was taking the twisties quite nicely. I think I would have done better gas mileage on the highway if the 5 came with either a 5 or 6 speed tranny. Overall, I computed mileage at around 35 mpg - which i think is pretty good considering I was red-lining my poor engine going up the coq, and down. I definitely was not babying the car!!! In certain flat stretches, I peeked down at the speedo, and i was hitting 185 kph! (not sustained) which kinda scared me since I was carrying the family with me  Through the whole three day trip, I only saw two other 5's - not a lot of 3's up in Kelowna either. |
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« Last Edit: August 08, 2006, 02:46:59 PM by martman »
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M Speed
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« Reply #1 on: August 08, 2006, 03:11:41 PM » |
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a 5 spd tranny will really help as the 4spd just try to hunt gears when going uphill.
Thanks for sharing how the 5 perform and glad you are happy with the purchase.
and the weather holding up until today...now finally we get some rain.
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derrick
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« Reply #2 on: August 08, 2006, 03:27:46 PM » |
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Speaking of rain, Vic just vic'd my car yesterday.  But happy to hear the 5 performs so well. I really want one now.  |
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TSheikh
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« Reply #3 on: August 08, 2006, 05:01:23 PM » |
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5 is a very beautiful Van. 5sp auto would definitely be better.
I also went for a long drive from Richmond till the tolls on the #5 hw but in an 05 Taurus. Let me tell you, the drive was not fun at all. The car was quite boaring and a big time gas guzzler.
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perfecto
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« Reply #4 on: August 10, 2006, 12:00:47 PM » |
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That drive is so much fun with a manual tranny...  |
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-  2006 Mazda5 GT Platinum Silver - 2006 Mazda3 GT Copper RedHatch > Sedan... forever. |
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martman
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« Reply #5 on: August 10, 2006, 02:37:34 PM » |
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That drive is so much fun with a manual tranny... You bet. The last time I drove up the Coquihala, I was alone in my 5 spd Acura 1.6 EL with SR and lowered about 1.5" with sticky Dunlop W10's That was a blast! |
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M Speed
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« Reply #6 on: August 10, 2006, 04:20:43 PM » |
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W10 were awesome tires for the first 2 season. After that is a scary tire in the rain.  |
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martman
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« Reply #7 on: August 10, 2006, 07:48:24 PM » |
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W10 were awesome tires for the first 2 season. After that is a scary tire in the rain. Yeah, awesome sticky tires, but didn't last very long, and noisy as heck! IIRC, weren't they summer tires only? not M+S rated? |
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M Speed
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« Reply #8 on: August 10, 2006, 08:14:01 PM » |
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Yup are the pure summer tires. They have large patches which make them noisy. It is real bad in rain...if one want to attemp to use in the snow is someone want a new car |
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Terence
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« Reply #9 on: August 12, 2006, 12:03:12 AM » |
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If you want some fun on twisties, go Manning park route and old #1 instead.
Terence
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Platinum Silver '06 Mazda 5 GT - auto, A/C
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Raheel
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« Reply #10 on: August 12, 2006, 05:42:25 AM » |
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If you want some fun on twisties, go Manning park route and old #1 instead.
Terence
Oh yeah. But sulk in disgust when a slow guy is driving in front of you.  |
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Mega007
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« Reply #11 on: August 16, 2006, 03:08:49 PM » |
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great writeup. I drove my Mz5 down to Olympia, WA. It still has under 2K kms. It sure drives smooth. I find the power is good enough for a fun drive. However, I'd like it with a bit more power for pull-up or the up-hills. So far, my wife loves driving the car more than i do The turning radius is like a compact car. There is no problem doing U-turn in inner streets. However, I do experience shaky idle and I will probably try out the ground wirings later as mentioned in another post. When I first brought the car home, I find the wirings in the engine bay needs a bit more work. There are places where it should have wire looms. Most of the wires are wrapped with electrical tapes!  Anyway, I wonder if anyone here wants to or know where to get a roll of wire looms and protect their wires? it can also dress up your engine bay!  |
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derrick
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« Reply #12 on: August 16, 2006, 03:11:35 PM » |
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I see this is your first post since you signed up in 2005. Welcome to the forums, great to have another 5 owner. For the wiring, really electrical tape is good enough. Adding loom wouldn't hurt though, and yes it would dress up the engine bay nicely. Especially if you decided to go with a colored loom. For the shaky idle, there may be a TSB out for it. There was one for the 3 I believe, but not sure about the 5. |
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Mega007
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« Reply #13 on: August 16, 2006, 03:36:46 PM » |
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hey Derrick, i think we have just met last Sun. if you were at J's party. haha... yes, i signed up to this forum before I got my M5. As for the electric tape, i've had bad experience in my other car. The tape will melt or dry up (oxidize) over time in the engnie bay and when you take them off, it will leave your wires all glue-y.  Anyway, thatz what i find when you keep your car over 8 years Remember, rubber/plastic will oxidize over time... |
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rancid
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« Reply #14 on: August 16, 2006, 03:40:25 PM » |
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no, there's no tsb for the rough idle. I have a small pile of TSBs for the Mazda5 but I need a place to host it so I can provide a link to it. It's the same 2.3L engine as the 3 and mine has had a rough idle from day 1. And different fuel grades dont' seem to help. I will be redoing the grouding when I get some days off next week.
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M Speed
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« Reply #15 on: August 16, 2006, 03:47:27 PM » |
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hey Derrick, i think we have just met last Sun. if you were at J's party. haha... yes, i signed up to this forum before I got my M5. As for the electric tape, i've had bad experience in my other car. The tape will melt or dry up (oxidize) over time in the engnie bay and when you take them off, it will leave your wires all glue-y. Anyway, thatz what i find when you keep your car over 8 years Remember, rubber/plastic will oxidize over time... so will the looms. so after 8 yrs, you will have to take out the bittle looms AND deal with the gluey tape |
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derrick
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« Reply #16 on: August 16, 2006, 03:52:11 PM » |
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hey Derrick, i think we have just met last Sun. if you were at J's party. haha... yes, i signed up to this forum before I got my M5. As for the electric tape, i've had bad experience in my other car. The tape will melt or dry up (oxidize) over time in the engnie bay and when you take them off, it will leave your wires all glue-y. Anyway, thatz what i find when you keep your car over 8 years Remember, rubber/plastic will oxidize over time... Ooooh, you are Jason's brother in law? Yes, now I remember. so will the looms. so after 8 yrs, you will have to take out the bittle looms AND deal with the gluey tape But after 8 years, I think I will have a new car... |
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M Speed
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« Reply #17 on: August 16, 2006, 03:54:56 PM » |
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^ Dude you quoted me and I ain't Jason's borther-in-law btw which Jason? |
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derrick
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« Reply #18 on: August 16, 2006, 03:57:58 PM » |
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^ Dude you quoted me and I ain't Jason's borther-in-law btw which Jason? Keiichi. And I fixed my post. |
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melonvitara
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« Reply #19 on: August 16, 2006, 04:13:40 PM » |
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hey Derrick, i think we have just met last Sun. if you were at J's party. haha... yes, i signed up to this forum before I got my M5. As for the electric tape, i've had bad experience in my other car. The tape will melt or dry up (oxidize) over time in the engnie bay and when you take them off, it will leave your wires all glue-y. Anyway, thatz what i find when you keep your car over 8 years Remember, rubber/plastic will oxidize over time... i put some electrical tape behind the foglight area for 1-2 weeks and when i took it off yesterday it's already gluey!!! yucks |
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