I was told by the salesman to turn the traction control off if I was driving in a parking lot full of snow (or through a lot of snow in general). Does this make sense??

Bon

 

If you're stuck, yes. Even says so in the owners manual. Happened to me one morning. I have a mile long drive up an 8% grade on the way to work every day. One snowy cold morning I was up about 2/3rds of the way when a salt truck pulled out in front of me. I had to stop, but then neither wheel could catch on and there was no power to the wheels, which is what traction control does, cuts power to the spinning wheels (mine is FWD). I turned off traction control and was able to worm my way up the hill.

 

Yes if you are stuck. You may need to spin wheels a bit and to get rocking back and forth without engine interruption.
Here's a thought: what does traction control do to the engine? Does it turn off the ignition but not the fuel? I know the engine stumbles. It may be possible that raw fuel is bypassing ignition and sent in to the catalytic converters, which can melt them!
Also a side note: all season tires worked Ok for me the first year of winter driving with my Mazda 6, but bad after that.

Bon Scott = ACDC original lead singer! Bon Scott died in February 19 of 1980 in London, England. Scott passed out in the car on the way back to friend Alistair Kinnear's house after a night of heavy drinking at the Music Machine club in London. Upon arrival at his home, Kinnear was unable to move Scott from the car into his home for the night, so he left him in the car overnight to sleep off the effects of the alcohol. Unable to wake Scott late the next morning, Kinnear rushed him to King's College Hospital in Camberwell, where Scott was pronounced dead on arrival. Pulmonary aspiration of vomit was the cause of Scott's death, and the official cause was listed as "acute alcohol poisoning". Scott's family buried him in Fremantle, Western Australia, the area they emigrated to when he was a boy.
Then after Back in Black was released July 21, 1980 when Brian Johnson took over vocals.

I am a big ACDC fan, have hat and T-shirt and many songs.
For some videos with Bon Scott lead singer: https://www.mazdaforum.com/forum/off...47/#post145491

 

Even with stock tires and 28 inches of snow! She handled like a dream! Even climbing up over plow!

 

wife says that her cx5 is the safest she has ever felt in the winter. of course I did buy 4 blizzack tires for it. can't just run those 19" all season tires in the northest winters.

 

I have a set of General Arctic Altimax tires on, and while I've only had one snow storm so far the car has done just fine. Wish I could really test it out so I can compare to Subaru I had last year.

 

Ok.. Ok..

So after reading most of the comments I have one question. How different is the AWD setup on my CX-5 from the Subaru Forester I rented and drove in the snow last week in Montana because it was darn good. ( even tho I did not care for the rest of the car)

I have not yet had the CX-5 in snow with the stock 19" Toyo " all season tires" but I just want to know how the AWD system works in the CX-5 in comparison to other similar vehicles.

 

The difference between Subaru AWD and Mazda is simply this:

Subaru AWD is always active. If you drive an automatic I believe its 60% front wheels, and 40 in the back. If you drive a manual its 50/50 all the time. Obviously if there is lack of traction those numbers can shift to where power is needed. While its great to have, it also affects gas mileage.

Mazda AWD is only active when slip is detected, otherwise it runs like a front wheel drive car most of the time. I believe it has the ability to send 50% of its power to the rear wheels. The stock 19 inch wheels are okay in the snow (I drove them once in a small snow storm), but if you want the best its a good idea to have a dedicated winter tire setup.

I had the same winter tires on both my Subaru and Mazda. Subaru is a better AWD system in my opinion, but nothing has happened where I feel let down by the Mazda either.

 

Thanks for the information. I had a feeling that was the set up. I have not yet had the CX-5 in the snow. The Forester I rented was very good with stock tires. Ironically the average MPG was the same as my CX-5. In mixed driving the average after a week was 24.5 mpg.

I feel the Subaru's are probably inherently better in the snow which is why in Montana every other vehicle is a Subaru. That said the CX-5 is better in every other way in my opinion

 

Mazda Ice Academy: Trial By Ice And Snow ? CX-5, CX-3 And MX-5 ? Latest Mazda news

Interestingly, part of the challenge on the first circuit was to repeat the exercise in two of the CX-5’s key AWD competitors, the Honda CR-V and Subaru Forester. The task being to compare their performance and capability – in matching conditions and against a target speed – against the Mazda’s performance.

The CX-5, without putting too fine a point on it, “did ‘em like a dinner”. (That report follows: “Shootout On Ice – Mazda CX-5 versus Honda CR-V versus Subaru Forester”.)