Looking to buy a GT. Drove the AWD and the FWD. Seems the AWD didn't have the take off the FWD did. Any facts or comments greatly appreciated.
Also can get a AWD no tech pkg. same price as FWD with tech. pkg. Is AWD worth the extra bucks. Go with the Tech. or AWD ? Not much snow around here.

 

Yes AWD is slightly slower with lower MPG. Purchase price difference is less of an issue because AWD commands significantly higher price on resale.

 

I've seen a lot of people in AWD vehicles get stuck when it snows. Mainly because they seem to think AWD means they will be fine. All that means in reality is that they will have twice the no traction that FWD cars have.

The decision to have AWD is more about rough roads/non-roads than snow. Do you intend to move over rough terrain at any point? If you do, you should strongly consider AWD. If you only plan to drive on pavement, or well-maintained dirt roads, FWD should be sufficient.

 

Does the gt wheels being larger dia. make any dif. in take off? We like th cx-5 but did notice the AWD to be slower take off. Any aftermarket items (prob. not yet) that help the pep. I know would make a dif. in mpg. Guess like they say can't have the hp and the mpg together. have to find a med. point.

 

The factory 19's don't make a significant difference, it's more a result of additional drag of AWD drivetrain. Mazda has already engineered the vehicle to minimize AWD impact on acceleration, nothing the owner can do to improve it for reasonable cost.

 

ok So they do know of a AWD acc. drag. What have they done to correct. Is it something that can be done to the previous sold awd?

 

Most AWD versions have slightly shorter (lower) gearing than 2wd versions, to mimimize impact on acceleration. The downside is somewhat reduced MPG. And even if they do have slightly different gearing on AWD, it's still going to be typically slighly less responsive or slower accelerating.

Therefore it's already in production, no mid-year change or retro change possible. In short, if you want faster acceleration, stick w/fwd version. Both versions of the CX-5 are hardly quick in the accleration department. 0 - 60 mph times are in the range of 9.0 - 9.5 seconds with fwd closer to 9.0 and AWD closer to 9.5 seconds. The difference is hardly worth worrying about.

 

A good video to compare the actual driving benefits are:
Fwd vs Awd vs Rwd - YouTube

But the Mazda CX-5 AWD would mainly drive FWD unless traction is lost.

 

Usually when you go up in models GS GT, tires get wider. Wider tires are poor for acceleration. I'm talking about actual width of tire,rim. IE standard on my MAZDA 6 car is 16 X 6.5, aluminum rims are 17X7, and I believe GT is 18X7.5 or 8". Go up in models, wider wheels, tires. With this engine being so small, AWD is not an advantage.

 

CX-5 tires are same (225) width on all models and for both fwd and awd, for both 17" and 19" wheels. Rim width is also the same for both at 7.0".