Roof racks
 

I thought I'd pass along a little rack information. Having just installed the factory rails, I'm impressed with the look but disappointed that the furthest forward you can push the front crossbar is the back of the moonroof. This means the maximum distance between the front and rear crossbars is not ideal for big loads and the centerpoint of your load is nowhere near the halfway point between the bumpers. It's fine for bikes or kayaks, but a long canoe or lumber won't be as stable as it could be.

If you choose to mount a rack directly to the roof mount points, you'll get at least another foot (30 cm). If you use door clips, you can stretch the two crossbars even further apart.

Yakima appears to be working on racks for the CX-5, but they are infuriatingly quiet about it. Keep an eye on the Yakima website and hope they make a fitting for the Whispbar soon.

If you install the factory rails, you can either cut the black ditch moldings as described in the instructions or drill holes. I drilled holes and was pleased with keeping the ditch moldings in one piece, but beware that the large and oblong holes are not easy to drill. And you'll still need to cut a few inches off the back end of the ditch moldings. I'm not sure which method I would recommend.

Good to know. Our local dealers have said they're not getting rails in for a while yet still. Might be worth waiting on Yakima at this rate.

You can get the rails at mazdagear.com. After shipping, it still comes in a little cheaper than the dealer. I know the Yakima engineers have crawled over the CX-5 and taken measurements. But I have no idea when they'll produce fittings.

I got the Mazda rails
 

I don't have the cross bars yet. I'm wondering if the whole thing will clear the shark fin antenna. Stay tuned.

I just took the cross bars off earlier today. I think they don't quite clear the shark fin. You don't have to worry about the crossbar itself because the side rails won't allow the cross bars to go as far back as the shark fin or as far forward as the moonroof. But you do have to be a little careful loading things onto the crossbars. I think an item on top of the crossbar could hit the shark fin.

The Mazda crossbars are relatively limited in function. Loading anything wider than 27" may be unstable. Anything more than 35" is asking for trouble. Putting my canoe on top was questionable. I ended up buying rail mounts for my Yakima bars--a lot uglier and noisier, but a lot more functional. Thule also makes a good rail mount.

The Mazda crossbars should be limited to lighter and smaller loads. If you're serious about your roof racks, skip the Mazda side rails too. By mounting Yakima or Thule to the fixed roof points, you'll gain width and distance between the crossbars. Unfortunately, those companies have yet to produce a fixed point kit for the CX-5.

Roof basket?
 

I am looking to put a basket on the top of our new CX-5. It came with side rails, and I'm considering the OEM crossbars at $108 vs ~$325 for Thule crossbars. This limits me slightly as far as what baskets I can add on top. We are primarily looking for more room for hauling camping gear.

I assume that there are limits as to how far back a basket can sit (rear fin clearance and hatch opening), but hopefully a basket can sit over the moonroof without obstruction.

Has anyone added a basket yet? Any pictures? And how bad is the additional wind noise, either just with the crossbars or the crossbars and a basket? Is a wind visor needed?

I don’t think you will have a clearance problem with the basket over the moonroof, but you need to check with the basket manufacturer about how much past the crossbar the basket can go. The limitation on how far forward (and back) you can locate the crossbars is dependent upon the side rails. The side rails don’t allow the front cross bar to go above the moonroof. Perhaps the basket can extend all the way over the moonroof, but too much unsupported weight will cause it to bend down onto the roof, particularly if you hit a big bump.

I installed the factory side rails and used the Thule cro$$bars for my luggage box (Yakima). The initial (last minute) installation found the box too far back and interfering with the rear hatch opening fully, so next time I will ignore the factory pick up points on the box, and drill my own holes so it can be mounted further forward. I did the same thing on my CRV, and it worked fine. I'll take a pic next time it's on the vehicle.

http://boldride.com/blog/wp-content/...X-5-Zobmie.jpg

Here is a photo showing basket on cx5

Looks Fantastic
 

Your CX5 looks awesome, I am new here and just considering one of these, but the lack or power worried me, whats you take on that and reliability.

Thanks, Chris

I've had my CX-5 for about 4 months and I don't get the big deal with the power. In order to get the MPG you need a trade-off. If you are just using the CX-5 as a normal vehicle then it should have enough power - and still be fun to drive. If you are looking to tow a lot of stuff, then it is underpowered.

Zoom Zoom is over rated these days. :eek: Mazda needs to find a new slogan. It may handle well in corners but power? :mad: The diesel would be better suited for this vehicle. I also hope you put on an aftermarket tranny cooler for any towing whatsoever, i put one on my vehicle as my tranny blew without towing anything!

Why would anyone get a sunroof/moonroof when they intend to use roof for storage is beyond me! It's a problem waiting to happen.
I F'n think these things are useless, a scam for extra $$$$$. I'm talking about the sunroof/moonroof. :p

On our first Mazda we didn't want the moonroof but it came as part of the package with the side airbags and we did want those.

I found it pretty useless for the first couple of years because at any sort of speed it was just too loud with it open; it was hard to hear the radio and hard to hear people talk. Then we added the little visor for it. With those in place you can have it fully open at 70 mph and still carry on a normal conversation.

I love fresh air and a bit of a feel of outside when driving and very few cars have aerodynamics that make it reasonable to have the side windows down at speed. The wind just blasts in too much. My 240Z works pretty good that way as the air doesn't blast right on you. But any of the side windows down at speed in the CX-5 gets really loud and a lot of direct wind from the front windows. With the moonroof and visor it gives me just the right amount of fresh air and open feeling. If it isn't so hot that I'm running the AC or raining I pretty much have it open. And if it is only a light rain and I'm moving pretty good I'll still have it open as the water gets blown over. (but if you slow down too fast any water that is on the roof behind the opening will come pouring in).

Ever drive at reasonable speed with just the rear windows say 1/2 way down?
It's a different experience and the sound can be menacing.
I never worry about the sound too much, just turn up the stereo!

My preference is the factory moonroof, when I want a bit of sun and/or fresh air to supplement A/C. It works very well for that purpose as equipped.

I purposely selected a CX-5 without a rack since I never use the rack and prefer the clean smooth-top look.

That works great, unless I want to talk to someone in the car or listen to the news.

Crossbar parts
 

I'm not sure where to look yet without calling my Mazda dealer but I was removing the cross bars on my CX-5's roof rails and one of the clips for the crossbar broke. It's the black plastic extension on the end of the black slider piece that installs inside of the rails. The black slider piece is the piece that helps fasten the crossbar to the rail from the inside of the rail. I broke the little black piece of plastic on that slider. Should I worry about replacing it or will even affect the cross bars when it comes to re-installing them and loading whatever on top. I think the only function the plastic piece was to keep the slider from sliding out the back of the rail unintended.

Does anyone know what the best option would be for a Safari roof rack/basket? Should I get the factory rails or something direct mount to the roof? I would like something like Surco Safari Roof Rack - Surco Safari Basket - Surco Safari Racks , but I don't know of any other options.

OEM Roof Rack install
 

Im looking @ buying the OEM roof Rack plus bars for my 2014 CX-5
Anyone have experience installing these? Im trying to find instructions online to see how hard it would be to install my self

There's a copy of the OEM rail installation instructions here, scroll down a bit.

For anyone struggling with the limitation of the factory rails or aftermarket cross bars, consider having permanent track installed. If done professionally you don't have to worry about damage or leaks.

The system consists of two low profile, aluminum T-tracks (both Thule and Yakima make a version) permanently attached to the roof with self expanding anchors and bolts (no need to drop the headliner). Very tight connection, can be made absolutely corrosion and leak proof, typically guaranteed for the life of the vehicle. Once the tracks are in, you can use Thule or Yakima bases that lock into the tracks and accept various towers. Gives you the ability to have a much wider spread, and are actually stronger than the OEM rails, since they are attached at more points. Plus, you can remove the entire rack apparatus in seconds and leave only the very stock looking and low key tracks, which generate no wind noise and do not effect MPG.

In my case, I realized there was no way to get bars level with the factory rails, fixed point towers, or clip on towers. For the stuff I carry, I need a solution that wouldn't point my cargo skyward, where it can catch air that generates lift. With the track system, I can move the forward bars far enough toward the windshield to drop it level with the rear bars (it's about a 40" spread, so that's a much more stable base as well).

I realize that many people are going to flatly reject drilling into the roof of their new car, and it took me a while to come around. But once I realized that there was not going to be any other way to make a rack on this car work for me, and once I talk to the installer enough to be convinced that they could do the work (and had done the work many times) without any compromise to my car's integrity, it started looking like a great solution. Way, way more flexible than any other rig.

Here's what the track looks like (not my car)

http://www.rackattack.com/dynamicima...xt-sidearm.jpg