2017 Mazda CX-5 - Mazda first drive review

7 Mazda CX-5 first drive review: Will more tech, quieter cockpit match Audi, BMW?

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The second-generation Mazda CX-5 compact crossover / SUV stands as the best choice for driving enthusiasts who need an affordable crossover to haul gear or family members. The 2017 CX-5 is also emerging as the category’s technology champ with a head-up display, smart blind spot detection aler t, full-range adaptive cruise control, standard LED headlamps, and an intelligent all-wheel-drive system. Mazda makes a fair claim that the CX-5 has “class above” technology more in line with what Audi, BMW, Lexus and Mercedes-Benz offer. “We know we’re already better than [Honda] CR-Vs and such, so we benchmarked upscale,” Mazda’s chief engineer proclaims.
To appeal to mainstream buyers who’ve made Honda CR-V and Toyota RAV4 each outsell Mazda 3-1 last year, Mazda has worked on sound-damping, improving ride quality, adding rear seat heaters, upping the quality of the audio system, and adding rear seat USB jacks. Nobody’s perfect and in Mazda’s case there’s still no performance engine for enthusiasts. For mainstream buyers, there’s no Apple CarPlay or Android Auto offered, no satellite radio except on the costliest CX-5, and those rear seat heaters are an option on the costliest CX-5. Overall, the positives far outweigh the negatives.

Second generation, looks like the first generation

Mazda says there are big changes inside and out, as there have been almost every since the first-gen CX-5 arrived as a 2013 model. For 2017 (lower image above), there’s a sharper nose, a black egg-carton grille (no horizontal strakes now), and a side body character line that sweeps down instead of up as it moves rearward. It’s still 179 inches long, right in the sweet spot for compact SUVs. There’s one engine choice, a 187-hp normally aspirated (no turbo) four-cylinder engine, rated at 23 mpg city, 30 mpg highway, 26 mpg combined for all-wheel-drive, 24/31/27 for front-drive. The transmission is a six-speed automatic.
Mazda said new features appealing to mainstream buyers are an available power liftgate, a second-row seat that reclines (slightly) and also folds fully flat, and improved NVH (noise, vibration, harshness) without degrading handling. See the slideshow below for the 10 tech improvements that make the CX-5, as Mazda says, punch above its weight, including full-range adaptive cruise control, G-Vectoring, more USB jacks, a head-up display that includes blind spot information, and traffic sign recognition.
Ten tech features make the 2017 CX-5 stand out:

Full-range adaptive cruise control (ACC)

Among Mazda's 10 coolest, class-above features: Mazda Radar Cruise Control (Mazda's term) for 2017 goes all the way down to stopped and back up to speed. It's a big advantage in metro areas with stop-and-go highway commuting. It's also less abrupt then 2016's system. ACC is still not common on mainstream compact SUVs; here, it's offered on all but the entry trim line.

On the road

I test-drove the CX-5 in San Diego and eastward along the US-Mexico border (lots of border patrol agents, no sign of the wall). In comparison with the 2016 Mazda CX-5 I’ve been driving the past half-year, the new one is indeed quieter and a bit less bouncy on rough roads. Mazda attributes this to more welds, acoustic laminated glass in front, extra door seals, and more sound insulation in the floor.
The adaptive cruise control was smoother; the older one sometimes locked on to a car ahead and then a few seconds later braked firmly, enough to make the passengers look up. The head up display was a great addition, particularly since it put the blind spot warning in the HUD (as well as in the side mirrors). When a car shows up in your blind spot, three sonar-looking waves turn orange on the left, right, or both. If you’re thinking about changing lanes, you have to shift your vision to the side mirror for a couple hundred milliseconds; with the HUD, you just glance down, all the while keeping your eyes on the road ahead. The steering wheel has even bigger buttons this year.
The engine is basically the same: Mazda’s high-tech SkyActiv inline-four with low emissions and adequate pickup for merging onto expressways. The mileage is decent, but you’ll probably be in the high 20s in combined driving; you need a light foot to pass 30 mpg. Thus my interest in seeing how peppy and economical the 2.2-liter SkyActiv diesel will be this fall.
Navigation is adequate; there are better and worse from competitors, but it gets the job done. The new Bose audio with 10 speakers sounds better. It’s great having USB jacks for back seat passengers. I’ve grown to like the Commander control wheel in the console. A nearby button to fetch audio presets (you scroll to the one you want) gives you as many as you want, but it’s not as direct as having six or eight dedicated presets right under the center LCD.
The back is still roomy especially for a small car. Four adults can travel all day in comfort, and even more so with back seat HVAC vents and the improved ride.

Where Mazda isn’t yet class-above

Mazda wants to be compared with the big boys: Audi Q3 and Q5 (the CX-5 falls in between in size), BMW X3, Mercedes-Benz GLC, and the two Japanese crossovers that are 1-2 in premium SUV sales: Lexus NX and Acura RDX. Fair enough. Here’s where Mazda comes up short.
Blind spot detection doesn’t offer haptic feedback, meaning a steering wheel or seat vibration that only alerts the driver. The beep is only a second long, which makes it only halfway annoying. Lane departure warning does offer a vibration now, along with either a beep or a rumble strip sound through the speakers (pick one).
Not having Apple CarPlay and Android Auto in 2017 is starting to look dated. We understand that adopting them puts a small automaker at the mercies of Apple and Google. At least it’s in the works. Satellite radio is only offered on the costliest CX-5, the Grand Touring. It needs to be on every trim line.
Some, not all, class-above competitors offer side window screens (the CX-9 does, too) and it’s great for long trips. The CX-5 also lacks surround vision cameras, automated parallel parking, and factory-installed rear parking sonar (as a dealer accessory, it’s costly). Campers and boaters would wish for 3,500-pound towing capacity, not just 2,000 pounds; it’s rare in affordable compact SUVs (Toyota offers a special RAV4 that tows 3,500 pounds), but not uncommon among higher end competitors.
Mazda as yet offers no telematics package like GM OnStar. It will become more and more useful to get real-time updates on road conditions, detours, and restaurant and hotel information. Mazda at least gets current speed information by reading roadside speed limit signs (also stop signs and traffic lights).
There are also little things: BMW and Audi have roller wheels on the steering wheel for adjusting volume or audio choices, which is faster, smoother, and cooler than up-down buttons. It also costs a bit more.
The interior leather trim is either off-white or black; a medium brown or chestnut would be a good in-between choice. For Mazda, the challenge is that every time it offers another choice, there’s more complexity in finding exactly what you want in stock. (Although it’s zero percent now if you want a tobacco-color leather.)
Mazda doesn’t lose all the comparisons. Mazda has LED headlamps standard; BMW offers LED headlamps on the X3 for $1,900. Advantage, Mazda.

Mazda CX-5 pricing: $25,000 to $34,000 all-in

Mazda pricing is on par with most other mainstream compact crossovers. There are three trim lines, or model variants.  The technology builds with each trim line.
CX-5 Sport. $24,985 (including $940 freight), $26,285 with all-wheel-drive. Standard equipment includes LED headlamps, Smart City Brake Support, backup camera, two USB jacks, phone and audio Bluetooth, 7-inch dash mounted LCD, AM/FM/HD radio, and 17-inch alloy wheels. Seats are manual with cloth trim. There are no options packages other than Soul Red Crystal paint: $595 for a dazzling red.
CX-5 Touring. $26,855, $28,155 with AWD. It adds blind spot monitoring, rear cross-traffic alert, keyless entry, two rear USB jacks, leatherette heated front seats with “lux suede” inserts and six-way power driver’s seat, auto-leveling LED headlamps, six-speaker audio, rear center armrest, and rear HVAC vents. The $780 Preferred Equipment Package adds 10-speaker Bose audio, a moonroof, a power liftgate, navigation, auto-dimming mirrors, Homelink (garage door opener), and auto on/off headlamps. The Touring i-Activsense package, $625, adds lane departure warning, automatic high beams, lane keep-assist, stop and go adaptive cruise control (“radar cruise control”), and smart brake support. Machine Gray Metallic paint is $300, and Snowflake White Pearl is $200.
CX-5 Grand Touring. $30,335, $31,635 with AWD. In addition to the Touring’s standard and optional features, it adds steerable headlamps, LED fog and tail lamps, satellite radio, rain-sensing wipers, heated outside mirrors, eight-way power driver’s seat, leather seats, and 19-inch alloy wheels. The $1,830 Grand Touring package includes a true head up display (“Active Driving Display”) with traffic sign recognition, power front passenger seat, heated outboard rear seats, heated steering wheel, and windshield wiper de-icer.

Is this the compact SUV to buy?

Mazda makes a strong case that its compact crossover has the most features offered at a competitive price. If marriage and a baby make you trade your sports sedan for a small SUV, this is hands-down the best crossover for enthusiasts who don’t want to pay BMW X3, Audi Q5, or Mercedes-Benz GLC kinds of money. A loaded CX-5 is a couple thousand less than a stripped Lexus NX or Acura RDX, the two sales leaders among premium compact SUVs, and about $6,000 less than an zero-options X3. Comparably equipped, a premium compact SUV will be $10,000-$15,000 more, although they’ll likely have better resale value, meaning attractive lease rates.
With the tweaks in the 2017 model, you’ll find the new CX-5 more palatable for passengers who don’t like a firm ride. The interior is upscale. The exterior lines are crisper. The Soul Red Crystal paint is to die for (at almost $600, you might feel a small twinge). The sum of the technology is best-in-category against the CR-V, RAV4, Nissan Rogue, Ford Escape, and Chevrolet Equinox, the five compact SUVs that sold 242,000 (Chevy) to 357,000 units (Honda) last year versus Mazda’s 112,000.
If you value technology, the 2017 Mazda CX-5 is your car. The case for the 2017 CX-5 is best if you’re looking at the very top trim line, the Grand Touring with the Premium package. It shows the most changes from the outgoing 2016.5 CX-5, particularly the adaptive cruise and HUD. The bang-for-the buck CX-5 is the CX-5 Touring with the two options packages that give you lane departure warning, automatic high beams, lane keep-assist, stop and go adaptive cruise control, the power liftgate, premium audio, and the sunroof: just under $30,000, all in.
If you’re not a fan of new technology, then you should also look at leftover 2016 models, making sure that your spouse/partner goes along for the test ride so your both comfortable with how it feels on smooth and bumpy roads. Mazda indeed punches above its weight.

Source: https://www.extremetech.com/extreme/245417-will-tech-quieter-cockpit-put-2017-mazda-cx-5-par-audi-bmw

Snap Stock - Shares in Snapchat maker fall below initial trading price and falling

Snap Inc.’s stock market debut last week has been celebrated as a success in the tech world as its share price surged in their first two days on the market. But that optimism doesn’t necessarily extend to Wall Street, where analysts remain doubtful of the company’s current value.

Shares of Snap Inc. opened at $28.17 on Monday morning, up about 4% from their price at the close of market Friday and up 66% from the $17 price paid by investors in Snap’s IPO last week. But they fell just below $24 — Snap’s initial trading price — when the session ended.

That’s still above what Wall Street analysts believe Snap shares are worth. Of seven analysts surveyed by FactSet who cover the stock, none has issued a “buy” rating for Snap, and all have set their fair value estimate or target price between $10 and $23.

“It’s overvalued,” said Brian Wieser of Pivotal Research Group, a financial analysis firm. “That’s the simple answer.”

Wieser set the year-end target price for Snap’s stock at $10 and gave it a “sell” rating based on his estimates of the company’s future profitability. “To get to the [current] valuation requires willful optimism about the fundamentals,” he said.

In a report on Snap last week, Wieser pointed to the company’s high costs — which include hosting, serving and creating content, as well as sharing revenue with content partners — and its “sub-optimal corporate structure” with relatively inexperienced managers at the helm.

Analysts were also concerned about Snap’s ability to grow and to compete successfully with Facebook, which has 1.2 billion daily active users compared with Snapchat’s 158 million.

Laura Martin, an analyst with Needham & Co., said Snap’s narrow target demographic and bandwidth-intensive app limit its potential audience to young people in first-world countries. She estimated the total size of that audience to be about 650 million, compared with the 3.6 billion for each Google and Facebook.

And even within its core demographic, Snap faces competition from copycats, Martin said.

“If you’re a Snap shareholder, you get hit with all the failures as they experiment and then when they have a win, Facebook copies it,” she said. “They have no protection.”

Instagram, for example, launched its own version of Stories, a Snapchat feature in which users can post a sequence of photos or videos that are available for viewing for 24 hours, last August. Snap’s growth slowed sharply in the fourth quarter of 2016.

“The major risk for Snap is the possibility that its coveted demographic of younger users finds Facebook’s collection of apps more appealing than Snap’s and migrates over,” wrote Victor Anthony, an analyst at Aegis Capital Corp., in a report initiating his firm’s coverage of Snap last week.

Adopting Snap-like features doesn’t just mean Facebook can retain or attract young users. Advertisers, too, will stick with the platform.

“Large advertisers still view Snap as experimental,” said Anthony in an interview by phone, but they feel more comfortable with Facebook. “It’s a platform they know whose return is proven,” he said.

That’s a problem for Snap, which, like other social media companies, makes its money from advertisers, not consumers. The bulk of Snap's $400 million in revenue last year came from selling ads that appear on the Snapchat app, and ads are expected to be the main revenue driver for the foreseeable future.

So how come the stock is still trading far above its $17 offering price?

“There’s a lot riding on the success of the Snap IPO,” said Anthony. After a drought of technology IPOs in recent years, investors are hoping this one will succeed and open the floodgates to other tech IPOs, Anthony said.

On top of that, most of the investors who have thus far bought Snap shares are institutional investors — big funds and corporations, such as NBCUniversal, which purchased about 15% of the shares available in last week’s IPO. Many of these investors have committed not to sell their shares for at least a year, Anthony said, meaning there’s a limited supply available, which drives up the price.

And all the buzz around Snap’s IPO may be tempting small and individual investors to buy, said Anthony, pushing up demand.

Though he expressed concerns about Snap’s ability to grow and the formidable competition it faces from Facebook, Anthony said he surveyed several advertisers and found they are eager to get in front of Snap’s coveted demographic.

“We see Snap as a sustained ad share gainer over the next two year,” he wrote. “That alone should lead to share price performance this year.”

Source: http://www.latimes.com/business/la-fi-tn-snap-stock-20170306-story.html