2026 Mazda CX-5 | Auto History | Jeff's Car Culture

Auto History Picks Of The Week

Don Armstrong 0:06

This week in auto history, Mr. Mars.

Mike Marrs 0:09

Yes, sir. We found a few things this week that we thought were rather interesting in auto history coming up. August the 23rd, way, way back in 1979. AMC introduces the Eagle. Now, this was one of their combinations trying to create a passenger car with comfort and four-wheel drive, and it was based on AMC's Concord. It uh had decent road manners and it was kind of a conventional, and you can get it in several body styles, including the wagon right here for you, Jeff. Still with the uh wood trim on it. And uh it's really it was part of an important predecessor today's crossovers and all-wheel drives, part of the industry development process, if you will.

Jeff Dziekan 0:51

I'd drive it, I'd tub it out.

Mike Marrs 0:54

Got the wood on it, you could do it. Then on uh August the 25th, back in 1910, the yellow cab company actually begins. Now it was founded by uh Walden Shaw as the Shaw Livery Company in Chicago. It was actually the first taxi cabs were horse-drawn carriages. And then, of course, it developed over the years, changed hands a couple of times, and yellow cab company actually had a yellow cab manufacturing company where they were building their own cabs for a little while. Uh so it uh, and then of course, one of the partners that came along in the process was a gentleman named Hertz, and of course, that's where you get Hertz rental cars from, so it all kind of transitions.

Don Armstrong 1:36

Put you in the driver's seat today. Sorry.

Mike Marrs 1:41

No problem. I didn't know he had audio effects. I think it's great. Then on uh coming up on August 26th, back in 1959, the Mini Cooper makes its design coming from the British Motor Corporation, and it's basically just basically known as a mini. Now I saw one of these in California several years ago, much like the right one, the one on the right there, the white one. And it's really rolling on 12-inch tall tires. I mean, it looks like a little kid's car going down the freeway at 50 miles an hour. I don't know, they'd go much faster, but that's how fast that one was going. So it was originally sold as the Austin 7 and Morris Mini Motor Company, and so it actually became an icon today, and they're still in production. And um the original design was actually produced up until 2000, and they built 5.3 million of these cars along the way. Then we're gonna move on to August the 27th, 1957. One of Jeff's favorite cars. Ford introduces the Ed Sol to the press. We brought out the wagon for you, Jeff.

Jeff Dziekan 2:46

I know, I'd drive it all. I'd drive the I'd drive the the uh C dan.

Mike Marrs 2:51

So it was made its sales debut in 1957. Unfortunately, it became a very very quickly became a famous commercial failure. Part of it was due to the unusual styling, and a lot of people have decided that the ambitious marketing really uh is kind of what killed it. Went a little too far, a little too fast, but anyway, that's lessons learned as far as that horse collar grill just does it for me. Yeah, yeah, yeah. A lot of people like that. Push buttons, push button trans. The shifter. I love the shifter. Then uh August 28th, 1937, the Toyota Motor Company is established. Now, in 1937, it was actually coming out of the Toyota Automotive Automatic Loomworks Company. So this was a company, uh they developed an engine, they built their first prototype automobile. Then they changed the name from Toyota to Yo to Toyota, and partially, because the Japanese characters to write Toyota it took eight strokes to actually make that character. So, and that's considered a fortunate number. So they changed the name of it based on how many strokes it took to write the name of the car.

Jeff Dziekan 4:04

Very, yeah, very superstitious.

Mike Marrs 4:07

How well it looks like all the new modern Toyotas that are out there. So that was a few things that we found this week in automotive history that we thought were rather interesting coming up in the next week.

Don Armstrong 4:17

And that they were. Yep. Thank you.

Day Trips Near Houston For Families

Don Armstrong 4:27

All right there, uh Mr. Marnes uh got the driving destinations for us.

Mike Marrs 4:32

Yes, sir. Got a few things that we were looking at. School, the kids have all gone back to school, so family weekend trips are basically what you're looking at either Saturday and Sunday or maybe for the whole weekend. So we were looking at day tripping. Uh and one of the things is Beaumont. Now it's far enough from Houston that it's out of Houston, but it's not really too far. It's only about an hour, hour and a half, depending on where you're coming from. And one of the things is the Spindletop Gladys City Boomtown Museum. Now, this is really a look at what really changed Texas. The spindle top uh oil wells that came in from the spindletop oil field that's just outside of Beaumont. Created a big gusher, set off the first big oil boom in the state of Texas. Now, the Gladys City Boomtown Museum, they've got a lot of things like a livery stable, a lot of reenactments or setups like were uh around during that time of year. And once a year, they actually have a smaller, but it's an oil derrick type setup, and they'll set off a water boom to kind of reenact the the gusher. And uh it's a pretty big deal, it's pretty neat, and then there's a lot of other museums to see around in Beaumont, uh including the State Fire Museum. Then uh the second place we wanted to look at is Nacadoches. Again, not too far to make it where it have to be a weekend. You can make it a longer day trip because it's a little bit further to drive. We've got a lot of historic buildings, got a walkable downtown, parks, uh creek, uh Millard's Crossing Historic Village is a place, it's got a lot of interesting things that go on in it, as well as the Stephen S. Austin University has a planetarium. So you can kind of do something kind of in the inside, get a little air conditioning, as well as get some of the outside experiences outside of Houston to make it a day trip, even though it's a little long. The third one we wanted to look at was Sea Center, Texas. Now, this is down in Lake Jackson. Uh I never heard of it until I went looking for all this stuff, and it's easy to get to and it's easy to overlook. I guess that's why nobody's heard of it. But coming out of Houston, 288 is kind of a main thoroughfare. Well, you just get on it and you go south until you get to Sea Center, Texas. Now, it's also uh has an aquarium, it's a fish hatchery, and it really looks specifically at the Texas Gulf Coast marine life, you know, covering the salt marshes, the bays, artificial reefs, things like that. It's got a touch pool to where the kids can actually get in and handle a few of the marine animals that it's safe to do. And the best part is it's free. Then a little bit closer to your house there, Don, Rosenberg. It's still close to Houston. In fact, last time I was over there, it's basically Houston's about caught up with it. It's got a historic downtown with shops and restaurants, and it has the Fort Bend Museum. It's got some uh other opportunities such as Seaborne Creek Nature Park. You can go hiking, birding, do a little bit of fishing. So it's not too far, but it's a nice place to go. And it's also got a couple of uh people that's from that area. BJ Thomas is one of them, right there on the left. And then there's also dead. Yes, he is. But Steven Droitz, D R O Z D, I'm not sure. How do you say his name, Don?

Don Armstrong 7:43

I don't know. Oh who is he?

Mike Marrs 7:45

He's he he's with a his one of the uh member of the Flaming Lips band. He's been on TV.

Don Armstrong 7:52

Flaming something. I I know a few of those, but yeah, about flaming lips. Yeah. Anyway, go ahead.

Mike Marrs 7:58

Then we run down to Surfside Beach. Now, yeah, if you go down to Galveston, Galveston's pretty predictable about what you're gonna see, what you're gonna do.

Don Armstrong 8:04

Candace Thackeray's hangout.

Mike Marrs 8:06

There you go. Now, but if you go over to Surfside, which is uh west of Galveston, you get a little more simple. The beach, you still got the beach, the Gulf Air, and and lots of uh places to go have lunch, have dinner, but there's not really a big attraction like uh the parks and the museum or the strand that's really gonna drag a bunch of people down there. So this is actually more of a place you can go and literally go beach. This is a picture of the city hall at Surfside Beach. So it kind of gives you an idea of how laid back it is down there.

Jeff Dziekan 8:39

City Hall looks like it looks kind of like a penitentiary. Just a side note, Mike. When I moved to Texas in 81, I lived in Clute, Texas, which is the mosquito capital of Texas, which is 15 minutes from where you're showing that picture right there. We used to spend six out of the seven days a week down at Surfside Beach.

Mike Marrs 8:56

Yeah, yeah. Went through there, went through Clute one morning about 2 30, and uh met the local uh constable.

Don Armstrong 9:04

I can't imagine why.

Mike Marrs 9:06

Yeah, yeah, yeah. So the other one we wanted to mention is College Station. Now, uh everybody thinks when you think college station, you go Texas AM. Yeah, Texas AM is a big deal. Love their band, their marching band, but there's a lot more things there not too far from Houston. George H. W. Bush Presidential Library Museum is there. Got a lot of interesting things in there. Maybe it's a little bit for the older kids or teenagers, but you can go there and you can actually go and explore the university itself. And the the football stadium is just monstrous. And there's even a picture here of uh some of the older places, but go down around Northgate or even slip over to Brian downtown if you need to go to a little bit more. But a lot of things to do there without actually having to go to a museum park or an Aqua Music Park.

Don Armstrong 9:52

Thank you, sir.

Mike Marrs 9:53

Uh in wheel time.

2026 Mazda CX-5 First Impressions

Don Armstrong 10:01

Time now for this hour's car review. 2026 Mazda CX5 All-Wheel Drive. Available trim levels are the S, the S Select, the S preferred, the S Premium, the S Premium Plus, and I had the S Premium Plus. It's a lot of S's in there. This is a small small SUV. Uh seats including the driver, five. Uh exterior changes, all new, completely redesigned for 2026. Uh exterior features include familiar Mazda grille with a balanced, staggered headlight design, smooth curves, attractive on the door panels, uh, black plastic wheel opening moldings. It seems like everybody's doing that these days. Yep. Uh rather large C pillar. It can hamper your rear side vision a bit, so keep that in mind. You'll have to use those uh side mirrors. What I liked about the hockey stick rear lighting, love that. The overall design gets high marks, in my opinion. What could use improvement? Nothing. Interior highlights. Uh, much improved over the outgoing model, and needless to say, it's bigger inside and out. They all do that also. Extra large center touch screen, uh, almost uh 13 inches now. Quality materials fit and finish throughout the cabin, clamshell doors on the console lid. See them? I I'm just not a big fan because you still have to open both of them to get your hand down in there. Anyway, it's the way that it is. Um cargo room, bigger redesign, uh, allows larger storage behind the second row. And of course, you fold down the second row and got yourself a minivan back there. What I liked about it, almost everything on the interior. What could use improvement? Operating screen system is still difficult to use in many ways. Uh, thought that they would uh bump that up a bit. Uh try to change the radio station, I dare you. Engine, 2.5 liter inline four-cylinder, 187 horsepower, 186 pound feet of torque. Till rating, 1,500 pounds. That's it. Uh now, as far as you know, mileage is concerned, expect 24 city, 30 highway for combined at 26. I got 26.8 mpg over 410 miles. What I liked about it, not bad gas mileage. Pretty good. Uh, what could use improvement? I think that the hybrid version of it comes next year. Riding handling Mazda Sportiness. I'm gonna tell it like it is. Um, it could be a little bit too stiff for some people, but that's the Mazda way. What could use improvement? Not sure about its off-road ability. Uh, I did not take it off-road, and I don't think most people do take it off-road. Okay, here's the pricing. Base trim price is $38,900, still under $40. Yep. But price is tested. Now we had the top of the line. So $41,080 is the sticker price on this particular car that I drove. Base model price. You can get in one of these for under $30,000. $29,990 is the base model. Good luck in trying to find one. Yeah. Here are the competitors. The Hyundai Tucson, $29,700. Kia Sportage, $28,790. And then the Toyota RAV 4. That's all new, also. That goes a little bit more at $31,900. My daughter just bought a RAV 4. Did she? That's another nice vehicle. You know, these new vehicles that are coming out now, they're pretty spot on. And uh they've made lots of improvements to the redesigns of all of these models. And if you're in the market for a car, uh I think now's the time to buy. And the other thing is that on many cars, not necessarily the brand, brand, brand new ones, but on many cars, they're giving you a lower interest rate and financing out the wazoo seven years, hundred years, you know.

Jeff Dziekan 14:14

She did her due diligence and uh she asked a lot of questions and she did good.

Don Armstrong 14:17

Yeah. Yeah. Yeah, it it it it can happen.

WD-40 Uses That Actually Help

Don Armstrong 14:21

And uh back to the In Wheel Time Car Talk Show, time now for Jeff's Car Culture, all things WD40, and what it can do for your car.

Jeff Dziekan 14:36

Yeah, some of these things are surprising. I don't call them hacks or just you know however people use these things. But uh, this versatile product has many uses other than you know the things that it's designed for, especially helpful in the garage. If you're looking for an inexpensive way to keep your car looking running, good is uh new. So originally developed by the aerospace industry as a degreaser and rust prevention solvent. And this, of course, the WD is water displacement, and it's the 40th formula. That's how that 40 came in there. Water displacement 40, right? Uh it's suitable for every application. Always double check though, uh, the instructions before you do any of these things for your car because it can be expensive if it doesn't work. So it's particularly useful for both protecting the chrome parts of your car and the rust improving their shine. Uh, it can be done by coating the chrome surfaces with the original WD 40, the spray, and then waiting for about 10 minutes so it sinks in a little bit, and then gently scrub the chrome before uh rinsing off the residue. And who doesn't like to rinse residue? I like it. Uh spray on another coat, wrap it clean, and uh your shine will come back to the chrome. Similarly, uh the WD can be restore the headlights if you trust that, and if they're not too bad. And I know my uh son Jason just did Kylie's before she went over to Texas Tech. He did the buffing part of it. There's a process that they do at the dealership that he did for her. But that involves WD-40? No, no, no, it's all the compounds and things. But nevertheless, uh it's a multi-use product. Instead of applying it directly to lights, you should use it with uh put on a chrome or you should spray it on a clean cloth, then thoroughly rub the headlights to restore their shine. Using WD-40 on car doors can also be particularly useful cold weather. Uh in case that uh in that case, the WD can be used to unstick them in these situations. So you spray the WD on the frozen part and it will break loose. Using it on your car doors particularly useful in cold weather. Uh you can put it on your hinges as well. So gaskets and weather stripping of your car that can be limbered up. It can extend the lifespan as well as keep the climate control. Limber it up, uh, more efficient. The product can also be used to in a similar fashion for your windshield wipers, slowing down their wear and tear, saving you money, and it won't replace it. But crease right on your windshield. There you go. Another way of this product lubricant is your strut mounts. Uh can be annoying, they squeak the top of the mount. Sometimes the bolts get rusty and things uh from the open road spray it on there and they'll be lubed up. Very important though, not to use it on any of your brakes, because that's that'd be not be good. If you like keeping your car looking pristine and hate those sticky dashboards and all that good stuff people eat in your car, you can actually use this on uh some of the uh dash parts, maybe your steering wheel. They say it does work. I wouldn't do it, but there it is. Another common would be adhesives. If you got a bumper sticker or something that's sticky on your vehicle, rubber, tar, you can spray it on there, wipe it off, and it should be should be. Crayons. If you got kids in your car and they write crayon stuff on the on the uh doors or the pads or anything like that on the seats, WD-40 can remove that as well. The solvent is safe to use with paint, but WD removes grime, tree sap, bird droppings, and all that good stuff, dead bugs and things. The electrical components will go down. Uh components of your vehicle are obviously some of the car parts that are important to keep moisture free, can be used to dry them out, including spark plugs, spark plug wires, and ignition distributors. Uh, this product is also dealing with flooded engines, whether that's part of your car, lawnmower, tractor, or other vehicle, uh completely shut off the motor, spray the original WD formula into the carburetor. Once the moisture is cleared, the engine should start and uh never have a problem after that. While uh it's great for drying out flooded engines, just remember that WD-40 is not a substitute for engine oil and should refrain from using it as such. And if you uh do a lot of highway driving, tired of having those bugs stick to your windshield, you can spray it on your windshield, and uh the bugs will just go off and they'll become roadkill. That's what the article says. Uh rather than stick to your windshield, the bug yeah, it comes roadkill. So just be careful how you use it. Uh WD40 has many uses. You can spray it on your tire, uh, keep the grime, the grime and road mud off your tires altogether. Uh spray it on there and it comes off very, very easily. Isn't it mainly fish oil? I don't know. I've never read the back of it. I've never read the ingredients of it.

Don Armstrong 19:11

Well, it's not that you're gonna eat it or anything, but it's not no, but uh just be careful how you use it.

Jeff Dziekan 19:15

There are some things that might you know ruin or get uh boogered up, as they say. Boogered up. Boogered up.

Mazda CX-5 Review Replay And Prices

Don Armstrong 19:27

Time now for this hour is car review. 2026 Mazda CX5 All-Wheel Drive. Available trim levels are the S, the S Select, the S Preferred, the S Premium, the S Premium Plus, and I had the S Premium Plus. There's a lot of S's in there. This is a small SUV. Uh seats including the driver, five. Uh exterior changes, all new, completely redesigned for 2026. Uh exterior features include familiar Mazda grille with a balanced, staggered headlight design, smooth curves, attractive on the door panels, uh, black plastic wheel opening moldings. It seems like everybody's doing that these days. Yep. Uh rather large C pillar can hamper your rear side vision a bit, so keep that in mind. You'll have to use those uh side mirrors. What I liked about the hockey stick rear lighting, love that. The overall design gets high marks, in my opinion. What could use improvement? Nothing. Interior highlights. Uh, much improved over the outgoing model, and needless to say, it's bigger inside and out. They all do that also. Extra large center touch screen, uh, almost uh 13 inches now. Quality materials fit and finish throughout the cabin, clamshell doors on the console lid. See them? I I'm just not a big fan because you still have to open both of them to get your hand down in there. Anyway, it's the way that it is. Um cargo room, bigger redesign, uh, allows larger storage behind the second row. And of course, you fold down the second row and got yourself a minivan back there. What I liked about it, almost everything on the interior. What could use improvement? Operating screen system is still difficult to use in many ways. Uh, I thought that they would uh bump that up a bit. Uh try to change the radio station, I dare you. Engine, 2.5 liter inline four-cylinder, 187 horsepower, 186 pound feet of torque. Till rating, 1,500 pounds. That's it. Uh now, as far as you know, mileage is concerned, expect 24 city, 30 highway for combined at 26. I got 26.8 mpg over 410 miles. What I liked about it, not bad gas mileage. Pretty good. Uh, what could use improvement? I think that the hybrid version of it comes next year. Riding handling Mazda Sportiness. I'm gonna tell it like it is. Um, it could be a little bit too stiff for some people, but that's the Mazda way. What could use improvement? Not sure about its off-road ability. Uh, I did not take it off-road, and I don't think most people do take it off-road. Okay, here's the pricing. Base trim price is $38,900. Still under $40. Yep. But price is tested. Now we had the top of the line. So $41,080 is the sticker price on this particular car that I drove. Base model price. You can get in one of these for under $30,000. $29,990 is the base model. Good luck in trying to find one. Yeah. Here are the competitors. The Hyundai Tucson, $29,700. Kia Sportage, $28,790. And then the Toyota RAV 4. That's all new, also. That goes a little bit more at $31,900. My daughter just bought a RAV 4. Did she? That's another nice vehicle. You know, these new vehicles that are coming out now, they're pretty spot on. And uh, they've made lots of improvements to the redesigns of all of these models. And if you're in the market for a car, uh I think now's the time to buy. And the other thing is that on many cars, not necessarily the brand, brand, brand new ones, but on many cars, they're giving you a lower interest rate in financing out the wazoo seven years, a hundred years, you know.

Jeff Dziekan 23:39

She did her due diligence and uh she asked a lot of questions and she did good. Yeah.