Exploring Luxury SUVs: the Mazda CX-5, the Alpha Romeo Tonale, and Winter Driving Tips!

Mazda CX-5 2025 Review

Speaker 1 0:09

I had a chance to drive the Mazda CX-5 for 2025 . This car was built in Hiroshima , japan . All right Available trim levels 2.5S . 2.5s Select 2.5S Preferred . 2.5s Select 2.5S Preferred . 2.5s Carbon Edition . 2.5 Premium Plus . 2.5 Carbon Turbo . 2.5 Turbo Premium . 2.5 Turbo Signature . That's right .

Speaker 2 0:50

Honest to God , really . God really , yeah , really that's amazing .

Speaker 1 0:51

Do we need to have the two ? I don't know how . About select preferred carbon fiber ? Well , why would you have to ?

Speaker 3 0:57

they need some chrome across the back to put , so they got put the name back there well , I drove , the 2.5 turbo signature are you sure ?

Speaker 1 1:04

no , I'm not , but that's what the that's what the monroney said . This is a five passenger small suv . This was all new in 2017 . You're saying , well , wait a minute , this is an old , long of the two thing . Well , yes , it is , but it's their most popular vehicle still now . It's going to be phased out soon , but it is still for sale and its replacement is the CX-50 . Duh .

Speaker 3 1:35

Well , I'm telling you what we've got on the screen right there . That's a nice car that any family could use to drive around town . I mean , it just looks good .

Speaker 1 1:43

Although it may be an older design , it's still one of the best looking in its class , I think Familiar shark nose grille with a very nice squinty . Headlight design , up front Slots yeah yeah . Big wheel openings with wheels and tires that fill the void . Rounded rear hatch with nice lighting . What I liked about it ? The overall looks get high design marks , in my opinion . What could use improvement ? Well , they haven't changed it since 2017 . So why mess with a good thing ? It's kind of like for years and years and years you know , know , jeep had the wonderful Jeep Grand Cherokee . They made no changes to it . They sold every one that they made . Obviously , if you start changing jacking with stuff , that's when you really roll the dice , so don't Just keep it going . Interior highlights Sharp-looking design inside too , with high-quality surfaces . Infotainment screen sits atop the dash . Not a big fan , but remember this is 2017 design . Second row seat is a little tight as far as leg room is concerned . Cargo trunk room adequate . It fits its size . What I liked about it ? The quality and the lasting design of the interior as well . What could use improvement ? The infotainment system needs an easier to use operating system . I've gone over that a jillion times and I'm going to beat a dead horse .

Speaker 1 3:11

2.5 liter turbocharged four cylinder , that turns out a perfectly matched 227 horsepower and 310 pound feet of torque . It has a six-speed automatic transmission . Gives you an idea once again of the older school , because everybody's either going with a CVT or a 10-speed . This works just fine . It tows up to one ton . It gets 22 in the city , 27 on the highway , for a combined of 24, . I got 24.2 miles per gallon over 454.8 miles .

Speaker 1 3:47

What I liked about it ? The peppy motor . What could use improvement ? Don't mess with it , leave it alone , make the money . It's good , ride and handling . What I liked about it ? I liked its sports car handling . Now , if you're not into that kind of a ride , that kind of a quickness in the steering , then this might not be for you . But if you appreciate that you like to throw it around the corner once in a while , this is your small SUV . Now it does have , like I said , sports car handling . What could use improvement in that ? Nothing . If you don't like it , then you're going to have to go to a different make , model or design altogether . But they play off of the Mazda Miata CX-5 . What is ?

Speaker 3 4:32

it . I think it's MX-5 . No .

Speaker 1 4:34

MX-5 . Sorry , that's the Mazda Miata . All right , let's talk about the price . Base trim price $40,760 . That's the base as tested $42,750 . Still not bad Now to get into one if you just want to buy one bottom baseline price $28,570 . Oh , there you go , see , and you need to build up the layers and obviously this is the top of

Winter Driving and Alfa Romeo Review

Speaker 1 5:01

the line You're finding .

Speaker 2 5:01

A lot of the manufacturers are in that price range . I guess the sweet spot .

Speaker 1 5:05

One of the competitors to this vehicle is the all-new Mazda CX-50 , because it starts at $3,300 . Well , that's almost a $2,000 difference , almost $1,800 difference , Wow . So take a look at the Mazda CX-50 . Maybe you'll like that a little bit better for a little bit more change . Maybe you'll like that a little bit better for a little bit more change . Another competitor the Honda CR-V $30,100 . Or the Kia Sportage $27,190 . They're all in there , they're all in that range . That is my review of the Mazda CX-5 for $20,25 . All right , hey , if you'd like to get in touch with us , shoot us an email . The address here is info at inwheeltimecom . We're back com . Time now for Jeff's weekly feature .

Speaker 2 5:58

This week we're going to talk about winter driving knowledge .

Speaker 1 6:02

Do you know how to drive in the winter ? You know I used to , but it's been so long since I've been in winter weather it's been difficult . Matter of fact , I was fortunate enough to have Ford send me out to Portland , oregon . Oh , boy . And I don't remember what car it was , but it was kind of a spring , kind of winter spring , part of the Slush and it was a lot of slush . You got to learn how to drive in the slush .

Speaker 2 6:28

Well , these can transfer over to summer as well . You have to prepare your vehicle . You have to prepare when you drive , where you're going , how you're going to get there . So here we go . Winter weather can be unpredictable and dangerous , especially when driving . On average , winter weather directly or indirectly contributes to over a half a million vehicular accidents in the United States . The National Traffic Safety Administration does claim this . You can get reports from them as well .

Speaker 2 6:55

Preparing your vehicle , taking precautions before heading out , makes a big difference . One of the things we want you to do is check the weather before you go . Make sure that the weather forecast and all the warnings before heading out , that you understand them . Visit the National Weather Service on their sites . Go to the Weather Channel . If roads in your path are in poor condition , consider postponing or non-essential travel until the road's clear . Consider leaving early or changing your departure to avoid being in the storm . Winter vehicle is ready , as yours . Make sure that the vehicle is ready by having a mechanic check it for potential emergency issues . Make sure the antifreeze levels are up , the battery , the ignition systems work properly . Check your brakes and the tire pressure . Antifreeze levels are very , very important . What you got there , mike .

Speaker 3 7:42

I don't know , something came up here . Okay , we'll let you go there we are .

Speaker 2 7:46

Maintain your vehicle , make sure you got a full tank of gas , prevent fuel line freeze up and all those good things . If you have an electric vehicle or a hybrid vehicle , keep your battery charged Minimizes the drain on the battery when you're driving . Keep your battery charged Minimizes the drain on the battery when you're driving . One of the other things is remove all the snow and all the slush and ice from your vehicle . Adds weight to the vehicle . Plus , it's dangerous if it gets in your windshield area and you can't get it done with your wiper blades . Slow down , increase your distance and following . I've got a process on my car that you can set the distance on how far you want your car to brake . That's always a good thing .

Speaker 2 8:26

Avoid sudden movements . Don't be doing Joey Chitwood acts out there and try to slide around or do any skid pads . But if you do get into a skid , always remember steer into it . Use your headlights . A lot of state laws either snow or rain , you have to have your lights on . I know that Florida is one of them . There's many around the country that do have that . So make sure your headlights are on . You can see where you're going . Like we said know how to handle the skid , turn back into the skid as your vehicle is sliding , don't try to overcorrect and again , don't do any Joey Chitwood activities . Does anybody know who Joey Chitwood is ?

Speaker 1 8:57

anymore I do , and that's all that matters .

Speaker 2 8:58

That's right . Keep an emergency kit in your vehicle Jumper cables , flares , reflective triangles , ice scraper , snow shovel . I still have an ice scraper in my garage . You know your credit card works as a pretty good ice scraper too . Yeah , you can buy yourself a snow shovel with that credit card . So use these tips . Don't be doing stuff stupid out there . Get your vehicle prepared .

Speaker 1 9:31

Be prepared , be prepared . That's the Boy Scout marching song . Be prepared , mars . Are you prepared ? I am pro-so prepared . Ladies and gentlemen , mr Mike Mars reviews the Alfa Romeo Tonali . Okay , so prepared , ladies and gentlemen , mr Mike Mars reviews the Alfa Romeo Tonale .

Speaker 3 9:46

I mean Tonale . Okay , yes , this is the 2025 Alfa Romeo Tonale , tributo Italiano , e-all-wheel Drive meaning it's plug-in hybrid .

Speaker 1 9:56

This is a man from Neiderville Texas , trying to talk Italian . Yeah , Okay .

Speaker 3 10:01

It doesn't work at home either . Can you say spaghetti ?

Speaker 3 10:03

So for 2025 , 2025 , this particular vehicle . There's two trim levels . There's the base level and then there's the tribute that we are driving . So it's kind of a special edition and again it is a plug-in hybrid , uh , all-wheel drive . It's small luxury suv seats , five people , um , okay , now , up front you're going to find that there's some tri-lobe led headlights and it's got the tri-lobe tail lights . So there's three different little pieces of it and it looks really cool , particularly at night . Got rain sensing wipers up front , got the black roof option . So we got the blacked out grill , got blacked out trim , including the side mirror caps . The side mirrors are heated and folding and it's got a hands-free lift gate with a 20 by 8-inch aluminum wheels , which creates a really nice look , particularly with the green that we were driving . The interior the perforated leather seating it's got red undertones through it , so you kind of see the red underneath kind of come bleeds through it . It's a different look and it'll work on you really well . You'll like it , I think .

Speaker 3 11:02

Heated front seats , got 60-40 folding rear seats . Got a driver . Has a 12.3-inch display in front of him we used to call it a gauge package , but it's got all his information and he can change some of that , around 10.25-inch touch monitor in the middle . That's where you're going to find your Uconnect 5 , your Harman Kardon audio controls , your Apple CarPlay or Google Android , depending on what all you want to do your heating , your cooling , it's all right . There Got large paddle shifters . Now when I say large , I'm saying large like they blend in behind the steering wheel . So they're looking at them . They look like , oh , this will be really cool , but to me they're a little too far away . I got to reach a little bit far for them , but they're there and they work , I guess . Well , I mean , I'm not sure why .

Speaker 3 11:48

Anyway , so the drivetrain it's Italian . It's Italian , it's a 1.3 liter inline four up underneath the hood , but there is a rear axle E motor . This is where you get your E all-wheel drive from , because the E runs the rear wheels , so you've got four-wheel drive out of it or all-wheel drive . It's got a 285 horsepower equivalent . It's got a six-speed automatic transmission

2025 Alfa Romeo Tenali Review

Speaker 3 12:09

with it . Now , the fuel economy on this thing it's kind of good luck , yeah . So , um , gas and electric . The epa says you should be looking for 71 mpg equivalent , 29 miles per gallon gas only and an EPA range of 30 , e range of 33 miles . Now I drove the thing 131 point miles . This is a premium vehicle , premium fuel vehicle , by the way . So I got 31.6 miles per gallon on this vehicle . I actually got 50 miles on the battery of it and I drove it 80 miles on the gasoline .

Speaker 1 12:43

I thought that you didn't use the battery , you didn't charge the battery .

Speaker 3 12:46

It regenerates a little bit if you drive it far .

Speaker 1 12:48

Very little yeah very little .

Speaker 3 12:50

That's why it only went about 17 miles further than what the battery did over the whole time . So there's not much because I did not plug it in and try it . The nine-plus hours kind of pushed me away from that idea , particularly with the number of vehicles . I've got my driveway long story , another story . But driving it around town it's pretty quick . Steering it's easy to get around town because of the size of it , the responsive steering , so it's pretty easy to drive Out on the highway . I thought it had a fairly firm ride . But and I also noticed that when the gasoline engine kicks in and starts running you get a noticeable increase in exterior noise , whether it's road noise , the motor noise , whatever , because it's so quiet whenever the e-motor's running it kind of makes it even more . Now , base model price you're going to look at $36,495 . But don't look at that . Go look at the base trim price for this special edition at $51,995 .

Speaker 3 13:41

But , that has tested because we didn't have much options , but it's $59,630 . Now the best I could find to compare it to is the Lexus NX 450 Hybrid $58,000 , starting . The BMW X1 X-Drive Hybrid $50,000 . The Volvo XC40 Recharge starts at $48,000 . So there's a lot of choices if you get in there and you start looking at that small luxury SUV . I did get a lot of compliments on this car , particularly the color and the shape of it . So if you are looking at that category , you ought to look at it , and that's my review of the 2025 Alfa Romeo Tenali . Tributo Italiano . Thank you .