The Mazda CX-5 is a small SUV that is fun to drive and looks good. The 2025 version comes in different versions, or trims, so you can choose one that fits your needs.
The Monroney is a sticker on new cars that shows important details like the price and features of the car. It's named after a U.S. senator who helped make it a law.
The Jeep Grand Cherokee is a type of SUV that can handle rough terrain and is also comfortable for everyday driving. It's been around for a long time and is well-liked by many people.
Turbocharging helps engines produce more power by forcing extra air into the combustion chamber. This means a smaller engine can perform like a larger one without using more fuel.
Torque is the force that helps a car start moving and accelerate. Higher torque means better performance when starting from a stop or carrying heavy loads.
Miles per gallon tells you how many miles a car can drive using one gallon of gas. Higher numbers mean better fuel efficiency, which saves you money on gas.
The Mazda Miata is a small, two-seat car that is really fun to drive. It's known for being light and sporty, which makes it great for people who love driving. Many people like it because it's not too expensive and still gives you that exciting feeling of being in a sports car.
The Mazda MX-5 is a small, sporty car that is fun to drive. It's known for being light and easy to handle, making it popular among people who enjoy driving.
The as tested price is how much the car costs after adding all the extra features and options. It's the total amount you would pay for that specific version of the car.
O'Reilly Auto Parts is a store where you can buy car parts and accessories. They sell things like batteries that you need to keep your car running well.
Motorcraft is a brand that makes car parts for Ford vehicles. They create parts that are made to fit perfectly in Ford cars, so they work well and last longer.
The Ford Ranger is a small pickup truck made by Ford. The 1996 model is one of the earlier versions and is known for being practical and reliable for everyday use.
Absorbent Glass Mat (AGM) is a special kind of car battery that holds its liquid in glass fibers, making it safer and longer-lasting. It's often used in newer cars because it's more reliable and doesn't need much maintenance.
The Corvette is a fast sports car made by Chevrolet. It's famous for its sleek design and powerful performance, and it's been around for many years with different versions.
An anti-gravity battery is a new kind of car battery that is lighter and better for the environment than regular batteries. It helps power cars without using as much energy or resources.
Lithium ion batteries are a type of battery that can be recharged and are used in many electric cars and gadgets. They are popular because they can store a lot of energy in a small space and last a long time.
Cold cranking amps tell you how well a car battery can start an engine when it's really cold outside. The higher the number, the better the battery can perform in low temperatures.
XS Power is a brand that makes batteries for cars, especially for those that need a lot of power, like race cars or custom vehicles. They focus on creating batteries that are stronger than regular ones.
Odyssey is a brand that makes batteries for cars. They are known for being powerful and lasting a long time, which is great for cars that need a lot of electricity.
DieHard is a brand of car batteries that used to be sold by the Sears department store. They are known for being dependable and are often used in vehicles.
Advanced Auto Parts is a store where you can buy car parts and accessories, including batteries. They now own the Diehard battery brand after buying it from Sears.
Clarios makes batteries that power cars. They are a big company that produces batteries for many different brands, including Diehard, which is a well-known name.
The Dodge Durango is a type of SUV that offers a lot of space for passengers and cargo. The 2025 version has new features and improvements compared to earlier models.
Car
Dodge Hellcat
The Dodge Hellcat is a very powerful car made by Dodge. It has a big engine that makes it go really fast, and it's popular among car enthusiasts for racing and performance.
The 5.7 liter V8 Hemi is a powerful engine made by Chrysler. Its unique shape helps it run more efficiently and is used in many of their cars and trucks.
The Mazda CX-90 is a medium-sized SUV that is designed to be comfortable and stylish. It has a lot of nice features inside and is fun to drive, which makes it stand out from other SUVs. People like it because it feels more luxurious while still being practical for everyday use.
The Chevrolet Tahoe is a big SUV that can carry a lot of people and stuff, making it great for families or trips. It's known for being strong and able to tow heavy things, which is useful if you have boats or trailers. Many people like it because it has a lot of space and is comfortable to drive.
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Welcome to another In-Wheel Time podcast.
I had a chance to drive the Mazda CX-5 for 2025.
This car was built in Hiroshima, Japan.
Available trim levels, 2.5S, 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.
Honest to God, really?
That's amazing.
I don't know.
How about Select Preferred, Carbon Fiber?
Why would you have to...
They need some chrome across the back to put the name back there.
I drove the 2.5 Turbo Signature.
Are you sure?
No, I'm not.
But that's what the Monroney said.
This is a 5-passenger small SUV.
This was all new in 2017.
You're saying, well, wait a minute.
This is an old, long of the two things.
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.
What we've got on the screen right there,
that's a nice car that any family could use to drive around town.
It just looks good.
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.
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.
Jeep had the wonderful Jeep Grand Cherokee.
They made no changes to it.
They sold everyone that they made.
Obviously, if you start changing, jacking with stuff,
The infotainment system needs an easier to use operating system.
I've gone over that a billion times,
and I'm going to beat a dead horse.
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.
It gives you an idea, once again, of the older school.
Because everybody's either going to the 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 at 24.
I got 24.2 miles per gallon, over 454.8 miles.
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 it?
No, 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.
That's 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 build up the layers,
and obviously this is the top of the line.
You're finding a lot of the manufacturers are in that price range,
I guess the sweet spot.
One of the competitors to this vehicle is the all-new
Mazda CX-50, because it starts at $30,300.
Well, it'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.
Another competitor, the Honda CR-V, $30,100.
Or the Kia Sportage, $27,190.
They're all in there.
And that is, huh?
Yep, they're all in that range.
Yeah.
That is my review of the Mazda CX-5 for 2025.
All right.
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You know, the rats ate into the wiring,
which was underneath the batteries where that all...
Rats are possible.
Well, it could have been any of the above.
I didn't take a picture of them when they were down there gnawing on my wiring.
For that day we walked in here and they were partying with other animals.
Anyway, so anyway, that's our lead in for Jeff in the worst to best category of batteries.
There it is.
Your turn.
Well, number 10, because we're going to do 10 of these.
Number 10 is EverStart.
EverStart is a Walmart store brand.
EverStart is affordable.
It's a lead acid variety, but buyers have encountered unreliable and short lifespans with it.
However, they're well-reviewed on Walmart's website,
and EverStart has a fairly wide variety of battery sizes.
So it's 10.
We're starting at the worst.
Yeah, we're starting at the worst.
And I would say that I just put one of those in one of my granddaughter's cars.
Well, and because I've had good service out of them,
but mainly because Walmart's everywhere.
So if she's back in San Marcos or Houston or someplace and she needs a battery,
we should go get one.
Number nine is Interstate.
The green label and occasionally green topped interstate batteries are available at many independent shops
and at their own interstate all battery centers and also Mike through Costco's.
I did not know that.
The reliable battery replacement is an interesting history.
Interstates are available in a large number of group sizes and applications.
So that's number nine on the list.
I thought that they were good.
I had one one time many years ago.
It worked out okay.
We have an interstate store there in Beaumont and those guys are great to work with.
The one that I did not know is this is number eight.
I didn't know it was in high on the worst list because Motorcraft,
I thought was a very comparable brand.
But the Ford Motor Company house brand of batteries is available at all four dealerships
as well as O'Reilly auto parts,
allowing folks who want to maintain the OEM parts on their vehicles to access replacement batteries almost anywhere.
That's why O'Reilly has it.
Typically the warranties are also accepted at all facilities.
Here's the point with Motorcraft.
The benefit is that the decision was made that Ford knows what battery goes in each car.
So if you'd have it done by the dealership, they know it's right.
If you have it done by an independent and they put the wrong battery in,
Ford's not going to warranty anything because they know what battery goes in it.
As an example, the battery for a 1996 Ford Ranger, whatever it is, small vehicle,
is like $250 through the dealer.
So keep that in mind when you buy these things that you're going to get what you pay for.
The next one on this is a GM brand.
It's an AC Delco available from third party retailers and directly from GM.
The AC Delco batteries come in a variety of group sizes and performance ratings
and are competitively priced.
They offer a standard warranty, a range of group sizes designed to fit GM vehicles
and a few AGM options, which is the Absorbent Glass Mat.
I did not know that. They do that.
While they're officially recognized by General Motors as the only batteries recommended by GM,
sort of what Motorcraft does for the vehicles, they don't offer any spectacular things
when it comes to options and features.
And again, the Absorbent Glass Mat is a fiber.
They're fiber layers between the positive and negative plates in the battery.
So that's where they come up with that.
And the Corvette went to an AGM battery in production.
Is that what they have now?
Yeah.
They do.
So I could buy one for my 01.
You could.
You probably pay a top dollar for it.
Yeah, you're going to pay a top dollar or anything.
Yeah, really.
The number six on this list is a Bosch.
Bosch lands in the middle of this ranking for a good reason.
They're a brand that provides a dependable, well-regarded battery at a good price
from their affordable one-year warranty up through batteries.
Mike, they come with four-year full replacement coverage.
Bosch runs the gamut of both quality tiers and group size German.
Yeah.
Well, there you go.
That's the quality.
Here's one that I did not know even existed.
It's called an anti-gravity battery.
Beam me up, Scott.
Anybody?
A recent addition to the car battery market is anti-gravity batteries.
Their niche isn't in providing the most power like competitors, but providing a greener
solution to automotive power with lithium ion batteries.
The same kind of rechargeable batteries used in products all around the house, anti-gravity
batteries are primarily used in motor sports, not in passenger cars, as their batteries
are significantly lighter than the AGM-led acid batteries.
So there you go.
So they're going to produce the same amount of juice power, reliability, but green power.
Well, you got to remember in a battery that measurement is called cold cranking amps.
So it's the ability of the battery to create power at a certain low temperature, that cold
cranking amps.
And each car, depending on what car you have, has a level of cold cranking amps that's required
in the battery.
So that's why the battery price kind of moves up and down because the higher the cold cranking
amps, the higher the price of the battery.
Right.
But that particular battery, the anti-gravity, if it doesn't have the lead plates and things
in it, like a normal battery does, how does it produce?
Good question.
I've never heard of it.
But that's part of this whole go green thing.
Yeah.
Pixie dust.
Yeah.
Pixie dust.
There you go.
It probably costs twice as much as anything else.
Pixie dust and unicorn.
There you go.
Number four on my list is XS Power, XS.
XS Power is a newer automotive battery brand.
Cool logo.
It's one that made its mark in the industry with some wildly overpowered batteries.
In fact, some of these batteries might even have excessive power.
Their batteries feature light gray design with aggressive labeling and unique connection
terminals for users connecting these batteries to expensive audio and electrical accessories.
So these are the guys that have to be...
I forgot about that.
The boom box.
Yeah.
So there you go.
But that's number four on the list.
More of the hydraulic systems.
Exactly.
You're right.
Yeah.
Number three on the list is Odyssey.
Odyssey batteries have a number of features that have pushed them high on the rankings.
This is number three.
And their commitment to overengineering has given them the battery reputation of reliability.
They claim a longer life service, longer life cycle, and a shelf life too because that's
important with the battery sitting around.
In the event of a failure, Odyssey offers a four-year full replacement warranty on several
of their battery lines at least one year for most of their products.
So Odyssey is number three.
Never heard of them.
Number two.
You heard of this next one.
It's a diehard.
Not the movie, Mike.
Not the movie.
It used to be the Sears brand.
Yeah.
And this battery is the one that your dad told you to put in your first car when you bought
it.
Yeah.
Diehard remains the great aftermarket option even after Sears sold the brand to Advanced
Auto Parts back in 2019.
However, the new ownership, it didn't affect the actual product because whether the diehard
was purchased from a Sears Auto Center or from an Auto Zone, the battery was still manufactured
by Clarios.
So you can get this.
Wait a minute.
Clarios is the same company that makes...
Go ahead.
Go.
No.
Go.
That makes Optima.
Yeah.
And in the industry, there's probably just a few manufacturers that are all branded differently.
AC Delco and Diehard are made in the same factory on the East Coast.
Back when I was with XL Parts, that was one of the things, different lines.
Not uncommon.
Not uncommon.
Okay.
Drumroll Conrad and the number one battery is Optima.
Optima batteries use several unique design choices that move them to the top of this
list.
Their six-pack design and spiral wound cells are used in both the lead-based and AGM Conrad.
Very unique design.
Versions of the batteries, lead...
Or, I'm sorry, lead.
Leading to an instantaneously recognizable and wholly unique battery in a world of heavy
plastic boxes.
They are not inexpensive.
No.
The most affordable option for a 1996 Ford Ranger is $250.
Yep.
But the reliability is trusted.
They have a good warranty backing the product on your red top, yellow top, and blue top
batteries.
So, there you go.
Where can you get those now, though?
Optima in a lot of places.
You can actually buy them directly from the factory from about the same price that you
would pay at any retailer, and they will mail it to you.
Hmm.
Didn't I know that?
I did not know that either.
How do you mail a battery?
They do?
Lot of stamps.
Very carefully.
Lot of stamps.
Well, I'm a fan of AutoZone's battery.
They use a Superstart.
Now, I've had that in my Yukon, and a couple of years ago, the Yukon was having...
I was having what I thought was battery trouble, and I took the battery out, brought it back
to AutoZone to buy a new one because I like their battery, and the guy looked it up, he
goes, oh, this is still under warranty.
Here's your new one for free.
I didn't even realize how long the warranty was on it.
It was probably almost three years.
Mark your battery, the date you bought it, and then when you get in there doing your
work and it's like, oh, I'm going to take it back.
Just before the warranty runs out.
And keep the receipt.
Yeah.
And that's going to lead into my segment is keep the receipt.
There you go.
So, what would you like to do?
But batteries are something that need to be, especially in Houston, because of the heat,
you know, heat, one of the things that damages battery and then deep cycling a battery or
taking it down to zero is very damaging to the battery.
So the more often it goes down to zero, the less the life of the battery is.
And to that point, there are marine batteries too.
Marine batteries are a different animal.
They certainly are.
We used to use the die hard marine batteries in boats, like trolling motors and things
like that, just because they would cycle so long.
Well, and the other thing is they don't, they're not used very often.
So the battery kind of sits there unused in storage longer than a car.
Well, they weren't so much about the cold cranking amps as there were as how long you
could go in them.
Yeah.
And I'm always a believer of if your vehicles calls for a 680 cold cranking amps, what's
the next cold cranking amps up that's 20 or whatever.
Yeah.
That fits the box that your car battery is.
Go ahead and bump up a little bit.
Never hurts.
It doesn't.
It won't ruin the computers.
No.
No, no, no.
Cold cranking amps is just to fire it up.
The power you have at a certain temperature when you first hit the key, you know, to spin
the engine.
A dry start, right?
Cool start.
All right.
Well, that was fun.
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Let's do the Dodge Durango review, Mr. Mars had a chance to drive that.
And I was really surprised when the 2025 Dodge Durango showed up in the driveway.
For one thing, I was pleasantly surprised that they're still building it.
At least they haven't lost everything.
They've still got a little bit of performance in their veins somewhere.
And this is the Dodge Durango.
This is the 20th anniversary premium all-wheel drive version.
Now there are 10 trim levels listed on this thing.
I'm not going to go through all 10 of them, take my word for it.
We were the seventh from the bottom, so we were pretty well equipped, but not fully all
the way up to the top.
And it's a full-size three-row SUV.
Now I say it that way because it's kind of a tweener.
It's a small full-size or it's a big mid-size.
I can't find anything on Solantis that actually says what they categorize it as, but several
places refer to it as it's full-size, several refer to it as a mid-size.
It don't.
It don't.
It don't.
It don't play.
I don't think that's proper English, but go ahead.
Right.
So we're going to go with that.
Three-row SUV.
Let me see your window sticker.
Do you have it?
Yeah.
Okay.
And it seats six people.
So we had the six-piece person setting.
Now on the outside of it, you're going to find LED lighting all the way around, including
the automatic headlights, auto-leveling headlights, which I really like the way some of this automatic
stuff is gone.
With the headlights, it has a black trim package on it, including the roof rails and the badging.
And it had the Hellcat-style performance hood, you know, with the in-scoop and the air
extractors.
And it looked really good.
And that's where first thing you think of it is, oh, it's a Hellcat.
No, it's not.
So it has a multifunction fold-away mirrors.
What have you got here?
Fine print.
I can't read that.
Standard SUV, body on frame, I assume.
So what is a standard?
Is that mid-size?
According to the government, it's a standard SUV.
Well, it's probably a large SUV in the government size.
Yeah.
And they've, yes, okay.
I don't like the, this, I don't, I like the mid-size, full-size compact.
They don't do it.
No, they don't do it.
No, I know.
Unless they're going to get into it.
Depends on what the marketing people want it to be.
Sub-compact, compact, that sort of thing.
That's right.
So a standard would be about the size of a Tahoe or a Suburban.
See, to me, those are full-size.
And if you look at some places, they call them full-size.
Okay.
Well, this is a standard size.
Okay.
Standard size.
We're going to have to figure out what a standard size is, Jeffrey.
I'm holding the video, so go ahead.
So we also had, like I said, the mirrors.
We had the power sunroof, got a power lift gate on it.
And we were rolling on some special 20 by 10 Brass Monkey wheels.
Now this Brass Monkey is a special, another special edition.
They come out with.
You can't say that.
Brass.
You can't say Brass Monkey on the radio.
You can't do that.
Why?
Well, because it has other connotations.
Oh.
The Monkey Shine.
Well, during the commercial, you can tell me what that is, but let's not go there now.
So, and when we get to the inside of it, we had the SRT Performance seats on it, because
this is part of the SRT family.
We had the premium industrial, premium instrument panel, which is 10.1.
I can't read my own writing, but you can't read.
You can't quite one touch screen with the UConnect 5 system, and it works really good.
Like we've always talked about the UConnect system.
There's a couple of places, and I think that's a problem with the screen, where you have
to touch it a couple of times, but once it connects, it really goes to it quick.
I've always liked it.
We had the heated and ventilated front seats.
We had the second row captain's chairs, which is what makes it a six passenger.
And the second row chairs are also heated.
The third row is easier to get into with the captain's chairs because they fold up a lot
better, and they'll fold forward a whole lot easier to make it easier for the kiddos to
get into the back.
And we had the 19 speaker hardened carbon premium audio system with a subwoofer, and
it really sounded well.
Of course, I liked listening to the motor on it, so I didn't turn it up that much.
What kind of music do you listen to?
Buffet.
A little bit of both.
Both.
Both what?
Country and world.
Yeah.
Under the hood, speaking of which, I need to go lay down.
I was really glad they still have it.
The 5.7 liter V8 Hemi.
Now, this is not the Hellcat, although the Hellcat's still available for 25.
I guess they had some leftovers.
360 horsepower, 390 pound-feet of torque.
They forgot that they offered one, and they just haven't gotten to kill it yet.
Yeah, yeah, yeah.
Somebody snuck it out the door.
It's got the 8-speed automatic that's pretty well standard across all their vehicles, so
it's got plenty of power and plenty of torque.
So this thing is rated with a tow package, tow 8,700 pounds.
So you can carry your big RV, your big boat.
It'll tow quite a bit.
However, the EPA says in the city, you should look for about 14 on the highway, about 22,
and combine 17.
Ta-da.
Ta-da.
I got 16 the week I was driving it, so I was pretty happy with that.
But again, we were out on the highway quite a bit, and it does have the sport suspension,
so and it's got several different modes.
You have the sport mode, the track mode, the tow mode, the snow mode, and it does come...
A la mode.
A la mode.
A la mode.
Let's see if you go to San Antonio.
It does have the flat-run tires on it, which I was a little thinking, I've never been
a fan of flat runs.
Run flat, yeah.
Run flats.
Damn.
And...
Theoretically.
Because.
Because they're always...
They're always rough.
Theoretically.
And I've never liked it.
But with the suspension, this thing's got a sport suspension on it, but you really don't
notice that it's the run flat tires.
So...
It's a stiffer ride.
It is, but they kind of blend in, I guess is what I'm saying.
It is a heavier vehicle because it is a big SUV.
I think if you were out on a road course or something, you'd really notice it, but driving
around town, driving around on the highway, it's a very pleasant vehicle to drive other
than you know that you're in a little bit larger vehicle.
I can't wait for Kimberly Schultz to listen to this.
Kimberly, we love you.
Never mind.
I'm going to have to edit it a little bit.
So the base model price on the Durango is $43,590, which I didn't think was bad at all.
The base trim price for the 20th anniversary premium all-wheel drive is, I mean, the 20th
anniversary is $54,495.
However, with some of the options that we had on here, which there's a whole lot of
them as far as...
Yeah, a bunch of things like brake calipers, I thought was kind of strange, but it's part
of the black trim package, $72,460 for the MSRP, which if you start looking across some
of the things, again, I looked, I really didn't find anything in the midsize SUV that I thought
compared to it because of the performance.
But if you look at the Kia Telluride, it starts at $37,585 versus the Durango at $43,590.
Well, the Mazda CX90 at $37,845.
However, if you step up and look at the little bit other side of it, the Chevy Tahoe and consider
it a standard vehicle, standard size SUV, well, that thing is going to start at $60,000 versus
the $43,000.
So it's kind of, to me, it's kind of a tweener, but when you package the performance aspects
to it, I personally think there's not much you're going to compare it to.
So if you got the Hellcat motor in this thing, you're probably looking at close to $100,000.
Yeah, probably, you know, another 20 tacked on it for the motor, if not more, maybe they
give you a discount if you're buying the last Hellcat.
And what we talked about earlier, what's the gas guzzler tax to probably the Hellcat and
the Hellcat.
Yep.
Probably so.
Yes.
As a matter of fact, I know there is because I remember from the last time I had one, there
was a surprise that it was that much concerning it would get 20 miles to the gallon out on
the highway.
Well, the problem is nobody drives it that way because they got their foot off it.
Not in Niederland.
No.
Yeah.
But anyway, that's the Dodge Durango 2025.
Thank you.
And thank you Dodge Motor Company and Kimberly Schultz.
We appreciate it.
Thank you.
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About this episode
The In Wheel Time Podcast dives into a detailed review of the 2025 Mazda CX-5 and Dodge Durango, highlighting their design, performance, and features. The Mazda CX-5, despite being an older model, remains popular for its stylish looks and peppy turbocharged engine. The hosts discuss its interior quality, handling, and competitive pricing against rivals like the Honda CR-V. The Dodge Durango review emphasizes its powerful V8 engine, spacious interior, and unique styling, while comparing it to other SUVs in the market. The episode also touches on battery brands, ranking them from worst to best.
Two SUVs, two philosophies, one clear question: what do you actually want from your daily driver? We put the 2025 Mazda CX-5 under the microscope to see why a design from 2017 still pulls buyers, then swing to the Dodge Durango’s 5.7 Hemi to explore how old-school power and modern tech can coexist in a three-row hauler. Along the way, we zoom in on steering feel, ride character, real-world fuel economy, towing confidence, and the pricing sweet spots that make these choices more interesting than a simple spec-sheet duel.
The CX-5 shows why restraint pays off: a clean exterior, a driver-first cabin, and a turbo four that makes a six-speed feel current. Yes, the infotainment system is dated, and second-row space isn’t class-leading, but the steering and chassis deliver a sports-sedan vibe that crossovers rarely match. We line it up against the CX-50, Honda CR-V, and Kia Sportage to map where style, value, and dynamics diverge—and where Mazda still wins on feel.
Then we climb into the Durango 20th Anniversary AWD and let the Hemi do the talking. With 360 hp, an eight-speed, stout towing capacity, and Uconnect 5, it’s a family rig that can tow the toys and still entertain on the highway. We unpack drive modes, run-flat manners, seat configurations, audio upgrades, and where it lands between midsize convenience and full-size presence. If you’re cross-shopping Telluride, CX-90, or Tahoe, you’ll get a clear sense of how the Durango threads the needle on performance and price.
To cap it off, we rank car batteries from worst to best—EverStart to Optima—dig into cold cranking amps, warranty realities, and why heat crushes lifespan. You’ll learn how to pick the right group size, when to step up in CCA, and the simple receipt trick that saves you money. Subscribe, share with a friend who’s shopping for an SUV or a battery upgrade, and tell us: are you team precision CX-5 or team Hemi Durango? Your take might be the tie-breaker.
Disclaimer: This post contains affiliate links. If you make a purchase, I may receive a commission at no extra cost to you.
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