Mazda CX-8

[kumquat]

Anyone driving this car now and have any feedback? Seems like the hype for the car fizzed out in a month.

it’s a good looking SUV and a lot of functionalities for the price. Wonder why is it not that in demand. Badge?

[SZ_ford]

2 hours ago, kumquat said:

Anyone driving this car now and have any feedback? Seems like the hype for the car fizzed out in a month.

it’s a good looking SUV and a lot of functionalities for the price. Wonder why is it not that in demand. Badge?

agree is good looking. but at 157k is pushing the boundary to conti price. GLB pi price is 166k (i think) and more road tax friendly

Honda CRV 10k cheaper. of cos not here to compare their specs. from a price point perspective, cx8 looks like in no man's land

[Hamburger]

I was impressed by the 9 for its size and profile  but the grill design was a let down, a turn off to be exact. 

CX-8 is no different. The horizontal lines of the grill is out dated, or am I looking at old pix from sgcarmart? 

 

[kumquat]

8 minutes ago, Hamburger said:

I was impressed by the 9 for its size and profile  but the grill design was a let down, a turn off to be exact. 

CX-8 is no different. The horizontal lines of the grill is out dated, or am I looking at old pix from sgcarmart? 

 

No agree. The horizontal grills are strange, when their latest 3 and 6 are in the black mesh kind that looks a lot more aggressive. 
 

41 minutes ago, SZ_ford said:

agree is good looking. but at 157k is pushing the boundary to conti price. GLB pi price is 166k (i think) and more road tax friendly

Honda CRV 10k cheaper. of cos not here to compare their specs. from a price point perspective, cx8 looks like in no man's land

good point. 160k conti would get you a very entry level one though. Might have the badge but would be hollow inside. I think not even an X1 if we are comparing against SUVs. 

[Butterss]

5 hours ago, kumquat said:

Anyone driving this car now and have any feedback? Seems like the hype for the car fizzed out in a month.

it’s a good looking SUV and a lot of functionalities for the price. Wonder why is it not that in demand. Badge?

Me! All is good with the car and I have clocked 1.5k km over the past 3 weeks. Nothing to complain, that's why I didn't post anymore.

Perhaps I will share some of my comments about the CX-8:

1. I feel that it's really a good looking car and I really like the size of the car. It's long (4.9m) and the width (1.84m) is just nice.
2. The drive is very stable and quiet. I drove at speeds well in excess of the speed limits on expressway and the car is very stable and quiet. I guess the 19" wheels contributed to the stability as well.
3. Love the tech in the car. Normally, car buyers will buy a car and then add this add that. I bought the CX-8 and it has everything I wanted in a car - Adaptive Driving Display (usually only available in premium cars), Lane Departure Warning, Lane Keep Assist, Automated City Braking (front and rear), Adaptive LED headlights (that auto turn on high beam or turn off some of the LEDs so that the car doesn't blind other cars, and also have auto wide range low beams that shines when turning left and right. This is similar to Mercedes' multi-beam LED if i'm not mistaken), 360 camera, blind spot monitor (that warns using the side mirror and also through the Adaptive Driving Display that is projected onto the windscreen) and other features that I'm lazy to type all.
4. I bought the 6-seater variant and loving it. 2nd row's 2 individual captain chairs are like business class seats and very spacious.
5. Engine transmission is very smooth and power is sufficient (192 bhp and 252nm torque).
6. Really appreciate small small things like auto walk-away lock and auto folding mirrors when car is locked.
7. The factory Bose premium audio system with 10 speakers is nice and no upgrades needed for me (i'm no audiophile) as it's good enough with good clarity and bass.
8. Now for some items that I think can be improved.
   1. Sunroof is small. The car is so big but sunroof is small. Mazda's official response is if the sunroof is too big, it affects the driving dynamics but well, I guess when one buys a large SUV, driving dynamics is probably one of the last priorities.
   2. Fuel consumption is at 9.5 to 10.5 km/litre (60 highway/40 city) for me. Not the best but it's expected. Given that it's a heavy 1.8 ton car and the engine is 2.5 NA.
   3. Every other country's CX-8 has this very nice Ayous wood (from a tree species in Africa) panel in the dashboard and all 4 doors. TEK replaced it with some carbon fibre panels, I think it looks like shit but have kind of accepted it after a while. The whole car looks and feels premium in every way but the carbon fibre panels cheapens the car.
   4. The infotainment is from previous gen. From what I know, Mazda 3 already has the new infotainment but why the new CX-8 is still using the old infotainment? Not that I use it a lot but come on, I paid $157k for the car.

I almost bought the GLB200 and even gave a $10.7k cheque to C&C to "express of interest) before the car launch. After the launch, I went to take a look at the GLB200 and took back my cheque immediately. Sharing some of my comments for the GLB200:

1. At $182,888, it's like a "kosong" version and has very little tech. It has none of the stuff that's in the CX-8 and all are optional upgrades at a cost. 
2. I did a comparison and added all the tech/spec of my CX-8 to the GLB200 and the final price came to $220k+. I cannot accept paying $220k+ for an entry level mercedes with a 1.3 turbo engine (from renault) that whines loudly when driven hard. There are better options around.
3. Getting into the 3rd row is a pain. The entry opening is super tight and squeezy. No issues with the CX-8 on this.
4. The MBUX is awesome and the two 10.25" displays are damn nice. These are the stuff that made me wanted to buy the GLB200.
5. The 2 exhaust outlets are fake and for aesthetic purpose only! GLB200 only has one single exhaust outlet at the right side underneath the rear of the car.
6. One key deal breaker is the GLB200 (C&C) does not even has aircon vents on the 2nd row! It's 2020, it's a premium brand Mercedes, it costs $182k, it is a 7 seater SUV, BUT NO AIRCON VENTS on the 2nd row????!!! If there's no aircon vents on the 3rd row, it's acceptable but 2nd row no aircon vents, in SG?!? Wow...
7. If you only want the mercedes brand that's all, then the GLB200 might be for you. For me, my priorities are 1) space, 2) tech, 3) drive and feel.

Overall, the CX-8 feels premium (maybe because I came from a 3 year old Toyota Wish) in every way. I look forward to driving it everyday.

Feel free to ask me more questions about the CX-8 and GLB200 as I did a lot of research and test drive before I bought the CX-8.

[Butterss]

3 hours ago, SZ_ford said:

agree is good looking. but at 157k is pushing the boundary to conti price. GLB pi price is 166k (i think) and more road tax friendly

Honda CRV 10k cheaper. of cos not here to compare their specs. from a price point perspective, cx8 looks like in no man's land

Price wise, I think TEK can sell a lot more CX-8 if they drop the price to $145k-$150k. I still feel that the current price ($153k to $158k) is too high.

The CRV loses out in both exterior and interior to the CX-8 in my opinion. The only thing that I like about the CRV is its 1.5 turbo engine.

[Butterss]

2 hours ago, Hamburger said:

I was impressed by the 9 for its size and profile  but the grill design was a let down, a turn off to be exact. 

CX-8 is no different. The horizontal lines of the grill is out dated, or am I looking at old pix from sgcarmart? 

 

I almost bought the CX-9 as the price was just $10k more than the CX-8. However, my wife threatened to kill me because the car was too big (both length and width). 

Getting in and out of the CX-9 at HDB carpark lots and shopping centre carpark lots will be a challenge everytime.

But the plushy exclusive feel of the CX-9 together with the 2.5 turbo engine was what I really like about the car. CX-9 is really an underrated car, unfortunately it's not well received here.

[Hamburger]

Not that cx-9 is still available, based solely on engine alone, TCed 9 is a no brainer

[Butterss]

Sharing some photos of my CX-8.

[Butterss]

14 minutes ago, Hamburger said:

Not that cx-9 is still available, based solely on engine alone, TCed 9 is a no brainer

Yeah, based on engine alone, CX-9 FTW!

However, if compare overall package, CX-8 was the better choice for us as it's not as wide and it has 6 seater variant. CX-9 only has 7-seater variant in SG.

[kumquat]

10 hours ago, Butterss said:

Sharing some photos of my CX-8.

Very nice. Thanks for the detailed feedback. Did you take your new car to do some PPS? Haha

I was considering between the GLB and CX8 too and arrived at the same points about the GLB as you did. If I really wanted the GLB then the  PI version would make more sense but it is still very overpriced even for a MB.

Did you feel if your CX8 is too high for kids or elderly that you will need to install side steps? 

Edited November 20, 2020 by kumquat

[Arcadefire]

So cx-8 comes with horizontal grille? Makes it look like an old model. 

[Hamburger]

If it comes with a tiger nose style grill, I am definitely enticed!!

[Butterss]

14 hours ago, kumquat said:

Very nice. Thanks for the detailed feedback. Did you take your new car to do some PPS? Haha

I was considering between the GLB and CX8 too and arrived at the same points about the GLB as you did. If I really wanted the GLB then the  PI version would make more sense but it is still very overpriced even for a MB.

Did you feel if your CX8 is too high for kids or elderly that you will need to install side steps? 

Yes, I brought my CX-8 to do self healing PPS about 2 weeks after collecting it. That picture where there's a Skoda Kodiaq was when I did up my PPS.

Yup, for PI GLB at $160k+, it's the progressive variant or base AMG variant which are lacking in many things too. Even the side mirrors are manual (not electric). That's why I think it will be a good buy (at $160k+) for buyers who want the badge and nothing else. If priorities are other stuff such as space and tech, then better to consider other options.

Hmm, the CX-8 is indeed quite high for my 2 boys (5 and 3 years old) but they enjoy climbing up and down and kept saying that my CX-8 is a monster car (they love monster trucks). For my parents (and adults like us), the height is just nice whereby we can just "slide our backside" in when entering the car. I'm in the Malaysia CX-8 facebook and telegram group chats and some of them installed the side steps, I feel that the side steps are not necessary and they don't look nice on the elegant CX-8.

[Butterss]

2 hours ago, Arcadefire said:

So cx-8 comes with horizontal grille? Makes it look like an old model. 

Yes, I watched a lot of Mazda videos and Mazda kind of explained that the horizontal grills are on CX-9 and CX-8 as buyers of these 2 cars are generally the matured family man who are looking at elegance/classy more than sporty. Well, I can't exactly say I agree with them as I think the black mesh grill is really nice.

[Carbon82]

On 11/20/2020 at 12:35 PM, Butterss said:

Sharing some photos of my CX-8.

人马一体  

Joke aside, I really like Soul Red from Mazda!

Congrats on your getting the car you like.

[Carbon82]

On 11/20/2020 at 9:42 AM, Hamburger said:

I was impressed by the 9 for its size and profile  but the grill design was a let down, a turn off to be exact. 

CX-8 is no different. The horizontal lines of the grill is out dated, or am I looking at old pix from sgcarmart? 

 

Because Mazda wants to differentiate itself from MG.

Anyway for those looking for diamond grill for CX8 & CX9, taobao should offer you lot of choice...

[Butterss]

18 hours ago, Carbon82 said:

人马一体  

Joke aside, I really like Soul Red from Mazda!

Congrats on your getting the car you like.

Guess what? I had the exact same thought as you when I first came across Mazda's 人马一体, haha!!!