Is the CX-9 4 cylinder engine enough?

[New2Mazdas]

About to get a cx9. I keep reading that it feels sluggish once loaded with people and kids. It seemed nice on the test drive but I only drove it a little. I’m a bit worried now because the revised one coming will be a 6 cylinder with more hp.
Is the current Cx9 goof with acceleration and overall driving?
I’m coming from an old 6 cylinder Ford Explorer that is rather sluggish.

 

[racermp]

Just because it's a 4 doesn't mean it's not tuned to give more power than a na v6 off the line. The turbo 4 has more torque at 2000 rpm than any v6 family hauler. The torque comes in strong and stays well up to 4500 rpm. Sure the v6 is better after 4k rpm but who cares since 99% of time we aren't racing the family bus around.

Alot of manufactures has opted for smaller engines with turbo for better efficiency. Even q7 and highlander hybrid (uses electric motor for additional power) have 4s


Chevy full size trucks come with 4 turbo and tundra/Sequoia/land cruiser are v6 turbo only. Those are heavy tow vehicles

 

[gphin]

About to get a cx9. I keep reading that it feels sluggish once loaded with people and kids. It seemed nice on the test drive but I only drove it a little. I’m a bit worried now because the revised one coming will be a 6 cylinder with more up.
Is the current Cx9 goof with acceleration and overall driving?
I’m coming from an old 6 cylinder Ford Explorer that is rather sluggish.

I assume you are referring to getting a new CX9. If so, you should have no worries whatsoever. I too was hesitant since the others I reviewed and considered were all 6 cylinders with 8 speeds and 270-280+ HP. Mazda has perfected this engine/transmission combo. No hunting for gears.....very smooth. We use premium so get the full 250HP and 320lbs of torque which makes a huge difference. For example, the Telluride has 291 HP but only 261lbs/torque. 320lbs of torque from a four cylinder is highly unusual. Everyone who has ridden in it thinks its a V6 or V8. If you need to go from 70-100 quickly, you might notice the lack of HP but for normal 0-70 driving, you'll think you are driving a V6. And the sport mode option (which we rarely use) is also a plus. For being such a big vehicle, it drives smaller....very nimble compared to your typical SUV. We have over 15k on ours in the one year of ownership....taken on several fully loaded short and long trips.....no regrets. No way is this a "sluggish" driving vehicle". Hope this helps.

 

[New2Mazdas]

Thank you. It does reassure me. And yes, I’m looking at a new ‘23.
Truthfully I only need a cx5, and with the turbo it’s tempting, but I much prefer the cx9. It’s just stylish- so classic.

 

[gphin]

Thank you. It does reassure me. And yes, I’m looking at a new ‘23.
Truthfully I only need a cx5, and with the turbo it’s tempting, but I much prefer the cx9. It’s just stylish- so classic.

I've driven my daughters CX5.... bought new about four months after we bought our CX9. It's very nice and she loves it but it's no CX9. Good luck with the purchase and keep us posted.

 

[sm1ke]

I have a 2018, it's loaded daily with two adults and two kids under four. The difference with just me in the car vs. everyone in, is not noticeable when driving regularly. Maybe slightly noticeable when accelerating hard from a full stop (but why would you need to do that with a full car, lol). The high torque at low RPM helps a TON with initial take off. Take the family with you for a test drive and put the car through its paces, I think you'll find that it does well.

However, if you want even better throttle responsiveness, there are aftermarket mods like a Pedal Commander/Sprint Booster (~$250ish) that will make the car feel faster (though it won't actually be faster). If you do want to be faster, or if you just want better passing power, you can look into a JB4 tune. The tune adds an extra 50hp and 70tq. With 91 or better octane, you're getting nearly 300hp and 390tq for less than $1000.

 

[nwbutcher]

I have had a CX9 touring for about 7 months. I love it. I'm not a dainty guy so I put some extra pounds in the seat. Let's face it, it's a 4500 lb. vehicle. And there is certainly enough power and torque to have some fun. I also only run regular gas so I'm not getting the full horsepower out of the engine.

 

[11E20]

My 2019 CX-9 GT is the first 4 cyl that I've had since a VW Scirroco from back in the 80's and I was hesitant to go from a 6 cyl 2013 Toyota Venza to this vehicle. The turbo is relatively lag free and the way the drivetrain is tuned you get lots of low end torque so performance is decent. It's not like driving my old '68 Camaro with a 327cui V8 or '79 Camaro Z28, or '93 Corvette but for what it is I have nothing to complain about.

 

[PTguy]

It's not like driving my old '68 Camaro with a 327cui V8 or '79 Camaro Z28, or '93 Corvette

There's no replacement for displacement...but I'm very pleased with my 2016 CX-9.

 

[New2Mazdas]

Does the second row bench seat recline?
I would rather have a bench I think.

 

[BrettLevy85]

Does the second row bench seat recline?
I would rather have a bench I think.

Yes it does. There’s a handle to lift up on and then recline back.

 

[New2Mazdas]

Yes it does. There’s a handle to lift up on and then recline back.

I just realized I posted this in the wrong thread but thank you for answering.

 

[renatoanton]

Around town from stoplights, etc its fine. Not a rocket, or sluggish. Just fine. The sweet spot of the powerband is when your accelerating to pass. Like 35 and moving up to 50 (2500 moving to 3500 rpm). Curved Onramps to freeways are fun! Don’t have to slam the accelerator…lots of torque to move you very smoothly. Its the top of the powerband where the 4cyl feels empty. North of 4500, it just seems to peeter out. But the 6 speed is very smooth and loose. You can cruise at 75mph doing 2300 rpm and net min 28 mpg hwy. coasting also feels very loose (feels like it has very low drag) where as my Honda Pilot feels like its pulling a drag shoot whenever I let off the gas to coast.

 

[asatar22]

Its more than enough! You can check YouTube reviews, it even run faster than the new Acura MDX with V6.

 

[sm1ke]

Its more than enough! You can check YouTube reviews, it even run faster than the new Acura MDX with V6.

Not from what I've seen. There's a YouTube video from Sam CarLegion who does a few runs with a 2021.5 CX-9 and a 2022 MDX, and the MDX won most of the time. The CX-9 does occasionally get the jump, but the higher HP of the MDX always closes the gap at the top end. Still very impressive considering the CX-9 has a 4cyl 2.5T, weighs about 4400 lbs and is thousands cheaper. If 0-60 times or passing power is top priority, a JB4 tune will even the playing field or maybe give a slight edge to the CX-9.

2021.5 Mazda CX-9 vs 2022 Acura MDX SH AWD, battle of 3 Row! Drag Race and comparison.

2021.5 Mazda CX-9 vs 2022 Acura MDX SH AWD, battle of 3 Row! Drag Race and comparison.

www.youtube.com

 

[asatar22]

Not from what I've seen. There's a YouTube video from Sam CarLegion who does a few runs with a 2021.5 CX-9 and a 2022 MDX, and the MDX won most of the time. The CX-9 does occasionally get the jump, but the higher HP of the MDX always closes the gap at the top end. Still very impressive considering the CX-9 has a 4cyl 2.5T, weighs about 4400 lbs and is thousands cheaper. If 0-60 times or passing power is top priority, a JB4 tune will even the playing field or maybe give a slight edge to the CX-9.

2021.5 Mazda CX-9 vs 2022 Acura MDX SH AWD, battle of 3 Row! Drag Race and comparison.

2021.5 Mazda CX-9 vs 2022 Acura MDX SH AWD, battle of 3 Row! Drag Race and comparison.

www.youtube.com

This is the one I was referring to, 0-30 or 0-40 is more important than 0-60. Yes the MDX closed the gap at the end which doesn’t resembles real life scenarios. You have to really rev the MDX engine to compete with the CX-9. You can get grand Touring which has every single option the MDX with tech has +360 camera and headup display for nearly $10k less.

 

[sm1ke]

This is the one I was referring to, 0-30 or 0-40 is more important than 0-60. Yes the MDX closed the gap at the end which doesn’t resembles real life scenarios. You have to really rev the MDX engine to compete with the CX-9. You can get grand Touring which has every single option the MDX with tech has +360 camera and headup display for nearly $10k less.

The difference between the two from 0-30, 0-40, or 0-60 is so minimal that it doesn't matter IMO. Why? Well, in a "real-life scenario", the only time acceleration off the line would matter is if both cars are at a stoplight in separate lanes, and the CX-9 needs to overtake the MDX due to two lanes merging into one. Yes, the CX-9 jumps out ahead slightly, but unless the MDX driver is caught off-guard, it won't get enough room to safely overtake before the MDX catches up. Sure its slightly faster on take-off, but not fast enough to make a difference.

I love my CX-9, but I'm not going to pretend that it's faster than an MDX. Either way, this does prove that the CX-9 is a great powerplant that can hang with the competition.

 

[New2Mazdas]

I've driven my daughters CX5.... bought new about four months after we bought our CX9. It's very nice and she loves it but it's no CX9. Good luck with the purchase and keep us posted.

Picking up my CX9 GT on Friday!

 

[gphin]

Picking up my CX9 GT on Friday!

Nice, congrats. Feel free to ask additional questions once you get acclimated. Lots of good help here on this site. Enjoy the ride!

 

[asatar22]

The difference between the two from 0-30, 0-40, or 0-60 is so minimal that it doesn't matter IMO. Why? Well, in a "real-life scenario", the only time acceleration off the line would matter is if both cars are at a stoplight in separate lanes, and the CX-9 needs to overtake the MDX due to two lanes merging into one. Yes, the CX-9 jumps out ahead slightly, but unless the MDX driver is caught off-guard, it won't get enough room to safely overtake before the MDX catches up. Sure its slightly faster on take-off, but not fast enough to make a difference.

I love my CX-9, but I'm not going to pretend that it's faster than an MDX. Either way, this does prove that the CX-9 is a great powerplant that can hang with the competition

Agree the whole point here is whether the 4 banger in the CX-9 is sufficient or not, I brought up the MDX example since I saw the YouTube video earlier and was amazed on how the CX-9 did compared to a brand new MDX! The CX-9 was introduced in 2016, the the MDX in 2021, V6 and about $10k more for similarly equipped vehicle and the performance, acceleration is very close especially in day to day driving not drag racing. Same thing with the Toyota Highlander which is also a V6, 0-60 is very close/almost the same as the CX-9. Actually the highlander will no longer have a V6 next year. Toyota is doing like Mazda and introducing a turbo 4 cylinder!!.. all of this proves that the 4 cylinder in the CX-9 is more than adequate. I had a car accident 2 months ago and got 2 loaners since it took long time to get the parts from Mazda due to COVID, I got Toyota 4 Runner 2022(6 Cylinder Engine) for 2 weeks then a 2022 Nissan Armada which is a V8, I can swear that I did not feel much of a difference in acceleration on any of them on day to day driving (if I floor it in a drag race then maybe yes), highway, overpassing, etc. Its nothing like the old days where the difference was a day and night. After returning those cars and getting my CX-9 back it felt like I am driving a German car, big difference in fit, finish, smoothness and they way low end torque move the car from stop.