2017~2024 CX-5 GTR lack of power

gorb

2021 CX-5 GTR
:
Fort Worth, TX
:
2021 CX-5 GTR
Hello,

We have a new 2021 GTR that has been exhibiting some strange problems for the last few weeks. The engine doesn’t seem to want to go past 4000 rpm and power delivery is very jerky. Other than the gas that came with the car it’s only been getting 93 octane from Costco. The dealership did not know what was causing it (no codes). They said they updated the PCM and advised me to drive it to empty and fill up with Shell or Chevron premium which doesn’t sound like much of a solution to me. I’ve uploaded a short video that shows some of the issues. If anybody has any advice related to this problem I’d love to hear it. Thanks! Video: imgur.com
 
Have you tried disconnecting the battery for a few minutes to try and reset the car's electronics? Maybe check under the hood to see if anything appears to be out of the ordinary? I would take a look inside the airbox to see if there are any blockages - not likely, but easy enough to check.

Aside from that, since you aren't happy with the way the dealership is handling the situation, I would contact Mazda Corporate directly to open a case. This should hopefully light a fire under the dealership's service department.
 
I like the idea of getting a different fuel. I suspose it possible to get a load of contaminated fuel. To early to contact Mazda IMO. Ed
 
Hello,

We have a new 2021 GTR that has been exhibiting some strange problems for the last few weeks. The engine doesn’t seem to want to go past 4000 rpm and power delivery is very jerky. Other than the gas that came with the car it’s only been getting 93 octane from Costco. The dealership did not know what was causing it (no codes). They said they updated the PCM and advised me to drive it to empty and fill up with Shell or Chevron premium which doesn’t sound like much of a solution to me. I’ve uploaded a short video that shows some of the issues. If anybody has any advice related to this problem I’d love to hear it. Thanks! Video: imgur.com
View attachment 300249
My question to you is did you experience the same symptom before filling up the Costco gas? Or have you ever revved the engine up passing 4,000 rpm without experiencing the same behavior?

Your 2.5T definitely is having some issue. With only few hundred miles on odometer, the dealer didn’t even bother to resolve the issue and sent you home? That’s some kind of setvice!

The problem does seem to be fuel related. I personally don’t believe the problem is caused by Costco gas, or there would be hundreds of vehicles that are having similar issue like you considering how many cars pumping gas from Costco every day. Bad fuel pump? low compression ratio on one cylinder? This should be dealer’s job to figure out on such a new car. I’d call Mazda North American Operations and complain.

BTW, you don’t need to use premium gas on the 2.5T for extra hp’s unless you rev the engine over 4,000 rpm all the time.
 
I looked at your video of the tachometer and it looks normal to me. The AT is shifting at the normal shift points. Try pressing and holding the accelerator peddle down briskly. Ed
 
I looked at your video of the tachometer and it looks normal to me. The AT is shifting at the normal shift points. Try pressing and holding the accelerator peddle down briskly. Ed
The way the OP comes across, to me anyway, is that he's not getting past that point with the peddle to the floor. If he videoed himself on a "Sunday drive", I would agree with you, but I'm not sure what the complaint would be then.
 
The way the OP comes across, to me anyway, is that he's not getting past that point with the peddle to the floor. If he videoed himself on a "Sunday drive", I would agree with you, but I'm not sure what the complaint would be then.
Yes, OP’s video showed the engine rpm simply can’t pass 4,000 rpm even if he tried in every way.
 
I did look under the hood and didn’t see anything obvious. The dealership did verify my complaint. They also put it on a lift and checked for any leaks. I’ll try the battery thing. I’ll also reach out to corporate if the new gas thing doesn’t work (not that I’m expecting it to). I unfortunately don’t remember if the car had the issue during the first few weeks as I was driving it fairly gently.

The video doesn’t show the full experience of course. I wish I could explain it better. The car just feels off. Sometimes shifts are pretty jerky. Power should be smooth and linear but it rarely feels like it.

Before this car we had a 2019 CX-5 touring and it was a much smoother experience. I appreciate all the comments and suggestions.
 
Does the car rev past 4k rpm if you floor it? Does it exhibit this same behaviour regardless of speed?
 
Do you feel behavior change on your 2.5T before and after the Costco gas?
I actually filled up at Chevron last night on the way home. Didn’t get a chance to do much driving afterwards but I will later today. I think it’d be really weird for it to be a gas problem considering how many people get gas at Costco though.
 
I actually filled up at Chevron last night on the way home. Didn’t get a chance to do much driving afterwards but I will later today. I think it’d be really weird for it to be a gas problem considering how many people get gas at Costco though.
We're all human. Poo happens sometimes. Hope it's just bad gas.
 
Is there a limiter that prevents high rpm's during the break in period for the turbos? It seems odd to me that it doesn't throw a code if you have it floored for that entire video and the engine just quits.
 
From the video, nothing looks strange but I will take you word for it. I would say, the 2.5T does not like going past 4K period. You really have to slam it for it to do so. Let us know what they find out.
 
One other thing you can try is turning Sport mode on. Sport mode changes the shift points to make the transmission hold gears longer, so it should be easier to get it over 4k RPM. Or you can get the car up to speed, then switch to manual mode and accelerate until the RPMs get over 4k.
 
Have you tried manual mode to hold it past 4k and see how it performs? There is a document that describes how the transmission shifts under various driving conditions. It does react differently depending on driving conditions and that could make it seem the engine is acting differently.
 
So I did a little test drive today. In manual mode I was easily able to get way over 4k rpm. In sport mode it wanted to upshift around 4k.

Will be interesting to see what OP was able to learn.
 
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