2016 CX-5 AWD System Questions

[HyFlyer]

Oh, for sure. It reacts very quickly. I noticed recently when we were talking about this, while driving 70mph on the highway, windy rainy day and if a big gust came that actually pushed the car sideways enough to require steering correction, the rear coupler instantly hooked up 50% and as soon as the gust was gone and no more steering correction the coupler instantly reduced. A few days later, same situation with gusty wind but this time no rain and the coupler did not ramp up with the steering correction from the gust.

It's just interesting (to me) to see some data like that (later, sitting in my recliner ... I'm not staring at my phone driving down the road lol) to know how some of these systems on the car respond/react since you can't feel those things going on. Or know that the fuel rail pressure is over 25,000 psi ! Daaaaaang that's a lot of pressure!! Or the tire pressures and temperatures real time. Maybe we need a new thread "Fun with FORscan" lol

 

[jakeuten]

Oh, for sure. It reacts very quickly. I noticed recently when we were talking about this, while driving 70mph on the highway, windy rainy day and if a big gust came that actually pushed the car sideways enough to require steering correction, the rear coupler instantly hooked up 50% and as soon as the gust was gone and no more steering correction the coupler instantly reduced.

That is super interesting. I'm not sure why, but I got the impression that these crossover FWD-bias AWD systems were incapable of activating at high speed. Good to know it's always working, even at highway speed!

Maybe we need a new thread "Fun with FORscan" lol

I agree!

 

[trungpham]

That is super interesting. I'm not sure why, but I got the impression that these crossover FWD-bias AWD systems were incapable of activating at high speed. Good to know it's always working, even at highway speed!

Indeed! I've been driving my 2016 CX-5 for nearly 7 years and only after this thread that I know my rear wheels are actually always powered. I did feel something but I thought it was placebo effect. Btw, the system is quite sensitive. Quite. Using Forscan (thanks to the introduction of the gentlemen here in this forum also), I can see the real time power delivery to the rear wheels and I can notice, i.e. mid corner on a wet surface, the power can surge from 14% to something like 30% real quick, I would say in milliseconds. Didn't know Mazda's AWD is capable of that. Their marketing department didn't do them justice I guess

 

[Greg_J]

I use the FD+ (I picked that over the FD for the apple ios support. I use android but my brother uses apple products in case he wanted to try it out)

I'm not that familiar with the MX+ but in looking it up on the V Linker website it seems like you meant MC+ ... That appears to have WiFi and compatibility with Windows operating systems.

The FD+ will work fine for you if you are using an android or iOS platform device. If you are getting into deeper programming I think you would want an actual cable connection.

Just make sure you are getting your FD+ (or FC+) from a reputable source so you don't end up with a counterfeit device.



Yes, the FD+ will access the 4x4 module and you can display the coupler solenoid pid.

Here is a list of the modules of the car that the FORscan lite version accesses ...

View attachment 317310

Thank you, will I be able to monitor a transmission fluid temperature in the light version? Perhaps it should be in the Transmission Control Module?

 

[jakeuten]

Indeed! I've been driving my 2016 CX-5 for nearly 7 years and only after this thread that I know my rear wheels are actually always powered. I did feel something but I thought it was placebo effect. Btw, the system is quite sensitive. Quite. Using Forscan (thanks to the introduction of the gentlemen here in this forum also), I can see the real time power delivery to the rear wheels and I can notice, i.e. mid corner on a wet surface, the power can surge from 14% to something like 30% real quick, I would say in milliseconds. Didn't know Mazda's AWD is capable of that. Their marketing department didn't do them justice I guess

If you’ve ever got time / feel comfortable, I’d love to see a video of playback of the system, maybe accompanied by some dash some footage. LOL

We’re finally winding down from winter here… just kidding, 8 inches between tomorrow and Monday and another 10 between Wednesday and Thursday.

 

[HyFlyer]

Thank you, will I be able to monitor a transmission fluid temperature in the light version? Perhaps it should be in the Transmission Control Module?

Yep .... TCM.TFT is the PiD

 

[jakeuten]

Tsk tsk for reviving an old thread, but I took my 2016 on some mild off roading up at Ore-Be-Gone OHV park yesterday and to call the rear differential active is an understatement. As a baseline, I see about 15% solenoid engagement, or a 92.5/7.5% torque split. I also noticed when putting the car in reverse, the rear diff disengages entirely. It won’t re-engage without another traction event, and you can trick the car into running ~100% FWD at low speed, or if you’re in mud/ ice ruts, a mild throttle stab to induce wheel spin will work trick it back on. I couldn’t get any notable AWD engagement with my wipers on compared to the baseline, which is an idea I’ve seen floated around a lot here. I’ve plugged this tool into a few other OEM cars such as a 2020 Honda Pilot, and the metrics you can read off are not nearly as interesting. No requested / actual torque and no rear diff engagement option . I might need an app that allows me to purchase more PID’s. Using a VeePeak BLE+.

 

[trungpham]

Tsk tsk for reviving an old thread, but I took my 2016 on some mild off roading up at Ore-Be-Gone OHV park yesterday and to call the rear differential active is an understatement. As a baseline, I see about 15% solenoid engagement, or a 92.5/7.5% torque split. I also noticed when putting the car in reverse, the rear diff disengages entirely. It won’t re-engage without another traction event, and you can trick the car into running ~100% FWD at low speed, or if you’re in mud/ ice ruts, a mild throttle stab to induce wheel spin will work trick it back on. I couldn’t get any notable AWD engagement with my wipers on compared to the baseline, which is an idea I’ve seen floated around a lot here. I’ve plugged this tool into a few other OEM cars such as a 2020 Honda Pilot, and the metrics you can read off are not nearly as interesting. No requested / actual torque and no rear diff engagement option . I might need an app that allows me to purchase more PID’s. Using a VeePeak BLE+.

View attachment 324769

Very interesting activity of the system! So when you read 15% at the gauge, that means 15%/2 = 7.5% torque at the rear? When I saw 15% I thought that was 85/15. lol

 

[Kedis82ZE8]

Have you tried using FORScan or OBD Fusion? Did you turn traction control off? I do that sometimes in really slippery stuff

How far are you winding motor up?

Perhaps someone will come up with a hack someday to “on-demand” 50-50 split

 

[jakeuten]

Very interesting activity of the system! So when you read 15% at the gauge, that means 15%/2 = 7.5% torque at the rear? When I saw 15% I thought that was 85/15. lol

My understanding is that 100% lockup on these diffs is a 50/50 split, but the actual traction to the wheels may result in the real torque split to end up being 1% front 99% rear (say your front wheels were on oiled up rollers). There are people more knowledgeable than me on the subject, but I think that’s the gist of it. I find it hard to believe it was sending over 50% of the entire engine output to the rear axle.

Have you tried using FORScan or OBD Fusion? Did you turn traction control off? I do that sometimes in really slippery stuff

How far are you winding motor up?

Perhaps someone will come up with a hack someday to “on-demand” 50-50 split

Not yet! Still messing with this “Car Scanner” app. I think Forscan is next on my list. Traction control was off for the testing, as that’s what Mazda recommends for off road situations. I was being pretty cautious, so I don’t think I ever crested 2000rpm. More like 1500rpm or under most of the time, except on very steep climbs where someone with much thicker threads than I tore up ruts in the trail for me to ford through… while uphill. Quite the 4WD system if that’s the mess you’re leaving…

 

[Kedis82ZE8]

It is variable though.. while it can do 50% … I’d like to see an option to fix it at 50/50 for certain off-road conditions. AFAIK.. that rear end was used by Toyota in RAV4 ans well and thought there were some years with what they called a Center Diff Lock.. it’s not really one but behaves like that.

 

[jakeuten]

We finally got measurable snowfall! This point last year, we had over 120” on the ground. El Niño! I almost feel as though the AWD system is more active on actual roads than off road- look how often that coupling is locking up. Also a neat illustration of the elevation change in my city. I feel for that reason the “I need AWD” applies here more than most areas of the Midwest. Outside of the UP, of course.

 

[Just_Steve]

We finally got measurable snowfall! This point last year, we had over 120” on the ground. El Niño! I almost feel as though the AWD system is more active on actual roads than off road- look how often that coupling is locking up. Also a neat illustration of the elevation change in my city. I feel for that reason the “I need AWD” applies here more than most areas of the Midwest. Outside of the UP, of course.

Those snap shots are fascinating.