CX-5 Turbo - Remove Catalytic Convertor

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I'm new to the forum.

I've been looking online and can't see any cat bypass pipes for sale.

Has anyone removed the catalytic convertor on their CX-5 Turbo?

Where does the cat live? Is it on the manifold? Or further down the exhaust?

I'm wondering if it's possible to make up a pipe? Then space the 02 sensor to avoid engine codes?

TIA,
Cinders.
 
The catalytic convertor lives immediately after the turbo as an integrated component of the downpipe as in most modern turbo vehicles.

I'm sure it's possible to make a catless downpipe, but since this is a mainstream crossover I don't think there is much market for one, hence the lack of an aftermarket offering. I'd recommend just leaving the cat in place and letting it do its job of reducing emissions. Stricter regulation and enforcement is even causing big tuning companies like APR to discontinue their "Stage 2" offerings with downpipes that remove the cats.
 
I think there are 2 cats for the 2.5T. One connected just after the turbo and one further downstream in the midpipe area. Take a look under your CUV, it should be pretty obvious.
 
Useful post! Thanks for your contribution.
Yes, sorry, I find it rather bewildering that somebody would want to remove the cat in this day and age and that there are people willing to assist in doing it. I would hope it were the other way around where all the old cars are being mandated to have them fitted or removed from the road altogether even if they are for occasional use. If it will run and I hope it won’t, let’s hope the engine management computer prevents anything other than limp mode. Sorry, as a long standing vehicle test engineer, I can’t condone disabling any part of the emissions system.
 
Yes, sorry, I find it rather bewildering that somebody would want to remove the cat in this day and age and that there are people willing to assist in doing it. I would hope it were the other way around where all the old cars are being mandated to have them fitted or removed from the road altogether even if they are for occasional use. If it will run and I hope it won’t, let’s hope the engine management computer prevents anything other than limp mode. Sorry, as a long standing vehicle test engineer, I can’t condone disabling any part of the emissions system.
Ah so you're a vehicle test engineer. I hope not for Mazda since it seems like their testing process has some major shortcomings.
 
Ah so you're a vehicle test engineer. I hope not for Mazda since it seems like their testing process has some major shortcomings.
Ex vehicle test engineer but not for Mazda! I used to come to Detroit quite a lot at one time but spent most of the time in meetings.
 
Yes, sorry, I find it rather bewildering that somebody would want to remove the cat in this day and age and that there are people willing to assist in doing it... I can’t condone disabling any part of the emissions system.
My personal positions mirror yours. I just didn't want to make any assumptions regarding the intent of the original poster, whether it be for dragging, testing/development, motorsports (rallying looks fun with CX-5), cat theft, or publicly running dirty, although from a statistical standpoint, your assumptions based on original post will have decent probability of being true.

Regarding questionable personal choices, those topics are too hairy for car forums and I try to stay away. I'm certain there are EV owners that are shaking their heads in disapproval at our vehicle choices. Once upon a time, I recall everyone was catless. I see that in the future when EVs are the norm, there will be folks retrofitting ICE powertrains and there will also be folks expressing disapproval.

The comment about assisting did sting a bit. ;D
 
I'm curious how you came to this conclusion.
There are numerous software/programming shortfalls that I was able to identify in my very short ownership periods thus far, that could and should have been identified and resolved prior to going into production if thorough testing was performed. This ranges from things as trivial as the satellite radio song titles being truncated to the safety hazard when the Smart City Brake Support system overrides the driver accelerating and steering and applies the brakes when a forward collision is not actually imminent and a rear end collision is made more likely. In other situations the Lane Departure Warning warns me when I touch a line to actually avoid a collision with a vehicle stopped blocking part of my lane, seemingly preferring that I stay fully in my lane and run into said vehicle.

Other things falling in the middle are:
  • Auto AC getting bricked
  • Remote Start turning the car off when opening a door
  • Painting process promoted for how thin the layers of paint are, but actually results in increased propensity of chipping.
  • Taller than necessary steering column shroud that blocks portion of lower gauge display (where headlight indicator is) from driver view for over 50% of adjustment range.
  • Gauge brightness that has a huge gap between the highest available dimmed setting and the non-dimmed setting that results in either too bright or too dim gauges during dawn, dusk, rainy or very cloudy driving conditions, along with the sensor in auto mode switching between the two 10+ times on a 30 minute commute.
  • New 10.25" infotainment system for 2021 CX-5 Signature does not include wireless Carplay meanwhile the prior generation 8" system in my MX-5 GT had this standard.

It seems Mazda's testing protocols have a limited set of parameters evaluated, only evaluate system functions individually, don't account for actual road driving conditions, don't account for a variety of driver sizes, or they simply don't have an appropriate resolution process prior to testing being completed as acceptable to move into production. None of these require a long period of evaluation to uncover. Most were identified by me within 1k miles, and I'm still well below 2k miles.
 
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There are numerous software/programming shortfalls that I was able to identify in my very short ownership periods thus far, that could and should have been identified and resolved prior to going into production if thorough testing was performed. This ranges from things as trivial as the satellite radio song titles being truncated to the safety hazard when the Smart City Brake Support system overrides the driver accelerating and steering and applies the brakes when a forward collision is not actually imminent and a rear end collision is made more likely. In other situations the Lane Departure Warning warns me when I touch a line to actually avoid a collision with a vehicle stopped blocking part of my lane, seemingly preferring that I stay fully in my lane and run into said vehicle.

Other things falling in the middle are:
  • Auto AC getting bricked
  • Remote Start turning the car off when opening a door
  • Painting process promoted for how thin the layers of paint are, but actually results in increased propensity of chipping.
  • Taller than necessary steering column shroud that blocks portion of lower gauge display (where headlight indicator is) from driver view for over 50% of adjustment range.
  • Gauge brightness that has a huge gap between the highest available dimmed setting and the non-dimmed setting that results in either too bright or too dim gauges during dawn, dusk, rainy or very cloudy driving conditions, along with the sensor in auto mode switching between the two 10+ times on a 30 minute commute.
  • New 10.25" infotainment system for 2021 CX-5 Signature does not include wireless Carplay meanwhile the prior generation 8" system in my MX-5 GT had this standard.

It seems Mazda's testing protocols have a limited set of parameters evaluated, only evaluate system functions individually, don't account for actual road driving conditions, don't account for a variety of driver sizes, or they simply don't have an appropriate resolution process prior to testing being completed as acceptable to move into production. None of these require a long period of evaluation to uncover. Most were identified by me within 1k miles, and I'm still well below 2k miles.
My personal positions mirror yours. I just didn't want to make any assumptions regarding the intent of the original poster, whether it be for dragging, testing/development, motorsports (rallying looks fun with CX-5), cat theft, or publicly running dirty, although from a statistical standpoint, your assumptions based on original post will have decent probability of being true.

Regarding questionable personal choices, those topics are too hairy for car forums and I try to stay away. I'm certain there are EV owners that are shaking their heads in disapproval at our vehicle choices. Once upon a time, I recall everyone was catless. I see that in the future when EVs are the norm, there will be folks retrofitting ICE powertrains and there will also be folks expressing disapproval.

The comment about assisting did sting a bit. ;D
I don’t consider myself to be a tree hugger but it is something I feel quite strongly about. Glad I’m not alone in some of it 👍
 
There are numerous software/programming shortfalls that I was able to identify in my very short ownership periods thus far, that could and should have been identified and resolved prior to going into production if thorough testing was performed. This ranges from things as trivial as the satellite radio song titles being truncated to the safety hazard when the Smart City Brake Support system overrides the driver accelerating and steering and applies the brakes when a forward collision is not actually imminent and a rear end collision is made more likely. In other situations the Lane Departure Warning warns me when I touch a line to actually avoid a collision with a vehicle stopped blocking part of my lane, seemingly preferring that I stay fully in my lane and run into said vehicle.

Other things falling in the middle are:
  • Auto AC getting bricked
  • Remote Start turning the car off when opening a door
  • Painting process promoted for how thin the layers of paint are, but actually results in increased propensity of chipping.
  • Taller than necessary steering column shroud that blocks portion of lower gauge display (where headlight indicator is) from driver view for over 50% of adjustment range.
  • Gauge brightness that has a huge gap between the highest available dimmed setting and the non-dimmed setting that results in either too bright or too dim gauges during dawn, dusk, rainy or very cloudy driving conditions, along with the sensor in auto mode switching between the two 10+ times on a 30 minute commute.
  • New 10.25" infotainment system for 2021 CX-5 Signature does not include wireless Carplay meanwhile the prior generation 8" system in my MX-5 GT had this standard.

It seems Mazda's testing protocols have a limited set of parameters evaluated, only evaluate system functions individually, don't account for actual road driving conditions, don't account for a variety of driver sizes, or they simply don't have an appropriate resolution process prior to testing being completed as acceptable to move into production. None of these require a long period of evaluation to uncover. Most were identified by me within 1k miles, and I'm still well below 2k miles.
We’re not allowed to have remote start in Europe - it’s called quitting if we even get out with the engine running. I know Toyota and Lexus shut off when you open the door. I believe there is a safety requirement to get in before driving on those because they can move silently on battery power.
 
satellite radio song titles being truncated... safety hazard when the Smart City Brake Support system overrides the driver accelerating and steering and applies the brakes... Lane Departure Warning warns me when I touch a line to actually avoid a collision...

... Auto AC getting bricked
... Remote Start turning the car off when opening a door
... Painting process promoted for how thin the layers of paint are, but actually results in increased propensity of chipping.
... Taller than necessary steering column shroud that blocks portion of lower gauge display (where headlight indicator is) from driver view for over 50% of adjustment range.
... Gauge brightness that has a huge gap between the highest available dimmed setting and the non-dimmed setting that results in either too bright or too dim gauges during dawn, dusk, rainy or very cloudy driving conditions, along with the sensor in auto mode switching between the two 10+ times on a 30 minute commute.
... New 10.25" infotainment system for 2021 CX-5 Signature does not include wireless Carplay meanwhile the prior generation 8" system in my MX-5 GT had this standard.

It seems two types of testing are being conflated into one.
* quality testing
* usability testing

These appear to be deliberate choices (compromises) made by Mazda, and not testing inadequacy:

* Smart City brake support - I have experienced the scenario you mentioned but without additional sensors to detect and project lateral movement change of preceding vehicle along with more sophisticated logic, the programming for that situation becomes costly. You can either keep a more conservative following distance or disable the system for this trip if it bothers you. It's a support system. If for example, Mazda chose to narrow the radar detection toward the center to accommodate the scenario you mention, the car will then plow into stationary objects on the periphery.
* Lane Departure - Same reasoning as previous
* Remote Start turning off when opening door - Deliberate choice for legal reasons; not testing inadequacy
* Thin paint - This is par for the course for most Asian manufacturers I think and it's a deliberate cost-related choice; Mazda's fancy colors weren't touted for durability but for aesthetics
* Taller than necessary steering column shroud - Would it have been better if the shroud was lowered? What would people who lower their steering wheels have to say about that? I think this is a usability testing issue where it's impossible to satisfy all and objective is to satisfy the majority. Again deliberate choice.
* Gauge brightness - You can elect not to use the auto-headlamp setting. The logic of these auto-lamps are stateless and simply sensor-based. They have no notion of past state and future. When it detects bright ambience, it goes bright and vice versa. Unless there is sophisticated heuristic involved, eg, machine learning, it's tricky to get right. How does it know it's going under a slatted bridge during the day, for example? A simple way might be to add an interval threshold on how frequent it should switch, but that's another cost and I'd rather have the system be responsive.
* Wireless CarPlay - Deliberate choice, not testing inadequacy. Cost is probably a factor.


This may be a legit quality testing failure:
* Auto AC failure (what's the failure rate compared to other manufacturers? European cars with complex electronics and higher failure rates?)

I'd be interested to see comments on how other OEMs handle these scenarios.
 
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Taller than necessary steering column shroud that blocks portion of lower gauge display (where headlight indicator is) from driver view for over 50% of adjustment range.

I complained about this 2 years ago. It could be easily rectified by moving the headlight indication higher on the dash. My 16 CX-5 has the headlight indicator up high so no matter how the steering column is set you can tell if your headlights are active.
 
It seems two types of testing are being conflated into one.
* quality testing
* usability testing

These appear to be deliberate choices (compromises) made by Mazda, and not testing inadequacy:

* Smart City brake support - I have experienced the scenario you mentioned but without additional sensors to detect and project lateral movement change of preceding vehicle along with more sophisticated logic, the programming for that situation becomes costly. You can either keep a more conservative following distance or disable the system for this trip if it bothers you. It's a support system. If for example, Mazda chose to narrow the radar detection toward the center to accommodate the scenario you mention, the car will then plow into stationary objects on the periphery.
* Lane Departure - Same reasoning as previous
* Remote Start turning off when opening door - Deliberate choice for legal reasons; not testing inadequacy
* Thin paint - This is par for the course for most Asian manufacturers I think and it's a deliberate cost-related choice; Mazda's fancy colors weren't touted for durability but for aesthetics
* Taller than necessary steering column shroud - Would it have been better if the shroud was lowered? What would people who lower their steering wheels have to say about that? I think this is a usability testing issue where it's impossible to satisfy all and objective is to satisfy the majority. Again deliberate choice.
* Gauge brightness - You can elect not to use the auto-headlamp setting. The logic of these auto-lamps are stateless and simply sensor-based. They have no notion of past state and future. When it detects bright ambience, it goes bright and vice versa. Unless there is sophisticated heuristic involved, eg, machine learning, it's tricky to get right. How does it know it's going under a slatted bridge during the day, for example? A simple way might be to add an interval threshold on how frequent it should switch, but that's another cost and I'd rather have the system be responsive.
* Wireless CarPlay - Deliberate choice, not testing inadequacy. Cost is probably a factor.


This may be a legit quality testing failure:
* Auto AC failure (what's the failure rate compared to other manufacturers? European cars with complex electronics and higher failure rates?)

I'd be interested to see comments on how other OEMs handle these scenarios.
I didn’t specify one specific type of testing. You seem to want to keep everything in its own silo, which is exactly the problem I think Mazda has. They test things for only certain aspects and never test the overall final result that’s going into production.

  • Smart City Brake Support - My VWs have had Front Assist with Automatic Emergency Braking and somehow their system managed to never cause the same issues over many thousands of miles. That is what leads me to believe Mazda has not tested and refined their logic well enough.​
  • Lane Departure - Same as above, the VW system never warned me for touching or crossing a lane marker when it was to avoid a vehicle stopped partially in my lane over many more miles of use. the Mazda does so all the time.​
  • Remote Start - many other manufacturers execute this much better and testing against competitors should be part of the process, especially since Mazda Corporate has acknowledged to me they have received many complain for several years about this.​
  • Thin paint - Yes they tout the process for enhancing brilliance and beauty. It would seem a new paint application process would warrant testing for durability in a vehicle’s normal operating conditions.​
  • Steering column shroud - This is my 28th vehicle and the first where I’ve experienced this. wlong01 has already confirmed I’m not alone in my observation that it’s not well designed. Either the shroud should be lowered, a flexible boot used directly adjacent to the dash, or the indicators should not be placed at the very bottom of the gauge cluster area. Simply having people of different sizes sit in the driver seat and move the seat and steering column through it’s range of adjustment would have identified this. For testing, it should be possible to have all gauge indicators displayed.​
  • Gauge brightness - The auto setting description was secondary to the fact that the adjustments allow a range of 0-30% brightness or 100% brightness. They’ve programmed out the useful range for low light situations so that they are unavailable whether under manual or automatic control. Again, numerous other vehicles I’ve owned provide the full range of brightness adjustments and the auto modes did not cause the frequent bouncing between bright and dim.​
  • Wireless CarPlay - The WiFi hardware is already there. The prior gen system on the ‘21 CX-5 in Canada Has wireless CarPlay. Again seems like an oversight that user experience testing should have identified. But since you mention deliberate choices, how about the non-touchscreen new 10.25” infotainment. An overwhelming majority want touchscreen capability, yet Mazda again seems to fail at user experience testing and sticks with the control wheel that some small internal group deemed to be safer and better for the consumer whether they like it or not.​
  • I have never had another Auto climate control system brick itself and simply stop doing anything until being turned completely off and back on. This includes multiple European, Japanese and American brand vehicles. I’m not the only one on this forum with a new ‘21 that’s had the problem, and it’s not a part failure, it’s flawed programming code somewhere. Again, not tested well enough.​
 
Yes, sorry, I find it rather bewildering that somebody would want to remove the cat in this day and age and that there are people willing to assist in doing it. I would hope it were the other way around where all the old cars are being mandated to have them fitted or removed from the road altogether even if they are for occasional use. If it will run and I hope it won’t, let’s hope the engine management computer prevents anything other than limp mode. Sorry, as a long standing vehicle test engineer, I can’t condone disabling any part of the emissions system.

The best thing I ever did was remove the cats from my V8 Ferrari. The sound coming from that engine was absolutely amazing. With the Ferrari there was an OBD dongle that cancelled the engine error code.

I've already found someone that will fabricate the pipes I need to remove them on the CX-5 and space out the 02 sensor to fool the engine management system.

I'll post some pictures on here when it's done. As a long-standing vehicle test engineer, will you be able to sleep at night knowing someone is driving around without cats?.. lol
 
Yes, sorry, I find it rather bewildering that somebody would want to remove the cat in this day and age and that there are people willing to assist in doing it. I would hope it were the other way around where all the old cars are being mandated to have them fitted or removed from the road altogether even if they are for occasional use. If it will run and I hope it won’t, let’s hope the engine management computer prevents anything other than limp mode. Sorry, as a long standing vehicle test engineer, I can’t condone disabling any part of the emissions system.
I don't think your "sorry" is at all necessary. Without some reasonable explanation up front the OP's post stands as a provocation. Maybe he doesn't plan what he says at all and is just trolling.

With a 1990 amendment to the Clean Air Act, it is a federal offense to remove a catalytic converter from a vehicle manufactured with such. That applies to off-road driving as well. While one may replace it with pipes for some added HP on a track-only car, it is still illegal. I believe the current fine is up to $10,000. One can get into the weeds here:


Assuming a race sponsor doesn't care, or it's a field car, or the car is registered in one of the few states that does not have smog testing, would one ever be caught? Highly unlikely. Has anybody anywhere paid the $10,000 fine? Maybe not. If someone was dumb enough to try to get a smog test on a car missing its CC, is the shop going to call the FBI? Doubt it--they'll flunk you and send you on your way.

While I've felt compelled recently to say I'm nobody's mother, I think aiding and abetting the removal of a catalytic converter is beyond the pale unless there's that good reason stated up front. I don't think there is any legal reason that could be stated.
 
I don't think your "sorry" is at all necessary. Without some reasonable explanation up front the OP's post stands as a provocation. Maybe he doesn't plan what he says at all and is just trolling.

With a 1990 amendment to the Clean Air Act, it is a federal offense to remove a catalytic converter from a vehicle manufactured with such. That applies to off-road driving as well. While one may replace it with pipes for some added HP on a track-only car, it is still illegal. I believe the current fine is up to $10,000. One can get into the weeds here:


Assuming a race sponsor doesn't care, or it's a field car, or the car is registered in one of the few states that does not have smog testing, would one ever be caught? Highly unlikely. Has anybody anywhere paid the $10,000 fine? Maybe not. If someone was dumb enough to try to get a smog test on a car missing its CC, is the shop going to call the FBI? Doubt it--they'll flunk you and send you on your way.

While I've felt compelled recently to say I'm nobody's mother, I think aiding and abetting the removal of catalytic converter for any reason is beyond the pale.

Wow. So many people butt-hurt about removing a bit of restrictive pipe from an exhaust system...

I don't live in the USA guys. The country my CX-5 resides in has some of the most polluted places in the World when they burn the fields each year. Nobody cares here.
 
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