CX-90 Turbo S vs. Turbo Differences and drivetrain notes

Since you have access to the underlying components, could you look at the rear diff and see if the older CX-9 LSD or something similar could be swapped in? Prior to buying not having a LSD in the rear was my biggest concern for low traction environments (snow etc), I am not a fan of electronically controlled braking open diff "locking" diffs. Thankfully I know there is a good chance of finding a mazda or ford LSD that can be swapped in.
I would temper your expectations of finding anything that swaps in. The Ford/Mazda interchangeability days are long over. There is nothing mechanically shared between the new large platform and anything previous, the new diffs are quite a bit bigger.
 
Somebody in one of the other CX-90 forums got access to service manual documents, and came across this.

According to this, the side radiator is getting called out as being a high power differentiator. Could have been on the right track after all? Intercooler and transmission cooling are a separate loop, but looks like they are parallel to each other within the "low temp" loop.

We need a higher trim non-S to go look in their lower passenger grill opening (near the bottom) to see if they have the radiator there or not.
 

Attachments

  • Cooling system.pdf
    260.1 KB · Views: 108
I do intend to have some seat time with one asap. There is quite a bit involved in getting them rolling, I have no doubt there will be ECM/TCM updates as the platform ages.
Fingers crossed that ECM/TCM updates will happen and be made available to CX-90s already on the road rather than just new ones from the factory.

Wish my Turbo S felt smoother at lower speeds. Also experienced a hesitation once while turning left against oncoming traffic…was unsettling, but hasn’t happened again. Despite this, I still love the car and trust Mazda will sort it out.
 
I have no doubts there will be updates. Apparently for the one or two cases of cars going into hard limp modes, it was already communicated that software updates that would truly fix those issues were 1/2 months out (I would guess they arent the only thing in the update).

I will say that as I have put miles / driving cycles on the car, some of the NVH and weirdness at slower speeds, hesitations during state transitions seems to be improving. Probably via a combo of changing driving habits, and things breaking in. I am at about 1k miles now.
 
I will say that as I have put miles / driving cycles on the car, some of the NVH and weirdness at slower speeds, hesitations during state transitions seems to be improving. Probably via a combo of changing driving habits, and things breaking in. I am at about 1k miles now.
I'm at 1700 miles and my drivetrain also seems to be smoothening out. Not sure if it's the TCM, adjustments to my driving habits, or my imagination.
 
I'm at 1700 miles and my drivetrain also seems to be smoothening out. Not sure if it's the TCM, adjustments to my driving habits, or my imagination.
I am guessing its mostly things breaking in with the clutches / gears / EV motor etc.

There are still times where I have weird lower speed hesitation shifts, or hesitations when getting off and on the throttle (light throttle), but the clunky harsher stuff seems to be smoothening out as time goes on.
 
Is there any hope for a twin clutch front or rear diff in these vehicles? I haven’t seen any documentation, but torque vectoring would be appreciated, see how much reviewers rave about SH-AWD and any other vehicle using a “twinster” style diff (Focus RS, some Buicks, Chevrolets). I don’t expect actual limited slip diffs in this class but TV would better help them compare with companies like Acura and Mercedes Benz with their 4Matic+.
 
Open diffs front and rear from what I found, the center diff though is a variable locking unit, so 0-100 front / rear and 50/50 front/rear appears to be the range.
 
Back