Guess again. Air filters filter different amounts of particulates. Some designs just work better than others.
I think it was P. T. Barnum who said "There's a sucker born every minute".
Mazda Air Filter - OEM versus Aftermarket
- Thread starter madar
- Start date
Guess again. Air filters filter different amounts of particulates. Some designs just work better than others.
I think it was P. T. Barnum who said "There's a sucker born every minute".
Chris_Top_Her
Contributor
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- San Antonio, Texas
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- '15 CX-5 Miata AWD
That's why the first step to a power/band performance increase is a tune. Then a high flow air intake will be useful as the pumping characteristics of the motor will be altered to benefit from this. The website is down right now because they are switching form MazdaEdit to ECUTek, but I think it's about $350-$400 and that's an individualized data logged remote tune. Tuned for your fuel choice 87-93, or if you want to deal with mixing/availability, E85. Mines tuned on 93. When I tested the MAF difference between a high flow panel filter, and the OEM filter, the difference was maybe 10 g/s max; for the 2.5 I have and 2.0 I had. The difference with the SRI was over 30 g/s max, and my motor can utilize that extra air flow for increased power output (tuned). The OEM airbox (regardless of filter) will give you better IAT's all around, mainly better for low speed grunt, but once you are high speed the IAT's are similar.
Mahle vs Mazda
I went with a Mahle air filter. Seemed to me a clone of the one Mazda put in the car from the factory. Cheap enough that I'd rather replace it than clean a reusable one.
https://www.amazon.com/dp/ (commissions earned)
I went with a Mahle air filter. Seemed to me a clone of the one Mazda put in the car from the factory. Cheap enough that I'd rather replace it than clean a reusable one.
https://www.amazon.com/dp/ (commissions earned)
Chris_Top_Her
Contributor
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- San Antonio, Texas
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- '15 CX-5 Miata AWD
To be honest most of the "realtime" adjustment tech (I.e VVT) has been around sine the late 80s. Most of the basic realtime features on the sky engine (aside from comp ratio) are found on the Mivec engine as well, which is in the Mitsubishi Mirage (one of the cheapest new cars in NA). mass air flow sensors are not new and relly nothing about how the engine determines afr is either..
I had once replaced the air filter on my 2016 CX-5 sport with a Denso air filter thinking that it would make no difference. But the car did not seem to perform the same way. Was a bit sluggish upon acceleration. Even my wife noticed this as this is her vehicle. I then bought a new Mazda air filter and the performance was much better and back to normal.
After that experience I just stick with the Mazda air filter.
After that experience I just stick with the Mazda air filter.
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- Plano, Texas, USA
Like Mazda OEM oil filters, Denso could be the one manufacturing the air filters for Mazda. The quality on parts should be good from Denso and I wouldn’t hesitate to use it if the OEM part somehow isn’t available. Is it possible that your Denso air filter could be a counterfeit? In any case sticking with OEM parts is a good thing especially if you DIY. The only thing I’m willing to settle for (much cheaper) aftermarket part is the cabin air filter nowadays.
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- 2023 CX5 turbo
ditto. Denso makes many OEM filters.
I believe I bought the Denso air filter from Rock Auto. I know Denso is very good because they are the OEM for Toyota. My 2010 Corolla uses Denso Plugs. Also, I believe they make the Air Filter for Toyota. On my Corolla I have used the Toyota branded air filter and also the one that Denso sells to suppliers such as Rock Auto. But in my Toyota using the Denso branded filter was equivalent to the Toyota branded air filter.
Also, for cabin filters I just buy aftermarket ones from Amazon. Don't really used Mazda for them. Can't really tell a difference with the cabin filters.
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I just bought a 2023 CX5 CPO with around 16k miles on it from a dealer. I didn’t notice that it seemed to be starting a big rough until after I’d had it a couple weeks. It was a replacement for a 2021 I bought brand new that was totaled in a crash (other guy’s fault), so I was pretty familiar with how these vehicles are supposed to work.
Anyway, took to my local dealer to find out why it was starting rough and the tech determined that it was due to an aftermarket air filter having been installed by someone somewhere along the way. Given that at that mileage the filter didn’t need replacing yet; and the P.O. had vehicle serviced at the dealer I bought it from, I’m left to conclude that the dealer did the replacement of the air filter while they did their 150 point CPO checklist.
Not sure what I want to do about that, but it really ticks me off (there were a couple of other minor bugs/defects that were not obvious when I picked the vehicle up and only discovered after I got it home).
So in case anyone’s wondering, I created three videos and posted them to YT. One is a side-by-side comparison of the aftermarket and OEM filter. The other two are cold starts with each filter. You can definitely hear the difference - there are two fewer compression strokes with the OEM filter in.
Comparison video:
Cold start - aftermarket filter:
Cold start - OEM air filter:
Anyway, took to my local dealer to find out why it was starting rough and the tech determined that it was due to an aftermarket air filter having been installed by someone somewhere along the way. Given that at that mileage the filter didn’t need replacing yet; and the P.O. had vehicle serviced at the dealer I bought it from, I’m left to conclude that the dealer did the replacement of the air filter while they did their 150 point CPO checklist.
Not sure what I want to do about that, but it really ticks me off (there were a couple of other minor bugs/defects that were not obvious when I picked the vehicle up and only discovered after I got it home).
So in case anyone’s wondering, I created three videos and posted them to YT. One is a side-by-side comparison of the aftermarket and OEM filter. The other two are cold starts with each filter. You can definitely hear the difference - there are two fewer compression strokes with the OEM filter in.
Comparison video:
Can't say I really notice the difference in the video between the startup of OEM vs aftermarket.
I have used aftermarket filters on my 2018 CX5 that I am the original owner of, and it has been fine.
I have used aftermarket filters on my 2018 CX5 that I am the original owner of, and it has been fine.
Wow, original post is over 9 years old! That 150 point inspection is really a gimmick IMO. I doubt the average dealer mechanic is going to go over the entire list thoroughly these days. I bought a CPO from Toyota and in reality it shouldn't have been one, quite a few things with the appearance and a few interior items missing, but turned out to be a great car.
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- CX-5 Sport 16.5 6M
It seems likely that some aftermarket filters are just fine. Maybe there are some that have certain deficiencies. I remember carefully comparing the air filters when I installed mine and I didn't see this difference in the gasket the post mentions.
