Shock Upgrades For A 2024 CX-5 Carbon Turbo?

[Woodguru]

We just got a 2024 CX-5 turbo carbon with 4k dealer CEO miles on it. The Toyo A36 tires truly sucked, so we put a set of Pirelli Scorpion WeatherActive tires, which makes it feel like a different car. It had a dangerous level of reactiveness to center lines and a jitteriness with bumps and road irregularities. The tires have made a remarkable difference in smoothness, noise, and stability, but there is still a slight tendency for it to follow pavement cracks and lines.

I can only assume this leaves shocks that are not doing as good a job as they could be, and was wondering if any other CX-5 owners have noticed this and found shocks that are smoother. I'm thinking this has to do with an orientation towards performance that shocks with different valving might be smoother.

 

[N7turbo]

There are few options.

Bilstein B6 will be 10% stiffer than OE.
KYB is supposedly the OEM.

I'm not aware of any others.

Other than that, there are complete coilover assemblies from B&C Racing and Ceika. These have adjustable damping and it's possible you could tune them down to be softer than stock. I have yet to see anyone actually report doing that, though.

 

[jadmt]

on my 2023 cx5 turbo I can go no hands on the steering wheel at any speed and straight arrow down the road it does not follow imperfections and was the same with the stock toyos which I replaced at around 25000 miles and the Michelin CC2 which I have had for the last 15000 miles or so... I would have the alignment checked..

 

[Woodguru]

on my 2023 cx5 turbo I can go no hands on the steering wheel at any speed and straight arrow down the road it does not follow imperfections and was the same with the stock toyos which I replaced at around 25000 miles and the Michelin CC2 which I have had for the last 15000 miles or so... I would have the alignment checked..

What I'm wondering is if the shocks on the Carbon are different than the preferred and preferred plus, I keep seeing references to something that indicates a performance upgrade. With the Toyos this thing would rip the wheel out of your hands passing cars when you hit the center line under acceleration. If this is the case I am going to "downgrade" from the Carbon shocks...this sucks right now, although it is way less than it was with the Toyos.

So you think it could be alignment, or perhaps steering parts that are performance oriented?

 

[jadmt]

What I'm wondering is if the shocks on the Carbon are different than the preferred and preferred plus, I keep seeing references to something that indicates a performance upgrade. With the Toyos this thing would rip the wheel out of your hands passing cars when you hit the center line under acceleration. If this is the case I am going to "downgrade" from the Carbon shocks...this sucks right now, although it is way less than it was with the Toyos.

So you think it could be alignment, or perhaps steering parts that are performance oriented?

I think your shocks/struts are the same as every other turbo regardless of year or model..looking at part numbers they are the same. my understanding is the color is what essentially differs the carbon edition and different style wheels. nothing performance wise.

https://www.mazdaswag.com/oem-parts/mazda-shock-absorber-kpg128700?c=Zz1zdXNwZW5zaW9uJnM9c2hvY2tzLWFuZC1jb21wb25lbnRzJmw9MSZuPUFzc2VtYmxpZXMgUGFnZSZhPW1hemRhJm89Y3gtNSZ5PTIwMjMmdD0yLTUtdHVyYm8mZT0yLTVsLWw0LWdhcw%3D%3D

 

[TheMAN]

could be an alignment thing... shock absorber differences between specs/grades are not surprising... manufacturers typically do this to match up with weight/options equipped in a car, but also sometimes because of a "sport" version or different engine

if I had access to the latest dealer parts catalog, I can tell you for certain lol

but, any stock mazda, they handle pretty good but still leaves a lot to be desired when you push them hard... bilstein shocks will definitely be an upgrade, and so will bigger sway bars and stiffer springs (at a cost of comfort)

 

[TheMAN]

I think your shocks/struts are the same as every other turbo regardless of year or model..looking at part numbers they are the same. my understanding is the color is what essentially differs the carbon edition and different style wheels. nothing performance wise.

https://www.mazdaswag.com/oem-parts/mazda-shock-absorber-kpg128700?c=Zz1zdXNwZW5zaW9uJnM9c2hvY2tzLWFuZC1jb21wb25lbnRzJmw9MSZuPUFzc2VtYmxpZXMgUGFnZSZhPW1hemRhJm89Y3gtNSZ5PTIwMjMmdD0yLTUtdHVyYm8mZT0yLTVsLWw0LWdhcw%3D%3D

they are different though

https://www.mazdaswag.com/oem-parts/mazda-shock-absorber-ksc828700?c=Zz1zdXNwZW5zaW9uJnM9cmVhci1zdXNwZW5zaW9uJmw9OCZuPUFzc2VtYmxpZXMgUGFnZSZhPW1hemRhJm89Y3gtNSZ5PTIwMjMmdD0yLTUtcy1jYXJib24tZWRpdGlvbiZlPTItNWwtbDQtZ2Fz

but fronts are same, but not the springs

https://www.mazdaswag.com/oem-parts/mazda-strut-kpf934900?c=Zz1zdXNwZW5zaW9uJnM9c3VzcGVuc2lvbi1jb21wb25lbnRzJmw9NSZuPUFzc2VtYmxpZXMgUGFnZSZhPW1hemRhJm89Y3gtNSZ5PTIwMjMmdD0yLTUtcy1jYXJib24tZWRpdGlvbiZlPTItNWwtbDQtZ2Fz

 

[jadmt]

they are different though

https://www.mazdaswag.com/oem-parts/mazda-shock-absorber-ksc828700?c=Zz1zdXNwZW5zaW9uJnM9cmVhci1zdXNwZW5zaW9uJmw9OCZuPUFzc2VtYmxpZXMgUGFnZSZhPW1hemRhJm89Y3gtNSZ5PTIwMjMmdD0yLTUtcy1jYXJib24tZWRpdGlvbiZlPTItNWwtbDQtZ2Fz

but fronts are same, but not the springs

https://www.mazdaswag.com/oem-parts/mazda-strut-kpf934900?c=Zz1zdXNwZW5zaW9uJnM9c3VzcGVuc2lvbi1jb21wb25lbnRzJmw9NSZuPUFzc2VtYmxpZXMgUGFnZSZhPW1hemRhJm89Y3gtNSZ5PTIwMjMmdD0yLTUtcy1jYXJib24tZWRpdGlvbiZlPTItNWwtbDQtZ2Fz

that is a non turbo his is a turbo...unless I am looking at things wrong when they list for turbo it shows carbon turbo the same as the other turbos.

 

[TheMAN]

my point is, turbo vs non-turbo, there's some differences

 

[Woodguru]

on my 2023 cx5 turbo I can go no hands on the steering wheel at any speed and straight arrow down the road it does not follow imperfections and was the same with the stock toyos which I replaced at around 25000 miles and the Michelin CC2 which I have had for the last 15000 miles or so... I would have the alignment checked..

I have to admit to an embarrassing cause for the unacceptable instability as I am passing cars crossing the center line...it's called lane assist or some such nonsense...

A dealer service guy told me to either use the turn signals or turn off the lane assist...works like a charm, ditto for the country roads as I'm drifting over the center lines because the roads are rough and not very wide.

FFS, Lol

 

[N7turbo]

Maybe this car will train you to use your signals.

 

[Lazy2.5]

When driving a 2024 Signature, I found that the steering wheel would have this strange wandering sensation when driving over painted lines, due to the lane assist. Disabling that feature immediately omitted that.

The wandering you feel over road imperfections is not just the shocks, but the rest of the chassis and suspension components together.

It's very likely that the 19" wheels on your car is causing the sensation you feel.

I would suggest trying to drive a CX-5 equipped with 17" wheels and see if that improves things.

Replacing the shocks, or even other suspension components is very unlikely to address that.

 

[Nined1teg]

I wish there was a way to disable the lane-keep assist permanently and without showing an amber light on the gauge cluster.

 

[Lazy2.5]

I wish there was a way to disable the lane-keep assist permanently and without showing an amber light on the gauge cluster.

I agree. The steering wheel vibration was annoying, while I found that the gentle push back into your lane was well tuned , I DO NOT want that! I'm well aware that I am driving over the white line to the right of me! I do that intentionally to stay way from the yellow line, because I have encountered multiple instances of inattentive drivers crossing the yellow line, into oncoming traffic, on the one lane roads I drive on.


I couldn't be happier to get back into my 2015. Literally the only features it has is blind spot monitoring and a crappy backup camera.

 

[Woodguru]

When driving a 2024 Signature, I found that the steering wheel would have this strange wandering sensation when driving over painted lines, due to the lane assist. Disabling that feature immediately omitted that.

The wandering you feel over road imperfections is not just the shocks, but the rest of the chassis and suspension components together.

It's very likely that the 19" wheels on your car is causing the sensation you feel.

I would suggest trying to drive a CX-5 equipped with 17" wheels and see if that improves things.

Replacing the shocks, or even other suspension components is very unlikely to address that.

It was the lane assist, the country roads I drive have lines in the center that you are always intentionally going over, disabling the lane feature took care of the problem, the Pirelli tires are infinitely better handling than the Toyos

 

[Lazy2.5]

It was the lane assist, the country roads I drive have lines in the center that you are always intentionally going over, disabling the lane feature took care of the problem, the Pirelli tires are infinitely better handling than the Toyos

I figured. I noticed that wandering sensation while driving a 2024 loaner and didnt like it at all.

The Toyos seemed decent as far as dry grip went, but I can't say they're particularly good tires .

 

[ScottSt]

I notice what feels like torque steer in our 2025 turbo and have never felt it in our 2020 Sport. Do you happen to be running aftermarket wheels? I found my to be much worse when I installed different wheels with lower offset and grippier tires. Makes sense that deviating from factory offset would exacerbate. Feels like my old vr6 gti