Spied: 2017 Mazda CX-9

In my experience the Pilot handles poorly. Also, the point about the Pilot having more equipment/features isn't quite accurate. Honda makes you pay for the top trim to get things (e.g. Blind Spot monitoring, LED headlights, etc.) that are either standard across the board or far more widely available on the CX-9. The last thing I'll note is transmission manual shifting. You can get it on the Pilot if you 1) accept the terrible 9 speed transmission, 2) pay for one of the 2 top trim levels, and 3) are OK with the strange and distracting shift button arrangement. When I was about to drive the Pilot I thought that the notion of pushing buttons for drive, pulling back a control for reverse, etc., would be great. In practice, it's distracting to the point of being dangerous. Mazda goes with a more logical arrangement: an actual shift lever with a logical arrangement for upshifting (pull back) and downshifting (push forward).

"It's amazing the the Pilot, being so hefty and voluptuous, actually weighs less than the CX-9. Even with its V-6 vs 4. As well as having more equipment /features. Honda doesn't seem to go to the extremes Mazda does for weight savings. Just weird."

just going on honda's site and mazdas site and building a pilot, not even the top elite trim, but the touring trim already has a lot more features than the cx9 in it's signature top of the line trim. and the pricing between the 2 whether its top of the line vs top of the line isn't that far away from each other. in fact quite similar.

if you care more about handling the cx9 wins, but everything else the pilot takes it

that 9 speed i belive is same or similar to the mdx. its def a love it or hate it. if you want to be manually shifting i personally would think i picked the wrong car. im using this as a family hauler and being able to shift manually is not the top of my priorities. just like handling. if i really wanted to focus on handling and shifting i dont think i would even consider the cx9. i prob dip to the cx5. and by next years model if honda is smart and fixes the little annoyances.. mainly the infotainment by not having apple car play and android auto and a standard rotary knob. well that will pretty much top it off. mazda needs to add android auto and apple car play in an update before the next year cx9/pilot. you'd be surprise how many people want that feature
 
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"Punches above its class"
[video=youtube;kjvNd1OMB-I]Motormouth CX-9 Review [/video]
 
http://www.piloteers.org/forums/114-2016-third-generation-pilot/102313-auto-shift-park.html discusses this. There is a link in that thread that shows where Honda documented the autopark feature.

I read the post and have sense. We are in 2016, so the old issues has been fixed with autopark. If the driver forgot to switch to Park when press the Start/Stop engine, the transmission will switch to auto park automatically.

If you are in the highway at 80mpg and try to switch to Park, the led light will just blink, warning you ... you are of course trying to do something impossible.

If you are stopped, remove your seatbelt and open the door, the unit will switch to autopark as well, to avoid the rollover.

This design must be bullet proof. But I prefer the regular gear switching we have in the new cx9. Of course, this is my personal opinion.

In the cx9, if you turn off the engine and you are still in D mode, the engine is stopped but you will see a warning message and hear a beep warnings as well regarding you need to switch to Park (and perhaps apply the Park brake).
 
The Pilot of course has 2 separate 0-60 times. The two models with the 9 speed and the lower models with the 6 speed. That should also be considered. 6 seconds is the very generous figure with the 9 speed. I've seen the times all over the map among publications.

It's amazing the the Pilot, being so hefty and voluptuous, actually weighs less than the CX-9. Even with its V-6 vs 4. As well as having more equipment /features. Honda doesn't seem to go to the extremes Mazda does for weight savings. Just weird.

7.2 sec is great for the CX-9. That beats some V-6 competitors. But we'll still hear people calling it underpowered.

That is because Honda uses a lot of lightweight cheap materials. Sit in a Honda and see for yourself. Pop up the hood and look at the mess of wiring.
 
It's amazing the the Pilot, being so hefty and voluptuous, actually weighs less than the CX-9. Even with its V-6 vs 4. As well as having more equipment /features. Honda doesn't seem to go to the extremes Mazda does for weight savings. Just weird.
That is because Honda uses a lot of lightweight cheap materials. Sit in a Honda and see for yourself. Pop up the hood and look at the mess of wiring.
Cheap material ≠ lightweight material ...
 
AutoGuide's 2016 Mazda CX-9 Long-Term Test Update: Deep Dive into Cargo Capacity and Seating

A note about the armrest:
...the drivers door armrest padding has collapsed it feels like it is a memory foam type material under the creamy auburn leather, but it doesnt return to shape anymore. Granted, my elbow is misshapen and bony from old sports injuries, so it is clearly caused by my natural driving position, in which my elbow rests on that exact spot, causing the divot. And because of those injuries, my elbow is a bit sensitive, and it feels like its resting on a hard surface rather than the padded one intended. While I am sure there are worse pains and problems in the world, it is a disappointing failure in quality...

I had this issue in our 2010 CX-9, but it was for the driver's center armrest. I had the dealer make a few warranty claims before I got an armrest that did not collapse. I'm surprised that this is still an issue in the 2016 CX-9. For new owners, please pay attention to this and give us your feedback. Thanks.
 
it's a shame about the armrest, I can confirm there's an indent on the demo unit the dealer had for test drives, you can see the dent from all the test drivers. Also, in the second row, there's indents from the window shade finger tab when the shade is down.
The indent is super annoying when the shade is up, the indent breaks up the nice look of the nice interior. I know it's a minor pet peeve but that's all you see when the shade is up and I don't see the foam "repairing" itself even if I use a temporary cable tie to lift the finger tab off the faux leather.

It's really a bad design, the finger tab is actually a hook that is up against the faux leather countering the spring load 100% of the time when the window shade is down, if there was no finger tab the shade would simply spring down into the door well never to be seen again unless the door panel is removed. That constant load on the faux leather working against the spring makes the indent, I would imagine the indent gets worse over time as the car sits in the hot sun and the leather gets soft and yields and stretches. The correct way to design this is to have the spring stops molded into the ends of the plastic crossbars so there is no load on the finger tab and leather.

359abkg.jpg
 
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it's a shame about the armrest, I can confirm there's an indent on the demo unit the dealer had for test drives, you can see the dent from all the test drivers. Also, in the second row, there's indents from the window shade finger tab when the shade is down.
The indent is super annoying when the shade is up, the indent breaks up the nice look of the nice interior. I know it's a minor pet peeve but that's all you see when the shade is up and I don't see the foam "repairing" itself even if I use a temporary cable tie to lift the finger tab off the faux leather.

It's really a bad design, the finger tab is actually a hook that is up against the faux leather countering the spring load 100% of the time when the window shade is down, if there was no finger tab the shade would simply spring down into the door well never to be seen again unless the door panel is removed. That constant load on the faux leather working against the spring makes the indent, I would imagine the indent gets worse over time as the car sits in the hot sun and the leather gets soft and yields and stretches. The correct way to design this is to have the spring stops molded into the ends of the plastic crossbars so there is no load on the finger tab and leather.

359abkg.jpg

I have OCD (bang) LOL, I like to have a nice clean luxurious looking interior after using some Meguiar's natural shine spray. I agree it's very minor in the overall scheme of things but that would drive me insane, brand new car and there's a cheap looking indent already.
 
Looks like Mazda is using a different type of foam than industry standards. Looks like another thing Mazda needs to address. Wonder how hard it will be for them to change the foam for 2017 and beyond. Have to wonder what it will all look like in 5 & 10 years.
 
Looks like Mazda is using a different type of foam than industry standards. Looks like another thing Mazda needs to address. Wonder how hard it will be for them to change the foam for 2017 and beyond. Have to wonder what it will all look like in 5 & 10 years.

can you post a photo? we don't have issues with our cx9 GT
 
can you post a photo? we don't have issues with our cx9 GT

Actually, you can confirm this for us since you already have a 2016 CX-9. Do any of your armrests have indentations where the foam cushion did not bounce back to its original form? Can you post photos of your armrests, both center and driver-side door?
 
I can post pictures later - mine don't seem to yet but it does have indent from the window shade - which i just keep down, but yeah it's annoying
 
I can post pictures later - mine don't seem to yet but it does have indent from the window shade - which i just keep down, but yeah it's annoying

driver arm rests have no indents...but my wife and i don't use the left arm rest much when we're driving. the 2nd row window shades when down do put that little indent there.
 
I have OCD (bang) LOL, I like to have a nice clean luxurious looking interior after using some Meguiar's natural shine spray. I agree it's very minor in the overall scheme of things but that would drive me insane, brand new car and there's a cheap looking indent already.

I posted about this nearly a month ago! Mine does it too. Straight from the factory, there is a permanent indent. I also noticed the driver armrest now has a permanent indent from my elbow. The car has 1,400 miles on it.

For $40K, this is unacceptable....
 
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