5 Things You Should Never Do In A Turbocharged Vehicle

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astriuminc

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CX-9 2013 AWD

Supercharger VS. Turbo Sounds :




Who Should and Shouldn’t Buy a 2016 Turbo Mazda CX-9

http://www.cheatsheet.com/automobiles/shouldnt-buy-turbo-mazda-cx-9.html/?a=viewall

the CX-9 is not an SUV that is designed for the off-road aficionado, as Mazda’s all-wheel drive system does not feature locking differentials, nor does it sport the same ground clearance as some other SUVs on the market. It also doesn’t have various traction selection buttons to prevent wheel slip, and the tires that come on it are by no means all-terrain-ready. So if sand, mud, rock, or serious snow are on the radar, you probably will want to skip the CX-9 and look toward a 4Runner in its place.

Another group of people who should avoid the CX-9 are those who need some serious towing capacity. While the SUV does come with an option to outfit it with a tow hitch that can support up to 3,500 pounds, the Mazda’s little 2.5-liter turbo motor and rear differential are more than likely going to hate you if you’re consistently hauling anything heavier than a couple of Seadoos.
 
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I agree with the 5 things he lists but I think most of them aren't worrisome on the CX9. Most modern turbo charged engines have some dummy proofing.

1. Don't run the engine hard after startup. I'm pretty sure the CX9 limits boost until the engine is warmed up. The ECU prevents you from doing any major damage. I'm not saying to drive like a maniac out of the garage, but this shouldn't be a worry for the average CX9 driver.

2.Don't shut the car off immediately after running it hard. It's a 4300lb SUV, I think this applies to racing or really flogging the engine for an extended period of time. I highly doubt anyone in a CX9 is driving it hard enough to run into this issue.

3.Don't lug the engine. Cx9 has an automatic transmission, the programming in D won't allow you to lug the engine. Even in M mode, the gears have rev floors and ceilings.

4.Don't use low octane fuel. The engine is protected by ECU programming, he even explains this in the video. Mazda has specified it can run on 87 so no worries. I think this rule only applies if you modify a turbo engine from factory specs.

5.Don't floor it coming out of a corner. Again, you probably don't need to worry about this driving a 4300lb SUV. This applies when pushing a car to the limits.

So for the avg CX9 owner this list should be called, 1 rule of thumb to keep in mind and 4 things you don't need to worry about unless you're racing your 7 passenger SUV.
 
MS33SM said:
I agree with the 5 things he lists but I think most of them aren't worrisome on the CX9. Most modern turbo charged engines have some dummy proofing.

1. Don't run the engine hard after startup. I'm pretty sure the CX9 limits boost until the engine is warmed up. The ECU prevents you from doing any major damage. I'm not saying to drive like a maniac out of the garage, but this shouldn't be a worry for the average CX9 driver.

2.Don't shut the car off immediately after running it hard. It's a 4300lb SUV, I think this applies to racing or really flogging the engine for an extended period of time. I highly doubt anyone in a CX9 is driving it hard enough to run into this issue.

3.Don't lug the engine. Cx9 has an automatic transmission, the programming in D won't allow you to lug the engine. Even in M mode, the gears have rev floors and ceilings.

4.Don't use low octane fuel. The engine is protected by ECU programming, he even explains this in the video. Mazda has specified it can run on 87 so no worries. I think this rule only applies if you modify a turbo engine from factory specs.

5.Don't floor it coming out of a corner. Again, you probably don't need to worry about this driving a 4300lb SUV. This applies when pushing a car to the limits.

So for the avg CX9 owner this list should be called, 1 rule of thumb to keep in mind and 4 things you don't need to worry about unless you're racing your 7 passenger SUV.
Click to expand...

Agreed, almost none of those 5 things apply to the CX-9. Mostly applies to a manual transmission turbo sports car as he is driving. The only things you would take special care of is not driving hard when the engine is cold and not running it hard right before shutting it down. How many people are going to drive their CX-9 like that?
 
I agree that these points are excellent when driving a sports car.
Former turbocharged BMWs and MazdaSpeed Miatas were treated with kid gloves.
The only thing I wasn't aware of was the engine lugging caution.

From driving off the sales lot, I've continued to drive the CX-9 gently for the first 15 minutes or so to allow the oil to reach operating temperature and letting it idle for a bit before shutting down if I've just exited a high-speed run.
(Returning home offers enough low-speed running that idling becomes unnecessary.)

I've always changed oil more frequently in the turbo cars and always use a full synthetic.
I'm about to reach 1,000 miles on the CX-9 and plan an early oil change as I have since getting my first new car well over 40 years ago.
"Old School" and likely unnecessary, but the peace of mind that clean oil offers is worth the time and expense to me.

Unlike some I know who failed to follow these turbo pointers or who have extended their oil change intervals, I've never had a turbo or an engine fail.
 
MS33SM said:
I agree with the 5 things he lists but I think most of them aren't worrisome on the CX9. Most modern turbo charged engines have some dummy proofing.

1. Don't run the engine hard after startup. I'm pretty sure the CX9 limits boost until the engine is warmed up. The ECU prevents you from doing any major damage. I'm not saying to drive like a maniac out of the garage, but this shouldn't be a worry for the average CX9 driver.

2.Don't shut the car off immediately after running it hard. It's a 4300lb SUV, I think this applies to racing or really flogging the engine for an extended period of time. I highly doubt anyone in a CX9 is driving it hard enough to run into this issue.

3.Don't lug the engine. Cx9 has an automatic transmission, the programming in D won't allow you to lug the engine. Even in M mode, the gears have rev floors and ceilings.

4.Don't use low octane fuel. The engine is protected by ECU programming, he even explains this in the video. Mazda has specified it can run on 87 so no worries. I think this rule only applies if you modify a turbo engine from factory specs.

5.Don't floor it coming out of a corner. Again, you probably don't need to worry about this driving a 4300lb SUV. This applies when pushing a car to the limits.

So for the avg CX9 owner this list should be called, 1 rule of thumb to keep in mind and 4 things you don't need to worry about unless you're racing your 7 passenger SUV.
Click to expand...

In old turbos you cannot "race" and then stop the engine. You need to wait certain time and then turn off. But this is old stuff, since years now, this is not longer required. I had a Volvo s40 Turbo and never had a single issue.

Regarding the cx9 temp when start up... I notice the cockpit have a blue light just to warn you about motor temp if is so low. This was not available in the old cx9 (I had the old cx9 sport). Every day in the morning when I drive to work, I see the blue led on my controls and dissapear only after few blocks of driving. I'm pretty sure japan designers already put some protections in place.

Regarding the gas octanage: I test it with regular and premium gas and have the same torque and motor response. But premium will give us extra performance (HP). It's amazing how Mazda achieved this... is the first time I see a turbo engine accepting low octane gas (we have here 89 and 92 available). 87 is not available.
 
Any idea what the benefits would be of running on higher octane? My local (in Aus) provides 91, 95 and 98 options.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
 
Saabs have always allowed all octane fuels. Saab was a huge pioneer of the turbo (especially small displacement turbo engines) and created the first mass produced turbo car. My 1978 Saab 99 turbo and 2003 9-5 both run great on 87 and have been extremely reliable wonderful cars.
cubanomx said:
In old turbos you cannot "race" and then stop the engine. You need to wait certain time and then turn off. But this is old stuff, since years now, this is not longer required. I had a Volvo s40 Turbo and never had a single issue.

Regarding the cx9 temp when start up... I notice the cockpit have a blue light just to warn you about motor temp if is so low. This was not available in the old cx9 (I had the old cx9 sport). Every day in the morning when I drive to work, I see the blue led on my controls and dissapear only after few blocks of driving. I'm pretty sure japan designers already put some protections in place.

Regarding the gas octanage: I test it with regular and premium gas and have the same torque and motor response. But premium will give us extra performance (HP). It's amazing how Mazda achieved this... is the first time I see a turbo engine accepting low octane gas (we have here 89 and 92 available). 87 is not available.
Click to expand...
 
Running a higher octane will help with pre detonation and you may gain a little performance. But u less the car is tuned usually anything higher than recommended won't help.
As far as his points.
1) makes sense, that's really with any internal part of the engine though,
2) if you run it hard letting it cool I good. But so many turbos are water cooled that a regular drive, even highway, won't hurt it.
3) my two standard turbo cars wouldn't run the boost up in high gear low speed so I'm not sure what to make of this.
4) no argument here. Unless you are going to drive without sudden acceleration this is not a good idea. I had a friend that always ran 87 instead of 93 in his and got great mileage. He did drive like an old lady though.
5) smh

The guy in the video had some good info but it was too drawn out and he was so annoying.
 
Turborascal said:
I'm about to reach 1,000 miles on the CX-9 and plan an early oil change as I have since getting my first new car well over 40 years ago.
"Old School" and likely unnecessary, but the peace of mind that clean oil offers is worth the time and expense to me.
Click to expand...
This "old-school" thinking of changing oil as early as at 1,000 miles on a new vehicle may not be a good idea after all! For example, Honda has specifically stated in its owner's manual that in break-in period, you change your oil only at recommended oil change schedule, usually at 7,500 miles. The reason is Honda does use break-in oil for factory fill and you want to keep break-in oil in the new engine as long as you can!

Mazda uses Mazda moly oil with very high molybdenum content. Unless you change your oil with Mazda moly oil at 1,000 miles, I wouldn't recommend you changing oil that early instead either just follow the recommended fixed oil change schedule, or better, use Flexible Maintenance on oil change by turning on your oil life monitor.
 
cubanomx said:
It's amazing how Mazda achieved this... is the first time I see a turbo engine accepting low octane gas (we have here 89 and 92 available). 87 is not available.
Click to expand...
Nothing amazing about it by Mazda as many modern turbo engines have already tuned from factory to run regular gas. But Mazda indeed is the first who openly lists different horsepower from different grade of gasoline in specification for a turbo engine. Others choose not to state this as they want to show only the maximum possible power rating with premium gas, hence legally they have to say "premium gas is recommended"!
 
cubanomx said:
In old turbos you cannot "race" and then stop the engine. You need to wait certain time and then turn off. But this is old stuff, since years now, this is not longer required. I had a Volvo s40 Turbo and never had a single issue.
Click to expand...
There is no secret here. Turbo engine is hot! In old days many people were using conventional oil and oil got cooked easily inside of oil passages of turbo charger if you shutdown the engine immediately without letting the turbo charger been cooled down a bit. VW/Audi 1.8T turbo was having big oil sludge issue because of this which caused class-action lawsuit in 2006~2010.

So basically there's no way around it with hot temperature on turbo charger. Even if you use full synthetic oil, added with coolant passage, you still need some sort of timer and electrical motor to keep oil, and coolant if applicable, circulating a while to cool down the turbo charger after the engine is off.
 
yrwei52 said:
Nothing amazing about it by Mazda as many modern turbo engines have already tuned from factory to run regular gas. But Mazda indeed is the first who openly lists different horsepower from different grade of gasoline in specification for a turbo engine. Others choose not to state this as they want to show only the maximum possible power rating with premium gas, hence legally they have to say "premium gas is recommended"!
Click to expand...

Good point. Mazda made a smart move for the segment. People in this segment don't want to be forced to buy premium, as is the case with most luxury models. Those who understand how HP works will know that the 23 extra HP in this case could only be felt at high RPM. Most will quickly find that they won't see this RPM range negating the desire to use premium.

It's too bad most people shop HP numbers. Most people never see any where near peak HP unless they drive an economy car. You essentially need to floor it well past legal limits to see your HP number shine.
 
panuara said:
Any idea what the benefits would be of running on higher octane? My local (in Aus) provides 91, 95 and 98 options.
Click to expand...
The benefit of running on higher octane is getting more horsepower. SkyActiv-G 2.5T Turbo on 2016 CX-9 has maximum torque at 310 lb-ft @ 2,000 rpm and maximum horsepower at 227 hp (87 octane) / 250 hp (93 octane) @ 5,000 rpm with 6,300 rpm redline.

But these 87 and 93 octane numbers are AKI octane for US, Canada, and Brazil only. Every other countries in the world, including Australia, uses RON octane. And your RON octane numbers of 91, 95, and 98 are roughly equivalent to AKI's 87, 90, and 93.
 
elbobo said:
Saabs have always allowed all octane fuels. Saab was a huge pioneer of the turbo (especially small displacement turbo engines) and created the first mass produced turbo car. My 1978 Saab 99 turbo and 2003 9-5 both run great on 87 and have been extremely reliable wonderful cars.
Click to expand...

Good to know, but most turbos here in MX requires premium gas. If you fill the tank with regular gas, you lost the car warranty. So is good Mazda allow us to use either premium or regular gas.
 
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