New Member here: I just test drove a cx 9 signature - "dreadful A/C" is correct

After some high 90s and near 100 F weather in Denver Colorado, I feel the A/C in my 2016 CX9 GT is lacking a little and definitely not as powerful as my 2000 Honda Odyssey. The Odyssey cools down its much larger cabin much faster than the CX9. The CX9 does eventually cool the cabin down but takes a good 10 minutes if you are able to get the CX9 moving and not just idling. This is with controls set to auto and temperature all the way down to the minimum of 60F, recir on after air coming out of the vents start to feel a little cool and rear on. Mazda should add a max cool button so we wouldn't have to mess with the temperature setting to try to eek out some additional cooling when getting into a hot car.

Does anyone have the specs for the CX9 A/C unit or know if the CX9 has the same A/C unit as the CX5? Might explain the poor performance in the larger CX9 cabin if they share the same unit. Mitigation with window shades and tinting should help but the CX9 A/C unit is lacking in power compared to other vehicles.
 
Those settings are I would call pathetic for a modern SUV. It's a blocker for buying this car. Mazda needs to get its Act together. My mazda6 is probably as bad but you don't notice it much due tithe small greenhouse


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Huge front window, poor front AC all are causing this front AC is not cooling issue,

Run the same setting and keep your hand in front of the rear vents, they are crazy cold, i am using my sun shade to re- direct my rear AC vents to me to make the car cooler.

Try it, you will like it.
 
Cross posting as it may have been missed. Science is your friend.

So I ran them both vents full blast A/C with a infrared temp sensor

Lower temp recorded for each:
Front vents: 42 degrees (F)
Rear vents: 39 degrees (F)

Note: Optimal refrigerator temp is 38 degrees, so the CX-9 is absolutely fine. If it's not, take it to dealer.
 
I tried to convince myself that our new cx-9 2017 touring would be just as good as any other car we had. But If I am to be honest...I totally dig the car in general but the AC is lacking. It definitely is below what others are. I have a 2008 camry that blows much cooler air.

We have to run the ac all three zones at almost it's highest fan and lowest settings to keep and stay cool. The only time we can turn it down is when the sun is about to set. Srs. the kids in the back is hot and We have to run the floor flow just so we can get air back there.

I still think it's a great car, drive and function. Terrible AC system, maybe it's the coolent type, who knows. it doesn't blow COLD air. its just cool.
 
My daughter constantly turns off the ac in the back because it is too cold for her when it is running on a comfortable setting for me, 75F, in the front. I told her to just turn up the temperature instead, which is now at 78F.
 
For my own curiosity, I ran a few checks in my garage tonight. I used my BBQ thermometer, which has two probes, I put one in the from vents and on in the back vents, in order to check the temp simultaneously. I did this in the garage (i.e. in the shade). I'm in Canada...so all of these numbers are in C.

The ambient temperature on the garage at the time was around 25C (that's what the dash said....but i think i may have been a few deg warmer than that).

With the A/C on, Temperature set to 15C, and the blower running at the third lowest speed (lvl 3), the temperature of the probes in the vents were Front=11C, Rear=11C
With the A/C on, Temperature set to 15C, and the blower running at the highest speed (lvl 7), the temperature of the probes in the vents were Front=16C, Rear=16C
From this, its safe to say that the rear doesn't blow any cooler than the front.

With the A/C off, i left the fan run at lvl 7 until the temperatures stabilized, and the vent temperatures were Front=27C, Rear=26C
I then lowered the fan speed to lvl 3, and the vent temperature stabilized at 38C.
This was in a shaded 25C garage (i.e. no solar heating), with the CX-9 windows open, re-circ off, and the temperature set to 15C.

It was unbelievable to see a 13C temperature rise (25 to 38), when there air coming from the vents should have been no higher than ambient. The engine compartment is clearly heating the air coming into the cabin, which may explain the A/C system having trouble maintaining a low cabin temp in hot environments. Perhaps this effect would be less if the car were in motion, rather than idling in a garage...regardless, I'll be leaving the AC on all the time from now on.
 
Horton said:
Cross posting as it may have been missed. Science is your friend.

So I ran them both vents full blast A/C with a infrared temp sensor

Lower temp recorded for each:
Front vents: 42 degrees (F)
Rear vents: 39 degrees (F)

Note: Optimal refrigerator temp is 38 degrees, so the CX-9 is absolutely fine. If it's not, take it to dealer.
Click to expand...

Thanks for the data. What was outside ambient temperature?
 
Good question; It was around 90, that day but I did get the exact temp. I'll note that the next time I measure it.
 
I find the AC to be working as expected. What I find is that like my wife she don't know how to use the AC system in the car that well. All new car these days comes with a desire tempeature setting. If that is set high or close to the outside temperature then the AC will not blow cold air. For anyone that have AC not blowing cold air should try the following steps:
(1) Check the outside temperature for example 33C on mine which is about 91.4F.
(2) On the desire temperature setting I usually set it on 24 to 25C but since it was this hot I set it all the way down and the minimum was 15C.
(3) Make sure the Auto On light is on and you will see the fan will be blowing at max speed, recycle light will be on and the AC indicator light on as well. - this is like MAX AC on some cars if a button exist.
(4) Within a few seconds you should be feeling cold air blasting to your face. See attached image.
(5) If you set your desire temperature same or higher than your outside temperature then DO NOT expect to get cold air blowing out. The car DO NOT know if it is snowing or if it is sunny. It only knows what desire temperature you set it to do.

Hope this clarifies the issue with the AC. This applies to all new cars I assume.

https://drive.google.com/open?id=0B_iKm0YyVdQOY3F0OF9PNzE4SEk
https://drive.google.com/open?id=0B_iKm0YyVdQOVThucFBhTnFLWjQ
 
The story is over from my point of view.
Mazda Australia couldn't fix the car, so they refunded my money.
Bittersweet, as without this issue intruding we really liked the car.
 
5ittingduck said:
The story is over from my point of view.
Mazda Australia couldn't fix the car, so they refunded my money.
Bittersweet, as without this issue intruding we really liked the car.
Click to expand...

Wait, so they took back your CX-9 due to the AC? Was it determined to be worse than all other CX-9's?
 
Yes, they took back the car due to the AC.
As to whether it was worse than all the others, that's harder to tell. Not much information filters back from the Customer Service team.
From what I was told, they are all the same and they couldn't replace mine with one that worked properly, hence the refund.
 
I'm assuming he did it under lemon laws, but maybe Aussies have different consumer rules.

You would not get that in the US.

One other note: people keep saying it blows cool air, not cold air, but that's when it's in "auto" mode; turn off auto mode, run the AC full blast, and it's cold.
Tested this out; the "auto"mode is a gradual, regulated mode based on surrounding temps.
 
5ittingduck said:
Yes, they took back the car due to the AC.
As to whether it was worse than all the others, that's harder to tell. Not much information filters back from the Customer Service team.
From what I was told, they are all the same and they couldn't replace mine with one that worked properly, hence the refund.
Click to expand...

In the US, under lemon laws, the only way they take back a car is if there's a defect that can't be fixed after 3 attempts. This AC "issue" wouldn't even qualify. The AC works as it is designed, even if that means that it's under powered. It would be like them taking back the car because someone feels the engine isn't as powerful as they thought.
 
5ittingduck said:
Video from rear seats (climate control zone 3).
Set to 20C, blowing at 40C, rear temp above 26C.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V3sRgCv9Rw8
Click to expand...

You do realize this is is not a real test, right? Fan level set to 2, and he's using a meat thermometer?

A related video shows him testing the front AC, with fan level on 1, and not in Auto mode. And the heated seats are on (!)

And recirculate is not one, so sucking on outside hot air.

At best, I call this misunderstanding of how A/C works...at worst call shenanigans, trying to justify a problem that does not exist.
 
Horton said:
You do realize this is is not a real test, right? Fan level set to 2, and he's using a meat thermometer?

A related video shows him testing the front AC, with fan level on 1, and not in Auto mode. And the heated seats are on (!)

And recirculate is not one, so sucking on outside hot air.

At best, I call this misunderstanding of how A/C works...at worst call shenanigans, trying to justify a problem that does not exist.
Click to expand...

Horton - as usual your analysis is scientific and spot on. We are in the middle of a 95 degree heat streak with excessive humidity in the Midwest. When I get into my CX-9 (black interior) I use the Auto feature of the HVAC and drop the temperature to 60. I'm usually turning the fan down within minutes as the cold air is blasting. I've followed this thread since it's inception - it's not an issue with my ride at all.
 
Are you guys running in recirculation mode or fresh air mode when you are testing?
Unless it is humid and causing condensation issues on windshield, you should always run on recirculation mode.
You get much better performance and the compressor has to cycle on/off less, so it's more efficient fuel-wise.
That's true for all cars.

Also as i have said before there are a LOT of flat black surfaces in the vehicle that seem to catch and radiate heat.
I parked in a large parking garage on a 100 degree day and when I got in the car it was comfortable very quickly with the AC on medium fan, recirc and temp set to 72F.
Once I got on the road and the sun had time to beat down on those nice flat black surfaces, like the door tops, console and dash, I started to feel radiant heat from them, even if though air temps were still the same.

The cockpit of the CX-9 wraps around you more than in some other vehicles, restricting air flow and surrounding you with surfaces that can radiate heat. It's just the design. The air is more than sufficient to keep the air temps comfortable. If you feel warm spots, play with the positioning of the vents.

My wife has a 2017 Mazda3 and when both vehicles are parked in the sun, and I get in, I feel less intense heat radiating at me form the interior. The arrangement of the cock pit is different, there is less glass to pass light and trap heat and some of the interior trim is actually parchment instead of black. That is BEFORE i even turn the AC on or start the car.
 
So many complaints about the AC... who else feels lucky their A.C. is ice cold? 😛 don't get me wrong. I live in central Cal where more than half of the year is 100 degrees plus, nights are just as bad. I was worried about this issue before I bought the car too but i test drove it and felt the AC power was working great...knock on wood, it'll stay this way forever.
 
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