redturboeclipse
Member
- :
- mazda rx7
I live in Las Vegas yall! You think you have it bad? How does never going below 90 degrees even in the middle of the night sound and hitting 115 during the day. AC is super important here.
New Member here: I just test drove a cx 9 signature - "dreadful A/C" is correct
- Thread starter pholway
- Start date
Same down here in the South, AC performance is really important. Much like the driver's seat adjustments, AC performance all boils down to how much subjective comfort one can or cannot tolerate. Personally, I can live without all the other missing options that someone listed above. They are just really nice to have for me. However, good AC performance is a must have and would be a potential deal breaker. I have not gone on a test drive since I currently do not need to replace my 2010 CX-9, but I'll be sure to place close attention to AC performance and the driver's seat adjustments once I do.
To all those that already purchased their new CX-9's, congratulations and keep us up to date on interesting stuff you come upon during your ownership.
So I've been working with my dealer to finalize this deal - trying to do as much as possible via email and phone calls - but it's slow going - I assume they want me to come in an sit for hours and try to sell me on extras - I am hoping to get to a point where all I have to do is drop off a check and drive away (no I don't want to talk to the parts and accessories specialist or the finance manager 
... slim chance i guess.
... slim chance i guess.My AC vent temperature is 40.3F. I measured it about 4" into the center vent. The outside temperature was 98F and I had driven about 10-15 minutes with the AC on. The car had been sitting outside all day.
Outside Temp ->
Vent Temp->
In contrast to my previous post, the car cooled down quickly. The difference? Well, I parked under a shade tree and the sky was partly cloudy. As a result, the interior of the car (console, dash, steering wheel) was mildly warm compared to my previous post where the car sat in direct sunlight for 8 hours and the interior console was and remained hot during the 15 minute drive home. I am now convinced that the key is to reduce radiant heat into the car in order to optimize AC performance.
(btw, what is the trick to getting a photo to display in a post rather than a file link??) Nevermind, thanks to next poster for the tip.
Outside Temp ->
In contrast to my previous post, the car cooled down quickly. The difference? Well, I parked under a shade tree and the sky was partly cloudy. As a result, the interior of the car (console, dash, steering wheel) was mildly warm compared to my previous post where the car sat in direct sunlight for 8 hours and the interior console was and remained hot during the 15 minute drive home. I am now convinced that the key is to reduce radiant heat into the car in order to optimize AC performance.
(btw, what is the trick to getting a photo to display in a post rather than a file link??) Nevermind, thanks to next poster for the tip.
Last edited:
astriuminc
Member
- :
- CX-9 2013 AWD
I upload my picture to tinypic.com (no account required)
then copy and paste the IMG Code for Forums & Message Boards {from tinypic.com}
here's an example, if you "reply with quote" below, you can see the IMG code :
Last edited:
Thanks so much for the tip!!
My AC vent temperature is 40.3F. I measured it about 4" into the center vent. The outside temperature was 98F and I had driven about 10-15 minutes with the AC on. The car had been sitting outside all day.
Outside Temp ->Vent Temp->
In contrast to my previous post, the car cooled down quickly. The difference? Well, I parked under a shade tree and the sky was partly cloudy. As a result, the interior of the car (console, dash, steering wheel) was mildly warm compared to my previous post where the car sat in direct sunlight for 8 hours and the interior console was and remained hot during the 15 minute drive home. I am now convinced that the key is to reduce radiant heat into the car in order to optimize AC performance.
(btw, what is the trick to getting a photo to display in a post rather than a file link??) Nevermind, thanks to next poster for the tip.
Thanks for the pics.
I invested in Mazda's CX-9 sunshade immediately after buying the vehicle. I figured that it would be worth it given that I would own the vehicle for a long time. I encourage new owners to make the investment in one. Along with window tinting, this would probably have a similar effect to parking under a shade tree in the absence of a shade tree. Now, if you add the shady tree, then all the better. In GA and FL, the best parking spots are the ones with the most shade, not the ones closest to the establishment you drove for. Covered parking garages are also more desirable. Anything to keep radiant heat to a minimum.
eskimo0101
Member
- :
- 2012 Mazda CX-9 Touring AWD
"The AC isn't that bad, you just have to park the car in the shade!"
LOL... Yeah, pass, looks like I'll be looking elsewhere when we replace our CX-9 next year. Pretty ridiculous that Mazda couldn't get something as simple as having a properly sized AC for a full sized SUV right. AC temp at 40 is great but only if you're moving enough air to actually cool down the vehicle in reasonable amount of time.
LOL... Yeah, pass, looks like I'll be looking elsewhere when we replace our CX-9 next year. Pretty ridiculous that Mazda couldn't get something as simple as having a properly sized AC for a full sized SUV right. AC temp at 40 is great but only if you're moving enough air to actually cool down the vehicle in reasonable amount of time.
This is pretty concerning and might be a deal breaker for me too. I test drove one (briefly) a couple weeks ago, and while I didn't really notice at the time, thinking back I do recall that the A/C just seemed to be running full blast the entire time (it was hot, but not insane that day...like 90 degrees).
Has anyone contacted Mazda about this? Maybe directed them to some of these threads? How would you do that?
Someone in this thread already shot down the idea of a "recall", which I agree would not apply here, but a TSB with an extended-warranty/no charge fix might be employed if enough people complain. Ford did that for a couple niggles on our Edge that weren't safety-related, but things that underperformed -- for example, the original mirror caps caused excessive wind noise, and Ford put out a bulletin and replaced them with a tweaked design for no cost.
I don't know what the options would be -- it's entirely reasonable to think that there is no quick fix, and this is a fundamental engineering flaw -- but it's probably worth bringing to Mazda's attention.
EDIT: I've also found at least two reviewers complaining about the same thing:
http://www.thetruthaboutcars.com/2016/06/driving-2016-mazda-cx-9-signature-expensive-good/
http://www.goodcarbadcar.net/2016/06/2016-mazda-cx9-signature-review-canada-test-drive.html
Has anyone contacted Mazda about this? Maybe directed them to some of these threads? How would you do that?
Someone in this thread already shot down the idea of a "recall", which I agree would not apply here, but a TSB with an extended-warranty/no charge fix might be employed if enough people complain. Ford did that for a couple niggles on our Edge that weren't safety-related, but things that underperformed -- for example, the original mirror caps caused excessive wind noise, and Ford put out a bulletin and replaced them with a tweaked design for no cost.
I don't know what the options would be -- it's entirely reasonable to think that there is no quick fix, and this is a fundamental engineering flaw -- but it's probably worth bringing to Mazda's attention.
EDIT: I've also found at least two reviewers complaining about the same thing:
http://www.thetruthaboutcars.com/2016/06/driving-2016-mazda-cx-9-signature-expensive-good/
http://www.goodcarbadcar.net/2016/06/2016-mazda-cx9-signature-review-canada-test-drive.html
Last edited:
After doing some research is appears that a weak ac is not uncommon to Japanese cars or German cars, not all but a lot. Oh well I need ac 2 months out of the year really - I went ahead and pulled the trigger (not on the black one - the dealer annoyed me) got machine gray instead. I pick it up tmw - will let you know how the ac feels.
PocketGroove
Member
- :
- 2016 Signature CX-9
I have a little over 300 miles on my new CX-9, driving in Georgia heat, so I'll post my observations.
When set to AUTO and on anything lower than around 72...the AC blasts as hard as possible to get the cabin down to that temperature.
What I find is that with 40 degree air blowing on me, I feel cool even though that auto setting keeps blasting at max speed to cool the cabin.
After a few minutes of this, I turn the auto off, I'm good to go, so I can turn down the fan to a middle setting. Still, the auto setting still wants to blast as much air as possible to reach some goal it has set for itself.
It really makes me wonder where exactly the sensor is. Anyone know?
If you are expecting the auto setting to be the end-all/be-all, then you won't like it. I, personally, think it's a little overly aggressive in trying to make the whole cabin the selected temperature, when all that really matters to me is that I'm comfortable. ymmv
When set to AUTO and on anything lower than around 72...the AC blasts as hard as possible to get the cabin down to that temperature.
What I find is that with 40 degree air blowing on me, I feel cool even though that auto setting keeps blasting at max speed to cool the cabin.
After a few minutes of this, I turn the auto off, I'm good to go, so I can turn down the fan to a middle setting. Still, the auto setting still wants to blast as much air as possible to reach some goal it has set for itself.
It really makes me wonder where exactly the sensor is. Anyone know?
If you are expecting the auto setting to be the end-all/be-all, then you won't like it. I, personally, think it's a little overly aggressive in trying to make the whole cabin the selected temperature, when all that really matters to me is that I'm comfortable. ymmv
So I'm sitting at the Mazda dealer waiting for my CX9 to be cleaned so I can take delivery. I took it for a spin when I got here - it's about 90 degrees today. The A/C is totally fine. When I test drove the first one it probably had a ton of heat soak as it had been sitting in the lot for a couple days in 100 degree weather. The fan did run kind of loud but my original statement of dreadful should be changed to adequate unless you live in Death Valley. You can't hand meat in the car like an old ford crown Vic but it's not really an issue for me.
I did some checking on the AC. Mine hits about 40 degrees when cruising and about 95 degrees. I was wondering if the vents were restricted in any way so I dropped the glove box and opened up the AC cabin filter housing and removed the air filter. Good news is that removing the filter really got the air coming out of the vents moving - you can easily hear and feel the airflow difference. I guess the bad news is that when I closed the housing back up without the filter, the airflow dropped back to just a bit better than with the filter - the filter was not a key restriction factor. So it appears the intake into the AC for airflow is not as large as it could be to maximize airflow. You can also see the recirc mechanism right above the filter housing and how it opens up to draw air in within the car. It did not look like the air was going through the filter in recirc, but just a causal observation. Maybe this will give others some ideas on the AC airflow. Running the AC without the filter and open housing makes a big difference in airflow so the fan is capable of more than it does.
My 2007 Mazda 3 2.3L is also very weak. But recently I got a rental Mazda 3, probably 2016 or 2017, it was icy cold and I have to turn it down.
So after 3 days of driving my new CX-9 in 90 degree weather the A/C is totally acceptable. I can tell you that the dash gets tons of heat soak - i'm going to tint the front windows and add UV block to the windshield. Otherwise the car is fantastic - things it should have that it doesn't:
Front park sensors - seems odd they skipped those
Rear USB and or 12v power - the 12v power for the rear is behind the 3rd row - I'll probably tap the front ones and add it below the rear climate control.
Heated Steering wheel - I'm sure I'll want it in the winter - if they add it for MY 17 I will swap one but not a huge deal.
Hands Free rear tailgate ... no brainer
remote start standard with the key not an add on you need an app for.
All in all still the most bang for your buck for a new 3 row SUV.
Front park sensors - seems odd they skipped those
Rear USB and or 12v power - the 12v power for the rear is behind the 3rd row - I'll probably tap the front ones and add it below the rear climate control.
Heated Steering wheel - I'm sure I'll want it in the winter - if they add it for MY 17 I will swap one but not a huge deal.
Hands Free rear tailgate ... no brainer
remote start standard with the key not an add on you need an app for.
All in all still the most bang for your buck for a new 3 row SUV.
ilovecoffee
Member
- :
- 2016 Mazda CX-9 Signature
I'm not an airflow expert nor have I taken delivery of my CX-9 yet, but if it's the snap on piece that's causing the issue, maybe if you can provide a rough sketch of a solution I could design it and 3d print it to test. I have a fairly large 3d printer at my work.
If that's what would solve it, I also wouldn't mind making a few and mailing them at cost for fellow members.
There's 2 USB's in the rear center armrest. This beats most models in the segment.
