We just purchased a 2014 fully loaded CX-5 over the weekend which was a demo car. The car has 5800 miles on it. I looked underneath yesterday and noticed that the whole exhaust system has rust discoloration throughout. I called the sales manager today and he said that this is normal amongst all cars after a couple of months.

I'm just curious if this is true and if all of you guys have rust discoloration as well. I don't recall our Mazda 3 having this, but then again, I didn't really get a chance to look under there.

 

My so called stainless steel exhaust is also rusting. It rusted within the 1st year. Connectors are still good, mufflers still good but pipes not. I think they use a lower grade on pipes otherwise the cost would be too high.

Pics taken today.

 

Thanks, that's a little reassuring. Mine looks just like that. I just thought its a bit premature for a car w/ low mileage which most likely hasn't seen any winter. At least it's covered under the basic warranty if it does happen to rust through.

Anyone else? More curious about those with less than 7-10k miles in warmer climate. I'm in Washington, DC.

 

we are in north texas. our 2 99 millenias both have discoloration and rust on the exhaust, which are original, and still quiet. i have had both apart. on the millenias, mazda uses a special alloy bolt/nut, must have very high nickel, because they do not rust like others. none of the nuts/bolts holding it together were rusted together, they came off clean. very impressive

 

Guess it's the norm for Mazda's then. I tried using it as an opportunity to convince my wife we can upgrade our exhaust .. but this will be her daily and she shot that down quickly.

 

hks is a HUGE aftermarket supplier. i had an hks on my 323gtx, it was as loud as no exhaust, which was verified by rod millen, who campaigned a gtx and sold hks. i sent it back. i also bought one later on for my galant vr4, it rusted out in a year. replaced it with a stainless mandrel bent one made in the usa, cost less, made way more power, and is still on the car. my 2 examples of exhaust "upgrades". oh, one more. a catback for my old 93 gsx, they were being closed out by chrysler. just a long pipe and a muffler. it was deafening. but it only cost 20 bucks new. all 3 cars were turbos. a turbo wastegate helps quiet down a turbo exhaust, if they were n/a cars, they woulda been loud. my wife would have refused to ride in them.

 

That's good to know. I'm new to the Mazda family and not sure if modding them will be a thing for the CX-5. Is there such thing as software tuning it? I think a intake and software tune would be sufficient, but obviously having a good output would be nice too.

I'm coming from VW/Audi's where tuning is everything. I turbocharged my N/A A3 and it's super loud w/ a 3" exhaust (muffler included)...my dog even refuses to ride in the car.

 

i always went to a walker ultraflo. it is the quietest out there, and an ultraflo muffler will outflow a straight pipe:

mufflers

also, if you extend the pipe coming out of the muffler, it will make a big difference on noise. i had a 3" on the galant, 16g, 18 lbs boost, ultraflo. extending the pipe 3" made a huge difference, i could not believe such a small addition could make such a huge difference. i would sacrifice power for less noise.