2016 Mazda CX9, front wheel vs all wheel drive & gas mileage
 

Hi 2016 CX9 owners!!
I am thinking of purchasing this vehicle. Has test drove it and love it. Now I am torn because I like the interior of the Signature but do not need the AWD and based on Alex Auto reviews on youtube, the front wheel drive has better feedback than the AWD. Also I believe AWD has more maintenance, meaning you have to change the differential gear fluid every certain miles. Can anyone chime in how reliable is Mazda AWD? Also how often do you have to change the differential gear fluid?

Also can anyone confirm what is the average mpg do you get in real world driving? Thanks!!

Workshop manual shows rear differential oil & Transfer Case oil is filled for life, & only requires replacing if it goes under water.

What "Life" equates to is unknown.

FWD are susceptible to torque steer.

In the lifespan of the previous CX-9 I've seen 2 transfer cases fail. Never seen a rear diff fail.

We've been getting 25 & change mpg on the highway with AWD.

Even if one were to change the gear oil in the rear differential, it is minor and many, many miles away. Not a decision maker.

Torque steer---that was FWD cars a generation or two back. Not modern FWD cars.

Jo, test drive both. Buy the one that puts the biggest smile on your face.

I drove both and think the FWD handles slightly better. The one and only reason I got the GT instead was because I wanted Soul Red. I live in Phoenix AZ and AWD here is useless so it made no difference to me. I opted for FWD to save a little $$.

BTW, I get ~ 22-23 MPG, mostly city driving.

Im talk about the new model cx9. The fwd version has massive torque steer on boost.

22 MPG around town? My readout says 13.7 and I drive very conservatively. I just got my 9 after five years in a Chevy Traverse with basically the same motor (3.6L / 281 HP vs 3.7L / 273HP) and the weight is very close (Mazda a bit heavier).

It's not even been a week and have less than half a tank when I could go 2 weeks on a tank in the Chevy. I used to average 15-17 MPG and 22-24 MPG with the Chevy and I thought that was bad until I got this 9. I checked the air filter and it's brand spanking new. I'm going to put 93 octane in it to see how clean the fuel system is.]

You guys haven't changed to a K&N Air Filter for a 22% increase in fuel economy? This is bone stock?

jp, check a few things. Check your odometer for an accurate read out of the miles traveled. You can check against a nav program or a map, or road signs, just anything that gives a good idea if the miles shown matches the miles actually traveled.

Check the gas consumption vs. the display. Divide the miles traveled by the gallons you filled the tank to get miles per gallon and compare that to the mpg displayed.

If the display is proven to be accurate, something needs to be fixed.

93 octane won't clean a fuel system. It lightens your wallet.

No so-called performance air filter, including K&N adds any miles per gallon. None. Zero. There is no way that is possible...except inside their marketing department. Anybody who told you that you could increase fuel economy 22%...or 0.22%...lied to you.

You must not be talking about the 2016 CX9, it only comes with a 250HP Turbo 2.5L 4-cylinder. Even so you should be getting better MPG than that with the previous year's 3.7L V6, at least as good (bad?) as the Chevy.

I saw by your other post that yours is a 2015. The 2016 is all new and the V6 was dropped for the Turbo 2.5L 4-cylinder. It makes 250HP and 310TQ which is why the MPG's are so much better without any power loss. Official 0-60 times are 7.4 for the 2015 (and older V6) and 7.2 for the 2016. I get ~ 22MPG all in city driving regularly.

I rented a 2016 CX-9 when my 2015 was getting fixed, it had the 4 banger turbo and it was fun. I didn't like the sound of it but the torque was crazy, have to hold the steering wheel tightly at full throttle. If I had that engine I'd be in trouble because I'd turn the wick up on that turbo just a bit.

I had no idea they didn't offer the 3.7L after 2015. I'm very happy with the power, torque, sound, etc. from the V6 so I'll learn to deal with the gas mileage. I got it to climb to 15 MPG around town so it's probably just me. I filled it up yesterday so I'll keep tabs on it.