Nice to read!

If I may..... there are not really high powered blower motors used in most all general vehicle's because of noise levels stronger blower motors make.
There is no way to measure the flow reduction using most all cabin filters except worth an air flow meter. Most all do give a flow resistance.
Cabin filter generally do not reduce smells in the cabin itself. Most interesting smells are caused by the complete HVAC system past the cabin air filter .NO, the recirculate air does not re-filter the cabins air. So think about a little bit? Even if you never use the AC directly the system AC is always activated when you use the defroster. The smells in the cabin are made primarily from the AC condenser and the vents. The only way to effectively eliminate these odors is with an occasional HAVA cleaning. A DIY can do the job very easily in about 45 minutes to an hour.

The health information like HEPA on most cabin filters does not give any information about a recommend time to change them. HEPA filters generally are great but also a possible health concern if they are not replacing for the manufactures recommended times. In the health industry there are many strict guidelines that Hospitals use for the changing of HEPA and other air filter systems parts. Not sure why vehicles now get included in this as most vehicle's now have cabin filters.


I like Pureflow cabin filters but primarily use K&N and for more often replacement because of the constant fires here in CA and the poor air quality during those times I stock up on philtop inexpensive cabin filters and change them about every few day until the air quality returns to the normal for our area.

 

I would rather have the misnamed "Cabin Air Filter" filter cabin air rather than outside air. #DilberAward

But for your use case, yes, filter incoming smoke and particulate! Why is it so hard to send both outside/inside air thru the filter?

 

[QUOTE=ds235687129;209091]I would rather have the misnamed "Cabin Air Filter" filter cabin air rather than outside air. #DilberAward

But for your use case, yes, filter incoming smoke and particulate! Why is it so hard to send both outside/inside air thru the filter?[/QUOTE]

Ya I totally get you but at this point that is how cabin filter in most all HVAC system in vehicles is. In one respect it makes sense because from an engineering standpoint you really should have 2 one for recirculating cabin air and one for intake outside air. You also have to consider that recirculated air is to help maintain a better adjust air temperature primarily for the AC usage.

I don't really want to get onto a debate about cabin filters because unless people actually try several brand for testing it is all subjective. I can say during the extreme fires in Northern CA we offered free labor to change cabin filters. I had my tech and mechanic make a post it of the cabin filters removed. It was a curiosity to see which filters caught the ash. Ash from most fire is not only flacked but pasty. I was surprised that also most all the cabin filters caught a lot of the ash on the intake side but was surprised that many had ash coming through the filter. Even on HEPA and Carbon released cabin filters. I started to have the guy do a casual wipe of the area inside the the vent just past where the cabin filter is located to show the customers.
I stated I change or* clean (if using *K&N) my cabin air filter often and for the first few times I used OEM cabin filters the first year . This was my blower motor and showed how much got past the filtering element before I caught it and stopped using OEM cabin filters

 

I know this is an old post but I have the same exact problem!

What exactly needs to be done to get to the passenger side fender seal? Is there a part number or what do I need to tell our dealership needs to be done exactly? Sorry I'm not mechanically inclined.

We have been arguing with the dealership for years over this and we're about to sell the cx 9 just because of the smell!!!!

 

Welcome to the forum

Start from the beginning of this thread and read about how to clean your HVAC system

 

I know it’s a little late, but I hope you checked my 1st post It showed which part. There are two of them on on passenger and one on driver side, passenger side is right above the cabin air intake