[MindTraps]

Hello all! I'm James, not your typical IT guru HA! Anyways, I'm a proud owner of a 2023 Ingot Blue Metallic CX-50 Turbo Premium Plus! Did a lot of reading into it before I made my choice, came from already having a CX-9 and truly enjoying it. Truth be said, it's actually our second CX-9, our first one was back in 2014/2015 and I hated it, and swore I'd never get another Mazda. Thankfully. shortly after that, Mazda went through a total refresh, which landed us in our current 2021 CX-9 Grand Tour after my wife wanted to get rid of what replaced the last CX-9. I fell in love with what the 2021 CX-9 offered but knew I didn't want the CX-5 but wanted something in that size so I waited, and saw the release of information on the "upcoming" CX-50, and I dug into it. Knew what term I wanted and when the time came that I could, had a talk with my dealer. I remember talking to my associate of my dealer (he helped us with our 2021 CX-9 actually) and we talked about it. I remember it took almost 45 days for one listed in inventory to make its way to California for delivery. There were only two coming in on that shipment, the dealer made a dealer-to-dealer trade, and got that CX-50 for me. I want to say, they traded a white Miata for it ha! Anyways once it was in the harbor, it was at my dealer basically the next day! They took another day and cleaned it up and inspected it and I took it home that night, and I have loved driving it ever since. Great vehicle, got it with the cross bars, had the "howling noise" I'd read others' have posted on. I took them off, saw no need for them on there if I wasn't using them at the time, and I personally think the CX-50 looks better without them. I did order the retractable cargo cover after the fact. Found it easier to order that than order the cross bars.

I wouldn't mind looking at putting in a K&N filter, or a full K&N cold air intake. Along with a bit more of an exhaust on it, not something stupid, just some to make it "stand out" a bit more than it does from an exhaust sound aspect. I will also agree, stock brake/rotors are eh, but most are really, I'll have to look and see if my normal goto replacement has a kit for the CX-50.

Anyways! Nice to meet you all!!

 

[Sparky915]

Congratulations on your new CX-50! Welcome to the family.

Check out Cork Sport and their intake system (short ram intake + turbo inlet pipe + heat shield). I trust them more than a mass market brand because they only make products for Mazda vehicles. The turbo noise from their intake system is pretty cool and can turn some heads. I'll be keeping my eye open for their exhaust system when it is released (presumably sometime this year). They've had the CX-30 exhaust for quite some time now, so it shouldn't be long for the CX-50. They also have a big brake kit with 4-piston calipers, but the rotors are only 5mm bigger than stock, and require a 10mm spacer. I wish that they sold the stainless steel braided brake lines separately, as that would make a big difference all on its own. I digress...

Enjoy your new car!

 

[MindTraps]

Nice! I will check them out thank you for the info! steel braided would totally turn some heads!

 

[MindTraps]

Sparky wanted to let you know I took the plunge and bought the air intake and heat shield a few hours ago! looking forward to installing it.

 

[Sparky915]

Sparky wanted to let you know I took the plunge and bought the air intake and heat shield a few hours ago! looking forward to installing it.

Awesome! Do be mindful of the battery tie-down bracket. Cork Sport tells us in the instructions to push the battery tray all the way as far to the right as possible. I was discussing an issue with a reddit user on /r/CX50, and we both had a problem with the battery tie-down bracket cutting into the cork sport turbo inlet pipe. My solution was to trim 3/16” off the end of the battery bracket with a bandsaw, file down the sharp edges, and glue a small piece of punch steel to the turbo inlet pipe in case it got bumped again. It almost rubbed a hole completely through my turbo inlet pipe. I filled the gouge with Loctite silicone and the punch steel acts as armor plating in case the battery shifts over again. Just a heads up! I brought this issue to them and they said they will look into it but to make sure the bolts are tightened to spec so things don’t loosen up.

 

[MindTraps]

got it, thank you!