[CX-50 Meridian Edition]

Hi all. I bought my first ever brand new car, and first ever Mazda last week: The beautiful 2023 Zircon Sand CX-50 Meridian Edition with Apex Package. As I'm debating my trailer hitch options, I've run across a lot of posts about the 2.5 Turbo requiring the 7 pin harness kit as it "unlocks" the Tow Mode option. Does is really matter? I've done some more reading about how Tow Mode changes power transfer, handling and some other nice things, but I need to a U-Haul trailer about 700 miles later this spring as part of a move. I really don't know how much more I'll need to tow anything after that, so I'm wondering if I can just go with the traditional 4 pin harness instead.

 

[Trickster]

Fwiw, the seven pin Bargman plug has always been my route. You can buy an adapter to use it as an 4 pin if that’s all you need, but if you ever need to utilize the capabilities of it you have it.
Hot lead and trailer brakes control are my choice when wiring any vehicle.

 

[CX-50 Meridian Edition]

Fwiw, the seven pin Bargman plug has always been my route. You can buy an adapter to use it as an 4 pin if that’s all you need, but if you ever need to utilize the capabilities of it you have it.
Hot lead and trailer brakes control are my choice when wiring any vehicle.

Thanks Trickster, I appreciate your reply and respect your personal preferences. For some reason I was under the impression that Tow Mode was specific to the turbo engine, but I now know that I was wrong and it's available across the board. With that in mind, I will be perfectly comfortable sticking with my original plan of using a standard 4 way harness instead.

 

[Pitts Pilot]

Actually Tow Mode is indeed for Turbo models only according to manual, hence why the 7 pin harness is recommended for Turbo models..

 

[CX-50 Meridian Edition]

Wow you are correct. I completely missed in this article where it says "Exclusive to turbo models".