At least here in Aus, all Mazdas which have iStop - which is all Skyactive versions of Mazda2, Mazda3, Mazda6, CX-3 SUV, CX-5 SUV, and CX-9 - are fitted with what is called an EFB - “Enhanced Flooded Battery” which is basically a souped up lead acid battery.
EFB are designed to cope with the more frequent starts. Yes, they do cost a bit more than a standard battery of the same CCA but I have shopped around and found good quality replacements at a reasonable cost.
Exactly what are all these alleged “harms from iStop that occur down the road”? Please be specific and provide evidence.
Myself, having had CX5’s that had/have iStop since around 2014, never saw any such “harms”. Not once.
Having looked at reported iStop issues on forums, just about every such report was not an iStop problem or failure, it was either the owner not understanding how iStop works or more importantly, the conditions under which is will/will not activate, or, was due to problems with the car’s battery or charging systems causing iStop not to activate.
None of these are actually iStop problems at all. In any case resetting the iStop system is quick and easy, although is rarely actually needed.
