Anyone feel like the 6 speed auto "hunts" or is in the wrong gear sometimes?

PatrickGSR94

PatrickGSR94

:
2014 CX-5 Touring
Anyone feel like the 6 speed auto "hunts" or is in the wrong gear sometimes?

I've noticed on several occasions our 2014 2.5L feels like it's in the wrong gear. Instances include when the road grade starts up a small incline, or when I slow down in traffic, then press the accelerator pedal lightly to get going again. I try to be easy on the pedal, not flooring it or anything. Yet sometimes it feels like the gearbox is slow to downshift, and so the car feels sluggish as the gear is too high for the speed I'm going. So then I have to press the pedal a little more to make it downshift and get going again.

I'm not sure if this is a side effect of having a 6 speed gearbox or what. Our old Corolla with 4-speed auto never really felt like that. I feel like the 2.5L has more than enough torque, way more than my high strung Integra engine does, when the gearbox gear is low enough. But if the gear is too high for a particular road speed, it just feels totally gutless.
 
When I try to pick up speed, it is slow. I believe that, they programmed it this way on purpose, to save gas.
Usually I just downshift with the paddles, sometimes even two gears, to pick up speed much faster.
 
Paddle shifters on a 2014? I don't ever use the manual shifter mode on the shifter itself. To me I feel like it should be programmed already to get the best MPG, more so than what I could get selecting gears manually. And that's coming from a die-hard manual gearbox (with 3rd pedal) guy. But at the same time I feel like the engine lugging or feeling sluggish might be using more fuel, also. But I don't know for sure.
 
Its tuned to save gas. Also its throttle by wire which further expands the delay. Oh and it has tall gearing. Def a big change from your Integra lol.

You have to downshift by quickly stepping into the pedal or use manual mode. Newer models have sport mode which holds on the gears longer for you.

Now this might be a placebo effect but after redlining the car a bit the tuning changes away from that stock eco mode. Teach that ECU LOL.
 
CX-5um said:
Its tuned to save gas. Also its throttle by wire which further expands the delay. Oh and it has tall gearing. Def a big change from your Integra lol.

You have to downshift by quickly stepping into the pedal or use manual mode. Newer models have sport mode which holds on the gears longer for you.

Now this might be a placebo effect but after redlining the car a bit the tuning changes away from that stock eco mode. Teach that ECU LOL.
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If MikeM still posted here, he would have very quickly brought that up.

Your old corolla only looked at speed and throttle position to decide when to shift. The CX-5 also looks at how the throttle got to where it is.
 
piotrek91 said:
If MikeM still posted here, he would have very quickly brought that up.

Your old corolla only looked at speed and throttle position to decide when to shift. The CX-5 also looks at how the throttle got to where it is.
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Pretty much this.

Patrick I'm pretty sure you'll dig this. Mazda3 with 2.0 skyactiv engine. Sounds like a jet starting at 34 secs. Even your Integra will say Damn.

 
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PatrickGSR94 said:
I've noticed on several occasions our 2014 2.5L feels like it's in the wrong gear. Instances include when the road grade starts up a small incline, or when I slow down in traffic, then press the accelerator pedal lightly to get going again. I try to be easy on the pedal, not flooring it or anything. Yet sometimes it feels like the gearbox is slow to downshift, and so the car feels sluggish as the gear is too high for the speed I'm going. So then I have to press the pedal a little more to make it downshift and get going again.

I'm not sure if this is a side effect of having a 6 speed gearbox or what. Our old Corolla with 4-speed auto never really felt like that. I feel like the 2.5L has more than enough torque, way more than my high strung Integra engine does, when the gearbox gear is low enough. But if the gear is too high for a particular road speed, it just feels totally gutless.
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Punch that throttle more. When you're timid, it's timid.

It's all drive by wire so no need to ease into gears.
 
CX-5um said:
Pretty much this.

Patrick I'm pretty sure you'll dig this. Mazda3 with 2.0 skyactiv engine. Sounds like a jet starting at 34 secs. Even your Integra will say Damn.

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haha DAYUM! :p I actually misread and thought it was a CX-5 at first, just looking at the front of the car. I've been thinking it would be interesting to replace my Integra with a Mazda3 2.5L 6MT, next to our CX-5. The 3 looks almost like a squashed CX-5.
 
PatrickGSR94 said:
haha DAYUM! :p I actually misread and thought it was a CX-5 at first, just looking at the front of the car. I've been thinking it would be interesting to replace my Integra with a Mazda3 2.5L 6MT, next to our CX-5. The 3 looks almost like a squashed CX-5.
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Its not high on my budget priority list but man once I get my Mazda6 2.5L tuned I would be stoked. Orange Virus tuning for me sometime in the future. A used Mazda3 skyactiv 2.5L 6MT after prices go down a bit in a few years would make for a good value imho. Would compliment your CX-5.
 
Mine drives like I do a manual. Love it. It's literally the first automatic I've driven (including 370Z, Jeep Grand Cherokee, Mustang GT, etc.) that I don't think is absolutely worthless.
 
I think it needs more gears. Like I'm hoping Mazda can come up with a 8 speed auto trans in the future. There is almost a flat spot with the engine at around 4k-5k RPM. Before that, at around 2.5k to 3.5k it feels really strong, then it mellows out, then it picks back up once you get near redline. I'm not a transmission expert, but I'm guessing that if it had more gears, they can tune the car to be in the sweet spot more often in every gear. Also, it takes awhile to hit redline in any gear except 1st and 2nd; that's not fun to me. But this is a family crossover, so I'll take it for what it is.
 
finch204 said:
I think it needs more gears. Like I'm hoping Mazda can come up with a 8 speed auto trans in the future. There is almost a flat spot with the engine at around 4k-5k RPM. Before that, at around 2.5k to 3.5k it feels really strong, then it mellows out, then it picks back up once you get near redline. I'm not a transmission expert, but I'm guessing that if it had more gears, they can tune the car to be in the sweet spot more often in every gear. Also, it takes awhile to hit redline in any gear except 1st and 2nd; that's not fun to me. But this is a family crossover, so I'll take it for what it is.
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That's because it's a gutless vehicle that weighs 3500#, lol! It's not falling into a hole though, from what I've experienced with it. I'm pretty happy with the 6A Mazda chose. You want to talk about that, my 1995 Trans Am with 2.73 rear end and 4 speed w/ OD knew a little about that. Those cars (and most 4A's) were all about "Okay bro, coax him down to where you can nip the top of second, because he will rape you from the middle of 3rd gear!"
 
The auto trans is what made me buy this car! At least the way it shifts. I hate cars with mushy automatics, slipping all the time. In D it does shift kind of tall. It would be cool to have another setting between D and SPORT, but closer to D.
 
Adding the Paddle Shifters to the CX-5 was definitely the BEST MOD I ever made to the CX-5...! (eekdance)

Why they are not available that way from the factory for North America is BEYOND ME.(uhm)
 
Unobtanium said:
That's because it's a gutless vehicle that weighs 3500#, lol! It's not falling into a hole though, from what I've experienced with it. I'm pretty happy with the 6A Mazda chose. You want to talk about that, my 1995 Trans Am with 2.73 rear end and 4 speed w/ OD knew a little about that. Those cars (and most 4A's) were all about "Okay bro, coax him down to where you can nip the top of second, because he will rape you from the middle of 3rd gear!"
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90s automatics gave me bad pedal habits that I had to stop doing with modern transmissions that actually work well
 
craigo said:
90s automatics gave me bad pedal habits that I had to stop doing with modern transmissions that actually work well
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Haha, yep. I will say, though, the transmission in my 1995 Trans Am was pretty nice. Yeah it had a ton of "dead zones", but it would shift hard enough to lay rubber, and so forth. That said, the transmission my my Jeep and my CX-5 are WORLDS BETTER! Also, I test drove a 370Z 6A, and found it to be crap compared to the CX5's 6A. If you SLAM the gas in the 370Z, you get an instant downshift, and then if you let off and slam it again (such as a tight passing window where you had an indecisive moment and then went for it), you get a LURCH! because it upshifts as soon as you let off, and it them SLAMS back into a lower gear. Very harsh. It actually scared the sales rep when I did it to her and she wondered if the car was not right. (I did this because they all but made me drive the auto trying to convince me to get it over the manual, and I had to show them why I thought it was crap). The CX-5 on the other hand, will "hold" the numerically lower gear for a few seconds and eliminates this indecision and lurching. Total props to Mazda here!
 
Try resetting the battery, drive a little heavy footed for a bit while the trans relearns and it might improve your feedback. Another thing is learning how to modulate the gas pedal. Often just "tapping" the pedal can give you the downshift, or releasing it the upshift that you want.
 
Chris_Top_Her said:
Try resetting the battery, drive a little heavy footed for a bit while the trans relearns and it might improve your feedback. Another thing is learning how to modulate the gas pedal. Often just "tapping" the pedal can give you the downshift, or releasing it the upshift that you want.
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Chris, this is actually true...trans relearns how to shift after disconnecting the battery. Unfortunately for me, I got exactly the result I didn't want it to get. Does anybody feeling a small hesitation between 1st and 2nd in D mode? Mine, even if I press the gas pedal slower or harder, it will hesitate, rev a little bit and after that dropping the rpm and shifting into the 2nd (is happening very fast, but you can notice it). Is happening only between this two gears and I kind got used to but I still don't like. After I replace the battery, I forgot that trans has to relearn how to shift and I drove it a lot in manual mode, shifting closer to red line and occasionally driving in D Automatic mode as well. I don't know what values has now (except the ones programmed into the ECU computer) but the shifting from 1st to 2nd got a little bit more annoying for me.

PS: Local dealership will always say that is nothing wrong, everything is working great and the issue is with the driver and the driving style, not with the car! LOL, scammers!
 
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