Sluggish frequent pedal/throttle response. Need suggestions

[Lazy2.5]

@GFrosty any updates regarding your driving style?

Mine is still evolving. I am getting used to pushing the rpm at which I upshift (and the consequent "landing rpm" into the next gear) higher.

I watch the little "real-time" fuel economy read out - once it surpasses a certain "target" that I keep in mind for the RPM I am at, i downshift.. But generally, keeping RPM's between 2000-3000RPM seems really sound and makes great use of the engines highly efficient torque production/powerband.

@N7turbo I remember we had a conversation about using manual mode to select second gear, and then coming to stop/crawl I notice that sometimes it stays in second, other times, it will shift down to first on it's own (All while I am still in "M") - Do you know why?

 

[Jmaz]

@GFrosty any updates regarding your driving style?

Mine is still evolving. I am getting used to pushing the rpm at which I upshift (and the consequent "landing rpm" into the next gear) higher.

I watch the little "real-time" fuel economy read out - once it surpasses a certain "target" that I keep in mind for the RPM I am at, i downshift.. But generally, keeping RPM's between 2000-3000RPM seems really sound and makes great use of the engines highly efficient torque production/powerband.

@N7turbo I remember we had a conversation about using manual mode to select second gear, and then coming to stop/crawl I notice that sometimes it stays in second, other times, it will shift down to first on it's own (All while I am still in "M") - Do you know why?

I believe it has to do with when 2nd is selected in manual mode. I remember that if 2nd manual is selected before moving, like starting out on a slippery surface such as snow, it will stay in 2nd when stopping. If 2nd manual is selected while moving it will downshift to 1st at a stop.

 

[GFrosty]

@GFrosty any updates regarding your driving style?

Am still doing the reset/relearn procedure weekly, give or take.

Still intensely dislike the negative impact on throttle response and downshifting based on what my typical driving style is. But, other than frequently "blipping" the throttle to force a downshift and brisk acceleration, the "driving style" I use is still much the same.

Still prefer avoiding "Sport" mode, as it's imperfect. Still prefer avoiding manual mode, though I am using it more frequently. Much prefer "Automatic" mode ... but it's also imperfect once the darned "learning" mechanism gets it claws into the mapping choices.

The 2012 Mazda3 2.5 I used to have was soooo much better, with respect to retaining a proper "driver's" quality for throttle response and downshifting. It never seemed to worsen over time, if one's (forced or chosen) sedate driving behavior was commonplace. It always seemed willing to get "playful" if I just breathed on the throttle for acceleration, almost no matter how slight.

 

[Lazy2.5]

Am still doing the reset/relearn procedure weekly, give or take.

Still intensely dislike the negative impact on throttle response and downshifting based on what my typical driving style is. But, other than frequently "blipping" the throttle to force a downshift and brisk acceleration, the "driving style" I use is still much the same.

Still prefer avoiding "Sport" mode, as it's imperfect. Still prefer avoiding manual mode, though I am using it more frequently. Much prefer "Automatic" mode ... but it's also imperfect once the darned "learning" mechanism gets it claws into the mapping choices.

The 2012 Mazda3 2.5 I used to have was soooo much better, with respect to retaining a proper "driver's" quality for throttle response and downshifting. It never seemed to worsen over time, if one's (forced or chosen) sedate driving behavior was commonplace. It always seemed willing to get "playful" if I just breathed on the throttle for acceleration, almost no matter how slight.

I think that by the time Mazda ditched your second gen 3 and designed the third Gen Skyactivs, emission regulations became much more stringent.

I find that the throttle is very precise and predictable when suddenly requesting a downshift to pass, but getting a downshift with reasonable throttle input without getting it to upshift on you again is pretty much impossible.

Then there is the problem of gears 4,5,6 being too tall on the automatic(at least on first Gen Skyactivs,) forcing you to either pick between an rpm that's too high or too low at times. A manual gearbox would hastily solve all these problems .

As for those who insist on a manual, finding someone who can tune the gearbox is the only real hope.