Hi all, new here. I recently purchased a 2016 cx 5 gt with 2.5 motor. Anyone else notice the extreme gap between first and second gear? We live on a hill, and after turning in from highway to our driveway , the car immediately shifts to second and lugs it way up the hill. I've also noticed this at a stop light in our area at the bottom of a hill. When light turns green, about a millisecond goes by before car shifts to second and now your lugging along until you finally and gradually gain enough speed. I love the cx 5, and after a month of operation, this is my only complaint. Either the car needs to be able to gain more speed in first before shifting, or there's way to big a difference between first and second gear. Its like going from first to fourth.

 

Wow! It never ceases to amaze me the longer I stay on this (and one other, much more active CX-5) forum how many strange complaints I read. I'm about as familiar as anyone is with the pluses and minuses of this crossover and in 3.5 years I've never heard anyone make the points you make here. To begin with (and this may sound silly, but..) are you absolutely sure your CX-5 is going through all 6 gears every time? If it is, I can't imagine why the engine feels like it's falling into a hole on it's way from first to second gear. Yes, first gear is pretty much a stump-puller and yes, the transmission is programmed to shift up quickly (unless you're aggressively into the throttle) to keep the engine in the sweet spot of its torque curve and maximize fuel efficiency. But second gear is just not that high a ratio relative to first that you would notice a lack of power once it shifts. If you are talking about ascending a very steep hill, maybe I can see your point. I have the 2.0 ltr in my 2013 (less power) and have been on some hills in San Francisco where I did experience what you're talking about, but the simple solution was to put it in manual mode and hold it is first or to get a running start and lock it in second half way up the hill. The other option you have (which I don't) is to put the trans in sport mode so that it holds each gear longer and makes throttle input a little more aggressive. Is that any help?

 

I've tried the manual mode and it does help. Sport mode works, but won't shift until about 4000 rpm. I've read several complaints online on newer models where this is a common complaint. I just think that in the transmissions regular mode it should be better. I love the car, but this is annoying, at my first oil change I plan on talking to service manager about it.

 

Something tells me you traded out of something with a lot more engine torque than the CX-5 generates. Reason I say this is, having spent the better part of 50 years driving 4 cyl imports that don't produce gobs of torque, I am always amazed when I get behind the wheel of my wife's recently acquired 300 hp/300 ft pound BMW the way it effortlessly makes power under just about any driving condition. It sounds like you might have been better off with something like an EcoBoost (turbocharged) Ford Escape that generates much more low end grunt than the CX-5.

 

No I traded a 2009 subaru forester for it. My cx5 would walk all over that non turbocharged subaru. It has plenty of power, but as I stated above, there's too much difference between first and second in normal mode.

 

Have you tried resetting the tranny?

Pull the battery for a few minutes to reset it and let the computer re-learn your habits.

 

SkyActiv 6AT does not "learn driver habits". It has limited ECU logic that allows it to adapt on demand to certain driving conditions such as the requirements of driving up or down steep grades. When those conditions no longer exist, the adaptation is over. This is a common misunderstanding about Mazda transmissions.

 

According to the Service Manager whom drove my car, they do indeed have the learning technology, or else he is full of She - I - T

 

Look it up in your owner's manual.