You may very well have been in 6th @80 mph. It's difficult to sense the slight difference between 5th and 6th. I don't know why Mazda didn't include a gear indicator in auto mode. My wife's BMW has it and there couldn't be any appreciable cost in adding it!

 

In my short experience with my 2016 CX-5, I have found that in "sport" mode it holds on to 4th gear way too long. Try Manual + Sport = FUN!!!!

 

With my short exposure to the sport mode also, I find it really useful for merging onto the highway. The 2.5 has some nice pick up, much more than our old Subaru that was only 15hp short of the Mazda. I haven't done any spirited driving yet with sport mode, though, it's still a little too new!

 

I recently purchased (300 miles ago) a '16 CX5 Grand Touring w/ Tech package, and I can verify that in sport mode, my CX5 does not shift into high gear until I am going very, very fast (think jail, not speeding ticket).

I've started to use sport mode only if I'm going slowly, and want the car to hold the rev's up. If I want to accelerate up to speed, or take a canyon home to have some fun, I use the manual mode. Allows me to hold any gear as long as I please and once I'm done having my fun, I just put it back in D.

 

Had my 2016 CX-5 GT for a month now and they missed the mark in only a few areas and the "sport mode" is one.

I have had other cars with this feature and they are designed to hold gears longer for better acceleration but they all "settled" into the highest gear when cruising speed was accomplished. The CX-5 does not do that. It should get to 6th gear at 60 plus MPH and it does not. I use it but have to switch it off to get the transmission to shift to the highest gear. Not good. I am guessing a "plug i" to the computer could remedy this but for now it is one of the very few faults in this other wise amazing vehicle.

 

I finally was able to test it on the highway, it shifted to 6th at around 4500 rpm when tracking at more than 80mph. Definitely a flaw, albeit a minor one. I will try using Manual to shift it earlier as per the suggestion above, thanks!

 

Just bought our Grand Touring yesterday with 5 miles on it! I think there's some confusion on sport mode... If you're just looking for extra Zoom when merging, then manual mode is what you want.... Sport mode is for winding, twisting mountain roads... Roads that you are constantly speeding up and slowing down... It's not meant for cruising on the highway, and that's why it will rev so high and not shift into higher gears.

We're so excited about the new car! We activated the XM satellite radio last night and day in the driveway checking out the different stations and playing with the entertainment center! Up early and going for a drive!

 

As the owner of a 2013 w/o sport mode, I'm rather curious about this feature as Mazda does it. My only experience with sport mode on an automatic is my wife's Z4 BMW and, as Oldsarge points out, it is useful for twisty mountain roads where you want to minimize up and down shifting and keep the engine at more ideal torque-producing rpm. But not allowing the trans to shift up into 6th gear until 4500 rpm seems rather strange as the BMW gets into seventh at a much lower rpm in sport. I'm wondering if there is something wrong with luisroj's car, or if they're all like that?

 

There's nothing wrong with his car. Sport mode is designed for exactly the situation you described - not to be engaged while cruising on an expressway at 80.

It's hard to compare what cars are in what gears at certain RPMs as well, since the final drive ratios and gear ratios are probably not even close to the same between a CX5 and a Z4. The Z4 is probably geared really short, like sports cars typically tend to be, vs the gearing on a CUV.

 

So the way it is set up one would only use sport mode when driving on a twisty mountain road ( about 1% of all driving) where a speed of 70 plus would not happen. Then once out of the twists one would have to flick the switch to get the car into 6th gear. I just don't think that's the way most other transmissions with a "sport mode" work. My sister has the new Mazda 3 grand touring with the same motor and transmission. I'll have to see if its the same..