Quirks and Jerks of the Skyactiv Drive

I put this together based on the most frequent questions I get about the Mazda Skyactiv transmissions of why does it "jerk" as often as it does.
I show what happens with Neutral Idle Control, Torque Converter Clutch(TCC) application from a stop, manual 1st jerkiness when coming to a stop and manual mode TCC operation.
#skyactiv #mazda #automatictransmission #mazda3 #mazdacx30 #mazdacx50 #mazdacx5 #mazda6 #mazdacx9

[@zacharyisraelsen8484]

Such a helpful video. I just bought a 2021 Mazda 3 and it's my first automatic car. I wasn't sure how automatics were supposed to feel driving them, and with all the rpm weirdness, I'd convinced myself that the transmission was dying. Thanks for making me a little less anxious!

[@21mazda3turbo3]

Not a problem. The Skyactiv does drive a little differently than a regular automatic, and I get asked often if there is a problem with them.

[@zero7523]

Very good explanation from a more technical perspective!

[@jaynuck]

Another invaluable post. Thank you.

[@SpinonDuality]

Seriously so helpful. Thanks for the awesome video!

[@steezymakeithit]

I just picked up a 2019 Mazda 3 with 30k miles a couple weeks ago. Every car I've owned before had a CVT Transmission (with issues) and it took some getting used to driving the new car. At first, I was too used to being very gentle with the gas pedal, as if I pressed hard on the gas in my old car the transmission would lose power, but I've found that my Mazda seems to prefer me to put a little more pressure on the gas. It seems to jerk when it shifts if I'm too gentle, but it drives super smooth when I drive a little more "aggressive" than I would in my old car.

[@macro820]

Only thing that bothers me is when slow to stop and roll the stop sign then it feels like its in neutral for a second after you try to accel again. I love that the engine brakes or tries to let you coast depending if you hit the brake or gas last

[@jasonashley9853]

I do sometimes get a small shudder sensation at lower speeds. Believe it's something to do with the torque converter engaging/disengaging.

[@thetechlibrarian]

These transmissions seem to like a rather firm pedal input.

[@truthhurts2149]

They definitely do. I wish Mazda would have tested these more in steep terrain. I find it doesn't know which gear to pick when going up slight inclines and around curves. My 2015 tries to lock the converter going up our very steep driveway. It's annoying but this video helps explains a lot.

[@neonnoir9692]

I never noticed it until i started driving more conservatively, both of mine just want blast off all the time, it's like calm down bro gas is over $3 rn

[@fartzr.schmelli3351]

Yeah my CX-5 turbo does weird stuff once in a while. Almost like it's starting of in 2nd gear or short shifting really early. But with some more pedal it downshifts and the Turbo starts doing it thing. It's annoying cuz the power is not there then all of a sudden Whoosh! Even with AWD, the mild torque steer can catch you off guard! FYI...

[@pseudowolf9]

Hi, @21Mazda3Turbo. Thank you for sharing your very unique expertise on this channel! I wanted to ask your opinion on the set of issues with my Mazda as you seem to be very knowledgable about their SkyActiv ATs. If you don’t mind! So, I have the 2013 CX-5 GT AWD with 150k+ miles. During last year or so it has developed the following set of problems with the AT: a) the shifter may be very stiff when going from P to R (vehicle is stationary, the brake is fully depressed), it feels like you are forcing the shift and when it happens the whole car body shakes/jerks; b) in lower gears (most often it’s 2 -> 3), under higher than average acceleration the upshift may be delayed and come with another car body shake in the end; Note that it's really hard to bring it to someone for a diagnostic as these issues come and go and I can't reproduce them consistently as of now. I got this car when it already had 130k+ miles and the previous owner only followed the maintenance “by the book”, so no ATF changes were done to it. Is my AT basically a ticking bomb at this point or is there something that can be done to improve this situation short of a transmission rebuild? Thank you in advance! I would really appreciate your response.

[@ikejennings1154]

Nice video! I know someone that hassa maz/ 3 with skyactive , & its more in towns, someimes starting off , you cant get on it, my comparison, the car jerks, like ol days ,when a universal.joint is bad onna drive shaft feeling..Shuddering / bucking, I thought, beings it was in / M patern, on the tranny, i told the person maybe it has another setting , to start ,like a automatic wiith overdrive.. You only use overdrive, when your onna interstate highway , if you use it round town, just keep it in, Drive, The overdrive, same bucking feeling happens... Thanx for ur video!

[@thetechlibrarian]

Thank you for the explanation. There are definitely some quirks but all in all it feels really good Honestly the only transmission I’ve ever driven in a regular car that's significantly better is the zf8 that's a amazing transmission. ,

[@wittwer427]

Unrelated question here but you seem like the top expert on KZbin. Every once and a while on my turbo I’ll start up the car and after a little bit will drive off. Very rarely I’ll hear a noise that can best be described as a low frequency hydraulic pump kicking on and causing a buzz I can feel throughout the car and especially the steering wheel. There’s also a big draw it has on the engine power that requires a decent amount of throttle to overcome. It only comes on for like a second or two then goes away. It feels like it’s becoming more frequent. It kinda feels like it’s priming a system with hydraulic pressure. Think that this is something I should be a little concerned with or is this a normal occurrence. For reference I work on ships that will have 6-8 90hp electric motors connected to massive hydraulic pumps that will kick on our off to power our deck hydraulics. The sensation that I get feels and just like these deck hydros starting up on the boat but at probably half the frequency.

[@thetechlibrarian]

What scan tool are you using? I would love to be able to go into the computer and make little tweaks like I could with tech stream. Just simple things like changing the truck open chime , how many times the blinker flashes with a single press etc etc

[@jso726]

Excellent video and even better explanation...Question: My 2015 Mazda 3 GT does the jerky/harsh 1-2 engagement mostly while decelerating in DRIVE (Not in Manual mode). Is it normal behavior as well?

[@matsudakodo]

Huh. I wonder if this is why my idle RPM increases in Off Road Mode? You'll feel it takes a little more braking force to keep the car from creeping. Maybe the Neutral Idle Control is disabled in OR Mode (2023 CX-5 Turbo AWD).

[@ampm9771]

I have the same problem with my Mazda 3 with manual transmission. I believe it is the throttle body issue.

[@jasonashley9853]

Why am I not getting a gear reading on my OBD2 device? It just reads "0".

[@wittwer427]

One thing I noticed between both turbo awd and non turbo fwd I’ve owned is a jump/lurch at around 10ish mph. When rolling say around a parking lot at around 5-12 mph if you give it just a little gas from idle the whole car will jump/lurch like the motor mounts are blown and the engine is jumping. It was really bad on my fwd n/a until got a tsb applied that eased it but didn’t eliminate it. It’s rather annoying in parking lot driving or stop and go traffic.

[@laurentium3337]

Does this lockup process happen with every shift (auto mode) or just in 1st? I'm noticing the same rpm behavior (up and down after shifting) with most shifts. Maybe it depends on how hard or easy I'm pushing the throttle. I don't feel any jerkyness. It shifts smoothly. I'm mainly wondering if it's normal to have this happening even in other gears?

[@user-gh8ks7xg9b]

Thank you for the video! I have this question - is it possible to somehow strengthen the automatic transmission of the CX30 FWD non turbo? For example, if I replace my own gearbox with a transmission from the turbo version? I have a supercharger installed and it looks like I made the transmission really bad :)

[@devondelgado1818]

The case itself is different for where it bolts tot the engine. The holes don’t line up

[@nah3193]

I call it 'character' lol. Once I stopped worrying about I really learned to like it and it's very predictable and consistent. I don't know if the 3rd gens unlock in manual mode off throttle in the same way, I've only really noticed when coming to a stop at like 15 mph or less.

[@javedgerardnikoravesh2761]

Mazda 3 2016 model tends to jerk the moment I almost come to a full stop, but once it’s almost stopping, I press accelerate.. it jerks Another scenario is when I drive long distances, and when I come to a full stop, the minute it stops, it jerks (by kinda moving forward) Anyone knows how to solve this two issues?

[@hindesite]

Is this the default behavior - has the transmission been reset before describing the behavior in this video?

[@21mazda3turbo3]

Yes, this is the default behavior.

[@1992vinod]

I see...my new cx8 2.5t is quite jerky.....good explanation bro.....got used to cvt😅....is it normal for small thud sound when clutch disengages, and we press pedal almost immediately??...sounds like lockup or clutch but cana only be hear when turned off ac and radio

[@anthony-ob6lw]

my mazda with 172,000 miles does this same thing

[@truthhurts2149]

Pulling a trailer up a steep hill with loose terrain and you hit 6 mph and the torque converter wants to lock. Very annoying. Sure I can stay under 5mph but sometimes I need to get some speed to keep momentum to make it up loose gravel. Locking up in first makes no sense to me...

[@gideonx5]

Great video and explans why the trans acts the way it does in this car. I've noticed the sport mode has some kind of effect on the trans. Is it bad to engage sport mode while driving?

[@21mazda3turbo3]

Sport mode does affect transmission operation. No negatives using it while driving or turning it off and on while driving.

[@gideonx5]

@@21mazda3turbo3 Thanks for the insight, definitely gives me some peace of mind. I just did this on my car and it does seem to be driving different, not as jerky as it was before. Are there any negatives to using manual mode ? I tend to use it quite often.

[@21mazda3turbo3]

No negatives to sport mode, it won't allow you to do anything that would hurt it. @@gideonx5

[@svenschwingel8632]

​@@gideonx5Sport mode uses a different transmission shift map and also changes the resistance to the accelerator potentiometer to give the engine a more spontaneous reaction (lower pedal position needed for the same throttle angle). Other than that, it's just a shift mode with higher revs. So I only use it if my engine is at safe operating temperature.

[@gideonx5]

@@svenschwingel8632 I'm not 100% sure but I think it also makes the timing a little more aggressive, you can hear it if you have an aftermarket exhaust.

[@nelsonnarciso1791]

Great video best detailed vidoe I've seen so far. Question I have 21 mdza 3 2.5 turbo and my idle sits at about just a little over the 500 rpm range yours sits at 3/4 say 750 800 . Is there a idle relearn I need to do or you think there's an issue here. Thk you

[@21mazda3turbo3]

The idle tables have quite a few targets to hit. Load and coolant temp play a large part in that. Before I had the car tuned, it would hit in the 500rpm range, but I've set the idle to not fall below 750.

[@nelsonnarciso1791]

@@21mazda3turbo3 ok so it's normal operation then

[@21mazda3turbo3]

Yep@@nelsonnarciso1791

[@nelsonnarciso1791]

@21mazda3turbo3 so I notice how the rpm works now with this car. When I have defrost and feet setting selected on climate control the rpm stays high at the 750 range. So when I selected Just feet air fow the rpm stays at the above 550 range. So I've been always driving woth defrost and feet selected so I always seen the higher rpm reading. Smart car system to save on fuel. Thanks for your quick reply back.

[@bigweedonly]

Did you have 0-60 videos on your channel that you deleted? Trying to find a 4.88s 0-60 vid that seems to be gone from KZbin.

[@21mazda3turbo3]

I have not deleted any of my videos. My quickest on a dragy woth a 1ft rollout was 4.9.

[@bigweedonly]

So Im either thinking of a different channel or you never posted that dragy result as a video.@@21mazda3turbo3 The channel Im thinking of was named "M3T21" at one point.

[@zero7523]

@@bigweedonly you're not seeing mirages, M3T21 did indeed delete his channel, which contained the video in question

[@bigweedonly]

@@zero7523 Thanks for confirming, only reason I imagine he'd delete would be some sort of law trouble. What a shame.

[@dvgd999]

Do you recommend people to do that Transmission relearn procedure? I had my car for 2 years never did that yet. Drives fine, wondering if it would eliminate some things and make it faster off the line or anything like that.

[@21mazda3turbo3]

Some people have reported improved shift quality. I know for me it cleared up a certain TCC behavior I didn't like and I purchased my car brand new.

[@dvgd999]

@@21mazda3turbo3 ive been trying to do the steps in the video but it doesn't work. car was on for over 1min. Temps were up like in the video, and followed all the steps. guess by your name it does work on the turbo models as well. just cant seem to get the last step to work where the gear numbers on the dash screen disappear. ill keep trying.

[@Aysus]

@@dvgd999 mash the brake . like you need to try to put your foot through the floor. and do not let off AT ALL til its done. most people think theyre pushing down hard enough when they're not.

[@dvgd999]

​@Aysus got it to work. Yeah must have been not slamming the brake pedal through the floor that was the issue. Thanks for the help.

[@Aysus]

@@dvgd999no problem!

[@gurulotg]

I have 2.0 Skyactiv G 2023 Mazda3 HB, my car has the same problem, car is new with 1000km Mileage. Any Idea how to resolve/fix this problem?

[@kevinm9973]

i’m doing research on this as well for my girlfriends sky active 2023 Mazda3 and i think it’s the way it’s “programmed” tbh

[@edwardwheeler5879]

Definitely don’t listen to the “lifetime transmission fluid BS” my 21 was shifting like crap and hesitating between 1st and 2nd shifts really bad. Finally around 90,000 I dropped the pan and it was HORRIBLE!! Says you will need 5 quarts with a filter change but mine needed close to 6 and I had no leaks so had to be low from the get go! After the change it is soooo much better, being it was so burnt I’m going to change it again when I do the next oil change and then maybe again in 30,000 if I still have it.

[@Notfiveo0]

No start stop on N. America Mazdas.

[@jasonashley9853]

I hate start/stop. I always turn it off. It's clunky and wears on a starter.

[@pussinboots1145]

@@jasonashley9853 i-stop and Gasoline Engines While conventional idling stop systems rely on a starter motor to restart the engine, Mazda’s i-stop restarts the engine through combustion; fuel is directly injected into a cylinder while the engine is stopped and ignited to generate downward piston force. The result is a quick and quiet engine re-start compared to other systems and a significant saving in fuel.

[@SKA343]

I think they’re crap