Question Regarding Sportmatic Transmission...
 

While using this in my car I seem to notice a 3-4 second gap/lag when shifting between 1st & 2nd gear. It doesn't do it all the time, just seems like anytime when I am over 3K RPM's and under medium to heavy acceleration. When shifting to 3rd or 4th I have not noticed any lag. Has anyone else experienced this? Or is just my POS P5? :rolleyes:

ask your dealer about it

Well then why we don't we just close the forum?

I thought the point of having a gathering place for Mazda owners was to come and chat with others about information regarding our cars. I guess I was wrong...

No, you aren't wrong. I think he was just making a suggestion. However, I will tell you that the dealer will say it's normal. That's why coming to a place like this is good. You get to learn what others experiences have been who have the same car.

Curt B. Shumaker

My guess would be that it IS normal.

I'm going to assume that the sport tranny does NOT let you start from a dead stop in 2nd gear - that if you have it in 2nd, it will go from 1st to 2nd and that's it.

Assuming that is the case, you are probably just shifting the car before it would shift itself. You said this happens under medium to hard acceleration. Well, in my regular auto, if I manual shift, and go from 1st to 2nd under hard acceleration, the car is going to wait until the normal, higher shift point for that level of acceleration. If I'm accelerating hard, there's no way to "hurry-up" the 1st to 2nd shift - the tranny decides when to do it. Unless I wait until the revs are PAST the normal 1st gear range for had acceleration, then the 2nd gear shift will be quick.

I know I'm making some assumptions here, but I'm betting that's what's happening - the car doesn't "want" to shift yet based upon your level of acceleration.

Experiment and see what happens.

~HH

It would help if you would tell at what RPM you are shifting... Mine doesn't do that. under hard excelleration I may shift from 1 to 2nd at about 4500 to 4800 RPMand it has hardly any lag. The transmission by itself (under normal takeoff speeds) will usually shift at about 2800 to 3000 RPM each time. There may be an adjustment that needs to be made. Probably nothing serious, just an adjustment.

I haven't noticed anything like a 3-4 second delay when shifting from 1st to 2nd in manual mode but it is a slower shift than the 2-3 or 3-4 which is a little disappointing.

Considering that driving a SportMatic without lag requires a throttle action similar to a manual.

You can't just keep down on the gas and expect it to shift normally. The engine has to bring itself down to a safe rpm to shift, engage the lockup converter, etc.

Instead, drive it like you would a manual. When you go to shift ease up the gas a bit. This reduces the amount that the ecu has to forcibly reduce against your efforts in WOT.

You can start off in 2 gear on this tranny. Mine seems to do the same thing when I first start the car and drive, then after a few mins it goes away.

I agree with kincaid. If you hit the shift as you lift your foot for a split second and punch it, there is virtually no lag. In fact, I have scratched second that way. You can eat someone that cant drive a stick if you can work the autostick well. The disadvantage is that a 5 speed will have a little better gear ratio for second gear, however, that second gear in the autostick does seem to have some good pull between 4000 and 4400.