[masterwares]

Idk where to post this, but after the first oil change, my cx3 is suddenly way faster and responsive. I wonder if it didn't have oil in it factory shipped lol!

Oh side note, did you guys ever notice the **secret button** if you floor the gas pedal? I pressed it and started drifting haha.

 

[Vipre77]

Idk where to post this, but after the first oil change, my cx3 is suddenly way faster and responsive. I wonder if it didn't have oil in it factory shipped lol!

Oh side note, did you guys ever notice the **secret button** if you floor the gas pedal? I pressed it and started drifting haha.

I haven't noticed much change on this car after an oil change, but I always did on the old Mazda 6 with the 3.0L V6.

I noticed the kick-down switch on the gas pedal first time I drove it. its good fun.

 

[Geezer]

I believe most cars with automatic transmissions have a kick down switch, but some work better than others. The one on the CX3 is particularly sensitive with a perceptual increase in speed and accompanied "Roar" from the engine. My last car was a Forester and it's kick down made no perceptual change in movement or sound, but there was a slight bump in the tachometer, so you knew that something was happening, you just didn't feel much difference. I always use in when passing on the highway.

 

[mainemanx]

That's the other 2 barrels of your 4 barrel cabrureator cutting in ...
Remove the air cleaner and you can actually hear it sucking more air ... moanin'

Seriously, there's no physical switch is there? Presumably the shifting to a lower gear is computer actuated ... function of RPM, current gear, intake manifold vacuum, etc.

 

[Vipre77]

That's the other 2 barrels of your 4 barrel cabrureator cutting in ...
Remove the air cleaner and you can actually hear it sucking more air ... moanin'

Seriously, there's no physical switch is there? Presumably the shifting to a lower gear is computer actuated ... function of RPM, current gear, intake manifold vacuum, etc.

Yes, it's an actual switch. It forces the transmission to drop to a lower gear the same way the steering wheel paddles or the gear selector do. You just do it with your foot instead. I don't understand the point either. Other cars do this with a throttle position sensor that is tied into the computer that controls the shift points on the transmission. It sees that when you stomp on the accelerator that you want more acceleration and it sends the downshift command to the transmission. Mazda, to an extent, still does this, but the computer apparently is still trying to operate semi-economically until you hit that kickdown switch. Once the switch is activated, then the engine and transmission will switch over to a more performance oriented sport mode giving you full power and acceleration, similar to the way the Sport switch on the console works.

Here's some more info on it.


I've found that holding the switch down all the way through a gear is not advisable. It holds the gear way past the optimum shift point and wrings it all the way out to redline and sometimes will hold it there for a second or two before upshifting to the next gear. The kickdown switch is good for forcing to downshift initially, but let off the switch before it goes back up a gear while continuing to accelerate. For continued acceleration through one or more upshifts, activating the Sport mode via the console switch works better. The kickdown switch is, I think, meant only for short bursts of acceleration such as when passing rather than a longer pull through multiple gears.

 

[anchorman]

Kind of right and that is how Mazda portray it to the customer but in fact there isn’t a switch, just a detent position that limits the power at a predetermined point (not exact). It is the actual position of the pedal that signals the transmission to “force change down”. This is from my CX-5 but it is exactly the same pedal;

 

[mainemanx]

Kind of right and that is how Mazda portray it to the customer but in fact there isn’t a switch, just a detent position that limits the power at a predetermined point (not exact). It is the actual position of the pedal that signals the transmission to “force change down”. This is from my CX-5 but it is exactly the same pedal;

Bunch of armchair economists we are

Just for my own satisfaction, tomorrow I'll go out, get down on my knees, and actually look at it.

 

[Vipre77]

Well, that's interesting. Odd that they call it a switch if there's no switch there.

 

[anchorman]

Well, that's interesting. Odd that they call it a switch if there's no switch there.

It used to be a switch on older cars with a cable throttle but these days with a fly by wire set up, they can just program the computer to change down at near full throttle (end of the range on the potentiometer). They use the detent spring to make sure it is a conscious decision on the part of the driver to overcome it. I had a Kia Soul a few years back with a manual box but they still left the same detent arrangement to encourage “eco” driving.

Its a good idea.