Why Mazda Avoids CVT Transmissions

Among different types of car transmissions, CVTs are notable for not having gears at all. It uses a set of pulleys and belts to provide numerous ratios for a variety of driving situations. While it may seem like an ideal solution for some auto enthusiasts, as you won’t be bothering with gears driving this car, some car brands, such as Mazda, just disregard the CVT.

Mazda constantly designs smart engineering solutions for their cars. What many automakers may call an outdated technology, Mazda finds a way to upgrade and make much more efficient. Numerous automakers such as Nissan, Honda, Subaru, and Toyota have their valid arguments for using CVTs in their line-ups. But Mazda has its own plan of action relative to the powertrain solution employed in its models. For Mazda the gear shifting mechanism plays a great role in delivering Mazda’s unique level of “oneness between car and driver”. Mazda wants to have a bit more feel in their cars and to make them a bit more exciting to drive.

But it becomes more interesting when we pay closer attention to sales number of the Mazda model (in this case CX-5) compared to other cars in the SUV segment, because many CVT-equipped SUVs outsell Mazda’s automatic CX-5.

Moreover, CVTs are known to be more fuel efficient because the system automatically sets the engine RPM rate in response to the power requirement of the car depending on particular driving situations. It is also claimed that CVTs ensure optimal power delivery and seamless shifting. Why did Mazda use to stick to its automatic and manual transmissions instead of choosing a more profitable CVT option? Let us try to sort it out.

Seems like Mazda’s decision to stick with its own powertrain solutions has more to do with the general vision of the company and its strategy rather than with sales volume. Even some representatives say that CVTs are not really the solutions the company wants and that CVTs cannot drive like Mazda. Therefore Mazda uses its own engine and gear shifting solutions known as SKYACTIV Technology.

Learn more about SKYACTIV-DRIVE technology

This technology was designed by Mazda engineers from scratch. It seems like a traditional automatic solution with a torque converter and a planetary set, but when you have a closer look at this technology, you can find interesting technical peculiarities of this 6-speed automatic transmission.

SKYACTIV-DRIVE 6-speed automatic transmission

Mazda claims that its SKYACTIV-DRIVE technology combines all benefits of standard automatics, CVTs, and dual-clutch gearboxes. This transmission solution ensures better responsiveness, rapid accelerations from a stop as well as quick and smooth gear shifting. This unit is equipped with an advanced control module (mechatronics), which facilitates to rapid and precise gear shifting. But main peculiarity of Mazda transmission is its upgraded torque converter system, which helped to improve fuel economy and ensured a more direct feel. It has a new lock-up device to prolong the time that the engine RPM is directly linked to the transmission rotation. The new lock-up ratio is around 80%, instead of the previous 50%. Expanding the lock-up range usually causes unpleasant noises and vibrations. Therefore, Mazda engineers designed a new mechanism named a full-range lock-up clutch (they use multi-plate lock-up clutch rather than a single-plate), they decided to use a smaller impeller and turbine for the converter to save space for a bigger lock-up clutch and a vibration damper. These steps helped to significantly improve torque transfer efficiency. Moreover, these interesting design solutions helped to enhance fuel economy (4-7% compared to standard gearboxes).

Check out a great video from EngineeringExplained on the topic

All in all, it is hard to say for sure whether Mazda’s automatic unit is better than traditional CVT solutions, but it can be said for sure that this technology helps Mazda to emphasize its technical distinctiveness and to stay away from the main drawbacks of CVT transmissions: high maintenance and repair costs, a “weird feeling” from driving a CVT-equipped car, noisy operation.