gear shifts at 6th gear

[FikseRxSeven]

have you guys noticed that the gear changes on light acceleration on 6th gear? or on inclines?

the number on the dash says 6th gear, but the rpm increases as if it is on 5th gear.

i just find it strange that the dash doesnt change numbers

[Mazda3]

What you are probably feeling is the torque converter locking/unlocking not an actual gear change.

[justanothermp5]

yea ive noticed this too when im driving my moms cx7
its weird, it pulled and the rpms rose like it went down a gear but the dash still said 6th

[jabba]

I notice the same thing in my CX-9, and as Mazda3 stated above, I just assumed that it had something to do with the torque converter. I guess the Mazda engineers determined that it's more beneficial to stay in 6th and up the rpms than to drop down a gear....

[clarko]

What you are probably feeling is the torque converter locking/unlocking not an actual gear change.

(iagree) What he said is spot on.

[l-miwa]

What is the minimum speed that the torque converter will lock up in 6th gear? Mine doesn't seem to lock up until at least 66mph.

I just got my CX-9 back from a transmission control module replacement and it seems to me that it doesn't lock up as quickly as it used to. I'm pretty certain that it locked up a much lower speeds before.

Gas mileage also seems to have dropped by about 2mpg, possibly due to exactly this, as I do mostly interstate driving.