How Does i-stop Works in the Mazda CX-5 and Mazda3?

Without getting too overly complicated, or watering things down to, “it stops, and starts back up again,” here at we know that new technology is often times introduced but not always explained thoroughly. You might just hear the highlights; that this innovation will help boost your fuel economy, but how? With that being said, we would like to give you a brief explanation on how i-stop works in the Mazda CX-5 and Mazda3, because if you’re in the market for a new car, you might just come across this feature.

I-stop is apart of of Mazda’s SkyActiv technology whose main purpose is improve fuel economy and enhance driver performance.

How it works: Once your engine is heated up enough, and you’ve been driving for a little while, i-stop is able to charge up and will illuminate the green signal on your dash.

What you do: When you come across a red light, a crossing train, the bridge going up, construction, or any other reasons that may cause you to brake for more than a few seconds, i-stop will function. All it takes is for you to put your foot on the brake, you don’t have to press anything, just by applying the brake, the engine will kill, and once you remove your foot, it will start back up again. Combustion is what restarts the engine, and Mazda’s technology takes half the amount of time as other competitive conventional systems.

When it does not work: Just tapping the brake won’t cause i-stop to work, it has to be a full and complete stop. The steering wheel also has to be reasonably straight, turning the wheel while braked will deactivate i-stop. Other causes for i-stop not to work include: being stopped on a steep incline, when in reverse, when the air conditioning is on full blast, or if the driver’s seat belt isn’t buckled.

Turn off: For whatever reason, if you do not want i-stop turned on, you can simply press the “i-stop off” button on the right side of your dash, and it will switch off.

If you already own a Mazda with SkyActiv technology, further explanation can be found in your owner’s manual, but if you are still shopping around and unsure about how these systems work, we invite you to get in touch with one of our team members here at Mazda of Lodi , we’ll be more than happy to answer any other questions.