It is eliminated for the US market because the EPA testing cycle would show no impact and so Mazda decided people wouldn't pay for something that showed no benefit to their window sticker MPG. So basically, stupid EPA and stupid people = no stop/start technology for us.

Mine does this and I was certain I would hate it and turn this feature off, but it starts up nice and easy every time and seeing the counter that tells me I have already saved myself 16 minutes idle time helps me keep it on.

Do take my comments with a grain of salt. I am probably blinded by my new ride which off course is the cat`s meow, but will have shortcomings for others.

Because EPA estimates don't include idle time I'm assuming? Retarded. Sounded like an awesome system.

It's funny I came across this thread because my friend (who has a mazdaspeed 3) was talking about upgrading his fuel pump to do a simple retune and I thought he was just full of it. It all makes a lot more sense now. But he is actually kind of full of it sometimes and he's about to put in a stronger high pressure pump on the engine and I'm supposed to help him out with it. Anyone know what the precautions are when doing this and are there common mistakes that result in the mixing of gasoline and internal organs?

One of the first big upgrades a lot of folks do is the fuel pump internals on the Mazdaspeed3. Interestingly enough, in the small tube or bore size that we're talking for a fuel rail, it really doesn't take too thick of a cylindrical cavity wall to contain that high of pressure. From the video, it sounds like Mazda went to great lengths (literally) to keep the cylinders cool. If long term reliability is good, then this is a slam dunk. If not, 07-09 Mazdaspeed3 cough cough, then it's a huge stepping stone for the company.

I have two Skyactiv cars. The automatic transmission is pretty fun to drive, although I think the low speed 'slush box' is definitely not a selling point. Neither of my cars shut off at idle, however they do shift to neutral after a few seconds of being stopped. By the time you hit the gas, you're out of the smooth slush box 0-5mph zone. I find that the car feels like it's automatically shifting a manual transmission, which is actually the fun part of driving an automatic. At low speeds, or coming up to a stop light, then deciding to start driving again, you can feel the shift. I'm sure Mazda has had complaints from people about that behavior since it's NOT a slush box, although it is working properly. ;)