Either around the time I got my brakes replaced, or while I had the battery disconnected to install the new radio, my transmission seemed to pick up a bad habit. Under 35 mph, pressing the brakes would often result in an aggressive downshift making it feel like you pressed the brake pedal even harder. For the most part, this is expected behavior for Mazda’s Skyactiv transmission, but it shouldn’t be so jarring. The video embedded here describes a procedure to tell the car to initiate a relearning or calibration process for the transmission that can help in some cases. I was able to get my car to run the calibration without issue, and while I can say it definitely caused a change in behavior, I can’t say it fixed the harsh downshift 100% of the time. It still happens but much more rarely now.

If you have even a passing concern about the way your Skyactiv Mazda transmission is behaving, this is a very easy step you can try first. The channel is filled with a lot of information and is also worth watching.