Thanks for the reply.

I can't say if it has always done it, we inherited the car from my father in law after he passed three years ago and it has done it since the first time we drove the vehicle, we don't know if it was the same way since new or if it developed along the way.

Up here in NJ spring hasn't really sprung yet so my wrenching weather hasn't coincided with my time off of work but once I can work on the vehicle I will have a closer look. FWIW the pedal travel doesn't feel jerky, like any linkage is binding or anything, it feels smooth as silk, so that's why I was thinking something with TPS, then again my father in law, may he rest in peace, was an avid user of STP and any other treatment that you could pour into a car'a gas tank and he may very well have installed some gadget or other that messed with the ECU and the throttle mapping (for mileage, performance, etc) but I have no easy way of checking this.

I appreciate your help

 

My wife has this exact problem. I'm happy to finally find some people with the same problem. I tune GM vehicles as a side gig using HPTuners so I understand the drive by wire systems. I'm almost 100% sure that this is either a throttle pedal signal or throttle position sensor issue. A gm car or truck would go into reduced power mode over something like this. Unfortunately, I can't hook up to it with my software to try to figure out what's going on. I will try removing the throttle body and cleaning it to see if that changes anything.

I noticed another thing that may be related. If you're sitting still at idle and turn the steering wheel back and forth the engine revs to compensate for the extra load but it over compensates. If your foot isn't on the brake it'll accelerate.

 

Any Update ?
I am facing the same problem with my CX-7 2.5L. The throttle is too sensitive, especially when I start from a complete stop. I tried a couple of things
- Disconnect the battery and ground the terminal, wait for a minute a start driving again :- This thing does the trick, makes the car work well for a day or two. After that it starts jerking again during acceleration.
- Cleaned everything (Filters + Throttle Body) - No change in the performance, same issue continued
- Initially thought it was a transmission issue - Added seafoam and replaced the transmission fluid, same problem continued

I suspect it is either the throttle position sensor, the pedal controller or the mass flow sensor. Any thoughts on how to solve this ? I really like the car, the only reason I would let it go would be this.

 

My daughter is inheriting my 2010 CX-7 I have always had this issue and joked that it was the zoom zoom part of Mazda but she is hesitant to take her driving test in it due to the very temperamental gas. if you do not hit the gas very gently when first taking off from a stop it will jolt forward. Has anyone else every figured out what is causing this issue?

 

Welcome to the forum
Its not a "cause" it is how the ECU was programed to the drive-by wire what you know as the throttle peddle. There is nothing you can do for under 300 dollars. You would need a drive by wire adapter or an ECU interaction to change the mapping