6 speed transmission questions.
So I came out of the ice age and got a Suburban with the new 6 speed transmission (PRNDM_1). Reading the manual, it seems a little daunting. So how do you use it when towing? And what about steep...
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TomG2 wrote:Tystevens wrote:TomG2 wrote:Hybridhunter wrote:
....snip...... It only limits up-shifting, ........................snip...........
Funny, mine downshifts with a tap. I often anticipate the extra power needed to climb a hill and tap it down a gear to save the transmission from doing it for me half way up the hill.
Of course it does, if you are in a gear above the gear you tapped down into. If you are in 6th, and you select 5, it will force the downshift. But if you are in 4th and you select 5, it probably will not do anything.
Basically, the same as the old 1-2-3-D setup. If you have it in 3, it will shift thru gears 1, 2 and 3, but will not shift into 4th (or od or D or whatever you want to call it). It is simply less cumbersome to have a button to select range rather than have 6 individual positions for the gear shift lever.
The operation is quite different from an auto with true manual shifting capability, such as my Subuaru or the Acura TL we used to have. In my Subaru, if I select 3, it will will stay in 3 unless I let the speed get to where it cannot physically maintain the gear. I can stand on the gas, and it will not downshift. In my '10 Suburban, if I select 3 and step on the gas, it will downshift to whatever gear it needs to respond to my request.
My point is that it does a little more than control upshifting. It will downshift on command. One can use a hundred words to say otherwise, but mine does both, limit upshifting and force downshifting. Both features are nice to have sometimes. I am NOT comparing it to a true manual transmission. Drove plenty of those.
Under 100 words ... your GM transmission does force downshifting and limits upshifting. However, it does not force upshifting or limit downshifting, which a true "manual" control would do. That is the difference.
Word count off -- I find little practical use for a feature that limits downshifting or forces upshifting, especially since my transmission seems to always try to operate in the highest possible gear, anyway. I'd rather the engine operate where it is most efficient, which the computer tends to understand better than I.
