I like the manual shift setting of my automitic transmission in my 05, however I am interested to know how it is going to perform when going over large hills and mountains. (I live in the flat praries of Kansas and have yet to get it out of state)

 

Usual inclination when going up or down hill would be to throw the transmission into 3rd. However with the manual shift, I don't know how long it will hold that gear until the automatic takes over again and shifts into 4th. Is it going to be the same problem going downhill as well?

 

When flipping through the manual, I was expecting to see directions on driving in third gear when going up hill. Instead, it tells me to careful adjust accelerator position so the transmission doesn't constantly switch between 3rd and 4th :-\ - not the elegant solution I was looking for. Downhill I haven't found any information in the manual yet.

 

What experiences have you all had?

 

(I was excited to get rid of the "2" and "3" positions of a traditional automatic for the sport/manual shift of this automatic, but now this scenario has me wondering.)

The tranny stays in third gear, or any manually selected gear, UNTIL you slow to a stop. In fact, the tranny ALWAYS shifts down into first as you come to a near/full stop and stays there until you manually take it back on up.

 

Revved the crap out of mine in stop-and-go traffic one day because I thought it was still in second - uh-uh. It had shifted into first. I sure miss the old '98.

 

Juan

I'm actually wondering about it auto shifting to 4th when picking up speed downhill.

In "3", it'll function the same as when in "4" (fully automatic), except that it won't go into 4th or lockup, up or downhill.

 

 

"2" on the other hand will start in 2nd and stay in second.

I know the auto will override the shifter if you redline the engine in 1st, it will go into 2nd at that point. So I would think you need a WOT to have it override the shifter. It should stay in 3rd going down hill no matter what, otherwise there could be saftey issues.