mjeds

I had this happen today, I am wondering if anyone else has experienced this.

on my drive to work I have this 6 mile area that is a nice twisty canyon road. the speed on the road is 55mph, with snaking gradual turns with 35mph recommended speed signs. I usually take this road at 75 mph plus and the turns at 55mph plus.. it is a vacant road with only 1 red light at the 2.3 mile mark from where I enter the road, it only changes when a car is on the cross street, which is very rare. typically I never see another car on the road when I drive it, it is canyons on both sides, no homes, no cross streets, nothing..


The road climbs at about 4° for the first 1.7 miles, then levels to the light then from the light on it has a 6° downhill grade.

Typically I use Sport+ mode and manual shifting. Today I was in drive because I was on the phone.

Now I know that the computer "learns" and Sport+ mode in drive does a pretty good job of holding a gear especially in cornering and WOT acceleration, it also seems to be smart enough to hold the gear when you WOT and then back off for a second or two and then WOT again in a straight line, where in Normal mode doing that causes the car to upshift.

anyway, this morning I got caught at the light, when it changed I rolled the throttle, not going WOT immediately until I was past the intersection and the car that had made a left from the cross street. When I finally went WOT the car downshifted from 2 to 1 and held first gear all the way to redline and then would not shift, I backed off the throttle and it stayed in first, I rolled the throttle again and again it went to redline, this time it cut the spark and the car went hurky jerky. but would not shift. I ended up using the paddle to upshift, at which point it took off and the issue went away.

I was in D, I double checked, thinking I had accidently popped it into manual, I had not. the car just would not upshift.

I tried to recreate the issue and couldn't, I did everything I recalled doing as close to the same way and when it hit 7K it upshifted like it is supposed too.

near as I can figure the computer hiccupped, but the experience was a bit annoying, aside from the fact I probably looked like a complete idiot with the car bogging and jerking like a noob that can't shift an clutch, I am also concerned that this behavior could damage something internally, I am no stranger to detonating a motor due to over-rev.. been down that road on old carb's cars with manual transmissions on a 1/4 mile track years ago.

mjeds

sorry that should title should have read:


Sport + mode - hold Gear "issue"?

gs400jon

Was the engine oil at normal temperature?

JCtx

Car automatically upshifts in 1st gear at redline, even in manual and sport+ mode. So definitely an electronic gremlin of some sort. Hopefully it won't do it again. As long as it doesn't do it again, I wouldn't worry too much about it.

mjeds

most definitely, I had already been driving for over an hour and about 30 miles, and made 3 stops. plus outside temp was mid 70s, My normal morning commute:


drive kid to school, pick up co-worker, stop at coffee house, drive to work


total mileage is ~40ish and takes 1.5 hours with all the stops.


yeah I couldn't get it to replicate, so hoping it was a hiccup.

gs400jon

OK. Mine wouldn't manually shift out of 1st in SPORT +, conclusion of the responders is that the transmission fluid wasn't warm enough. The oil pressure indicator was in the first quarter on the gauge.

mjeds

you mean oil temp?


yeah mine was centered, always is by the time I get to this road.

gs400jon

Yup, sorry.

DougHII

Mine did that once when my brother was driving it a while back. Never did it again. It is unsettling. Only once in almost 22,000 miles, but I am also usually in manual mode.

The transmission in automatic, sports + does hold gears in a manner you would hope or expect for spirited track driving. You do want it to hold gears in corners. It also downshifts very abruptly when hitting brakes at speed which you would want on the track.

It happened to my brother while going fairly straight so I don't think it has anything to do with lateral g forces. Some combination of sonething, however, telling it to hold apparently sticks under just the right or wrong combination of factors I suppose. Lol, at the brilliant technical answer.

When it happened, I also became concerned that something was wrong. Never happened again and could not make it happen so I forgot about it until now.

mjeds

Thanks Doug, that sounds like what happened to me.


I guess it figured I was going to do something that required the hold, probably based on my previous spirited driving, and yeah I am usually in Manual mode on this road, and I think I was in manual mode to start prior to getting a call from work and slipping it into auto mode prior to having to stop at the light.