prophecywhiteis500

Hello everyone,

I wanted to ask this question as it is 1 thing I've noticed with my new 500. Occasionally when I'm coasting to a stop without brakes, the auto transmission will downshift and it has a very noticeable clunkyness or jerkyness to it. I'm just wondering if this is normal?

It feels like an aggressive downshift which has a small jerk, very unsmooth transition. I only feel this when it downshifts at low speeds (approx 5-10 mph) and usually when I'm coasting to a stop and not applying brakes and it's occasionally, like a perfect combination of low gear, rpm and low speed? It's nothing crazy but I can definitely feel it.

Now I know I know this thing should've gotten the 10-speed , but I just want to make sure it's not a brand new transmission that might be acting up.

TGPCanada

There is a long thread on this and pretty much every owner on here has experienced this, and still experiences it. It gets better as the car is worked in, and definitely after the car warms up. I'm at 4,000 miles and still get it, but I don't give it a 2nd thought. Seems to be par for the course.

prophecywhiteis500

ok apologies for the repeat post as I’m very new to the forum. Also good to know it’s par for the course for the 5 hundo as I didn’t feel it on my MY22 350, or if I did it was waaaay less noticeable.

TGPCanada

No worries. I also came from an ultra-smooth, 21 AWD 350 (which is the 6-speed), so it caught me off guard initially as well. But the jerkiness is much better now, and you barely even notice it or acknowledge it after the vehicle has sufficiently warmed up.
But, to your point, this transmission is definitely not as smooth as the 350, or most other automatics.

HJP12

I also experience the transmission shift while coming to a stop on my 2024 but was kind of aware of the issue from reading and watching all the reviews. As long as I know it is normal for this vehicle I can easily live with it and I really do enjoy driving it.

phoenix888

Same I have a 2022 LE, just over 9500 Miles. At 1st, the low speed down shift was extremely noticeable. But just take care to warm your car up prior to driving and as the Tranny/Engine "Break in" it's a non issue. Even when i go to Manual Mode and downshift from 3 to 2 and 2 to 1, it's no longer as jerky as when I 1st bought the car so you'll be fine.

Congrats and Welcome to the FORUM!

Renault

I second this, don't know if it's due to a break in period or the transmission adjusting to driving habits, but I don't experience the jerky downshifts anymore in daily driving

arentz07

Odd. I've got over 9,000 miles on mine, and I still experience it when the car is cold. It gets better when the car has warmed up, but still happens occasionally even when warm.

Benibiker1558

Mine might be a little less harsh warmed up but it's definitely still there all the time. I've learned to expect it and sort of like it. I've noticed it has a lot to do with how hard you brake too. If you slowly smoothly come to a stop it's less noticeable but harder and quicker stops produce a harsher downshift.

macmaster

OP was noticing it when coasting not braking, which is normal.

Stockholm syndrome.

95bat

Are we talking about the jerking or the banging 😂

Benibiker1558

^^^ That really made me laugh out loud !!!

DLPTony

🤭😂😈😜🤣

Hilarious.

RubyV8

Someone else shared this but IMO best way to not experience the downshift friction is driving in manual mode and letting the trans handle the downshift (no manual intervention). Goes 3–>1 like butter

wfibear

Pretty normal, especially with the 5->3 this car seems to like doing in auto mode. The 3->1 can do it too, if you happen to let off the brake right as it's shifting to 1. As others have said, manual mode and letting it downshift automatically at the low RPM threshold works better, since that's a lower RPM shift than auto mode does. The 3->1 does this at least a little bit on the RWD 350s, too, but not nearly as bad or as often. Seems to be somewhat of artifact of how they tune the 8 speed transmissions, but ours on the 2URs are definitely the clunkiest.

Only somewhat related but I wonder if anyone else has noticed occasional shift flare within the first few minutes of driving in colder weather (like sub-40F). According to the IS F guys it's not unusual, maybe even somewhat common, and even on factory ATF fill. Sounds like it has to do with fluid expansion and contraction due to temperature. I hadn't seen anyone mention it for our 500s yet.