user 710812323

Is it normal for your transmission to be in 4th gear when you shift from D to S most of the time? It does it from a stop and up to about 45. I haven't experimented with switching at higher speeds yet.

jdanielca

yes been discussed its normal , i think it might even be in the manual I am not sure, I was wondering the same thing.

ausLX

Yes mine is always in 4th gear when I switch from D to S. But depending on how fast you are going it could be in a higher gear, this is to protect the transmission from damage.
I had a funny thing happen the other day though - I had just left my house and was coasting down a hill with the car in D. But i could feel the engine braking as if it was in a low gear. I switched it over to S and it was in S2, instead of S4 like it usually is, so I had to start flicking through the gears because the revs were increasing.
This has only happened that one time, and I was wondering if it has ever happened to anyone else?

user 710812323

This is just weird. There must be a reason... or not. Every other car I've driven goes into whatever current gear auto was in.

Caflashbob

You can upshift or downshift in S mode which I assume everyone knows already.

user 710812323

​​​​Right. The shifting up and down manually works fine.

I just don't get the logic behind what gear it picks when you make the switch from D to S.

davidcvigi

The gear it shifts into appears to be based on the speed that you are going when you shift into "S." try driving on a 50-70 mph road in "D" and shift into "S" and see if it doesn't show the highest gear. Same with coasting downhill at very low speed - I think that shifting into "S" would cause it to shift into 2 or 3.

user 710812323

It shifts into 4th from a dead stop. I have seen it shift into 5th before, which seemed like the right gear. I've also had it shift into 4th when it should have been probably 5th or even 6th.

ausLX

Can you shift into S mode when you're going 60+ mph? I've always wondered what gear it would be in if I was travelling at 100+ kph

user 710812323

I feel like I did that once and it still went into 4th. If I remember right it dropped into 4th and I quickly upshifted.

Mythicalni

I noticed when I'm coasting down a hill and put a FIRM tap on the brakes it will hang gears to slow the vehicle. Your experience is almost like you had cruise control ON and of course we all know if your going down a hill on cruise the car will drop gears to stay "close" to your set speed. Or, Maybe it's time to change tranny and diff. Fluid?

user 710812323

I think that's a kickdown function. I noticed it recently too.

SW17LS

When you move over into "S" at highway speeds it will go into 6th gear. 7th and 8th are overdrive gears.

I do this routinely when traveling in the mountains to downshift for engine braking.

LuvmyLS

The LS manual mode does not give you direct control of the transmission like it does in most cars. Think of manual mode on an LS more as a gear limiter. When you are stopped and put it in manual, It defaults to 4th. the highest gear it will go in is 4th, that’s why the 4 appears. Once you get up to speed and you’re in 4th, it will not go to 5th (or higher) until you shift. At this point you sort of have direct control. If you quickly put it in 8th, it won’t keep up (because it’s a shift limiter, not direct control).

the manual feature is odd, but it does work well with our lazy transmission when you want to pounce on the gas. Kick it to manual just before you go to pass someone and the trans will respond much more quickly. On twisty mountain roads, I use it in 6th instead of letting the trans go to 8th as you ease up around corners.

user 710812323

I use it in traffic jams too. Setting to 2nd or 3rd if traffic keeps stopping up and slowing down. Seems to hunt around less then.