Auto Trans in the mountains

To the OP, I see you're in Northern California so you may be familiar with these roads I drove the last few days. And, I realize you are talking mostly about the 3rd/4th gearing gap and how it matches (or doesnt) the engine powerband at certain RPM's and throttle openings on grades, rather than shift programming. I have a 2016 with the trans TSB update. Anyway, I drove from Santa Cruz to Bridgeport in the Eastern Sierra over Sonora Pass (108), up into the White Mountains up Silver Canyon (6400 feet climb, from 4000' to over 10K in about 10 miles), down Wyman Canyon to Hwy 168, back over Westgard pass to Bishop, did some more wheeling west of Bishop, then came home to Santa Cruz through Yosemite over Tioga Pass (9900'). About 800 miles, averaged 23 mpg, and this included about 50 miles in 4wd of which maybe 10-12 in 4 Lo, and all miles with A/C on. The only place where the 3/4 gap got annoying was going up Sherwin Grade on Hwy 395 north of Bishop where it need 3rd to pull 65 ... this is a pretty steep grade, and my old 3.4V6 also needed 3rd and made a lot more noise and sucked a lot more gas (I have driven, but never owned a 4.0). All other grades, and there were many, were handled in D with ECT, or occasionally S mode 3/4/5. Long-winded answer, but as I think you may realize, the gearing and torque curve aren't going to be fixed with Shift Sense; after 36K miles I have to say I get annoyed with the shifting about once or twice every long trip, but appreciate the usually smooth shifting and decent mpg the rest of the time. By the way, in 4 Lo with MTS set to Loose Rock or Rock/Dirt I found throttle response and controllability very good. Maybe nannies are OK

 

Yeah but then you have to deal with the poor reverse gear ratio, notchy shifting, getting stuck in 3rd, squeaking clutch, etc.

 

I never tow anything huge so reverse has never been a problem lol, shifting is amazing in my truck & my brothers who has the exact same truck, never had any gear stick at all, and neither of us have had squeaking clutches lol. I just think Auto trans are literally the devil & should all be burned...

 

Having had a 4 banger 4 speed, it won't do half as much as the v6 auto.
You must be dreaming if you think you can climb a hill in 4th gear at 45 or you must have some REALLY tiny hills where you are.
Driving down the alcan, I would be in 3rd going up hills ALL the time. Wide open at 55 and nearly having to go to 2nd. The engine was healthy. It just didnt make enough power.

 

I spent a few weeks in the Grand Teton, Yellowstone and Glacier area last year. Drove up "Going to the Sun" road with cab and bed crammed with gear, two bikes on a hitch rack and an RTT on the rack and averaged over 20 mpg the whole trip, and this was pre-TSB. Never felt a lack of power in that environment. Of course, the traffic and speed limits in the National Parks really help mpg, even at 8000-11000 feet.

 

Oh how I wish my truck could have auto when needed and a stick for real driving. Alas, though, it'll be the auto for my 2018 Taco retirement rig. Multiple ankle and knee injuries and surgeries convinced me of that when I couldn't drive my standard. Ain't gonna get stranded somewhere on the Dempster Highway or Alaska cause I can't shift.

 

Exactly; the 3.5 L "faux Atkinson" engine doe not produce a lot od low-end torque--i.e. is not a truck engine. I have driven four 3rd gens now, two '17s both new (less than 100 miles) and two 16's with 12k and 23k respectively. I would not own one. On my last "test drive" the poor salesman just seized up when I commented as to its lack of low-end grunt...

 

I think my problem is my misunderstanding of proper shift points for successfully using sequential shift. I had it in S3 for much of my trek , following some slow traffic. Appears that I'm not allowing the engine to spin up high enough before pushing it to S4. The "feel right" RPM to push it into S4 wasn't correct, so when it was in S4, after a bit it would decide there's not enough torque to do the job so it kicked down to S3, and bounced back and forth. Following slow traffic was the dance between S3 and S4. I need to just turn up the stereo, put it in S3 and let her sing.

 

The frustrating thing was if I attempted to use ECT, and it was in 3rd going up a grade behind traffic, if I dare let up on the gas for any more than a few seconds to avoid hitting the car in front of me, the truck would shift into a higher gear, 4th or 5th I presume, and that of course isn't going to work if I'm going up the grade and need to catch up and keep going, it just kicks down to 3rd, and the dance begins. Maybe if the trans knew I was at a 10% grade going up, maybe that would help HA

 

Get a Ridgeline. Purrs like a kitten over the steepest and roughest terrain.

 

keep in mind read thw owners manual, for towing in the 3rd gen it says to put it into sport mode 4th gear

 

My Frontier Pro-4x 6mt is great in the mountains, drove 480km on Friday which included 3 passes. Was never yearning for more power, 23.5mpg when I topped up, AC on the whole time. Holds 5th on a grade right down to 70km/h (1750rpm).

I'd love to take a 3.5L AC TRD OR 6mt on the same trip. It's a good test with lots of speed & elevation changes, sharp corners and uneven pavement. They sell immediately here, can't say I want to make a $40,000 gamble.

 

In 2015, Tacoma fans were criticizing the GM twins for their high revving engines, noting how bad high RPMs were for engine wear. Now that the Taco has the same issue, it doesn't seem to be a problem. Let it scream.
High RPMs take a toll. We can hope these motors were designed to handle the high RPMs but we probably won't really know for a few more years. High RPMs take a toll.

 

I live in Colorado and just drove my truck in and out of the mountains. no issues.

 

Is that 23.5 mpg in US gallons or Imperial?

 

Good for you Ron.

 

Ruthless. Haha.

My reverse gear is messed up too? I learn something every day on here.


And the squeak is just a granny shift alarm. It's a designed feature for sure. Haha.

@smitty99 speaking of gear hunting, opening day right around the corner !

 

Dove season opened here Friday. I went out and shot my limit near a local dairy. Dogs had a blast.

 

Bear season open up for us this weekend. Means high vis vest for me on the river, because you know, sasquatch.

 

I have a manual transmission. I rev the piss out of it too. 36k miles.so far so good