How does the "S" mode work in automatics?

Must be a Canadian thing.

 

No we have our own assholes down here that do the same.

 

Feel free to post empirical data.

 

Just my the seat of the pants experience with the truck tells me so.

 

Yeah. They should make it like that. But then they can have it so you can't do something stupid and ruin the transmission.

 

My experience has been opposite. In manual mode most automatics simply hold the gear you select and display that gear in the dash and the auto doesn't shift between gears on its own like it does in the Tacoma. Some will hold the gear and simply bounce off the rev limiter and some will upshift on their own depends what type of vehicle it is. Similar on the way down, they hold gears quite long until you basically come to a stop where it will shift to 1, but it will display that on the dash, again unlike what the Tacoma does.

All of this really doesn't matter in the truck class I guess at the end of the day. But would be nice to have a bit more control over what the gears are doing at the same time.

 

Totally wrong, respectfully. Now auto holds gears. If it did, it would stall when you approached a stop sign. You misunderstand how they work.

The selected gear is the upper limit, but all gears below the selected are always available to get the car or truck moving again, in all automatic transmission.

 

An auto won't stall when it comes to a stop sign even if in a high gear. The convertor will still allow the car to idle. May be a bitch to get moving again but it will.

Also a lot of automatics allow you to put a car in 2nd and it will start in 2nd gear. This is helpful in low traction conditions like snow.

 

I always had 4 speed american muscle cars. My 66 gto with a transplanted super duty dual quad 421 would smoke the tires endlessly in 4th gear from a stop till i installed larger tires.

 

I currently own another brand that behaves like this. I've had a few cars in the past that acted like that too. They will hold on to gears on the way down and you can see the rpm go way down, just above idle. Yes when you stop it will shift to 1 on its own.

All I was trying to point out is anyone coming from a non truck segment for example, that has a S (sport mode)/paddles will be used to shifting gears and their vehicle actually being in the gear they select, that gear will be held for a while, whereas the Tacoma's S mode is a limiter that doesn't hold any specific gear unless you select S1.

 

Most i ever used was S3 when towing my boat down a steep hill. I can see much use for S1, or S2.

 

I used S1/S2 whilest doing slower offroading. My truck sometimes decides to just hang around in 3rd and 4th at 15mph in 4 low, id rather it just stay in 1st and second and let me rev it out a little.

 

So what happens when I'm driving 80 down the highway with the truck in D, and the trans is in 6th, then my dog bumps the handle into S4? Will it shift down to 4 and redline the engine?

 

I know the AWR6B45(Aisin designation for the AC60) in the Isuzu has 2nd gear start control via the manual shift.

 

goes to S5 not S4

 

Holy Crap! Really? Never knew this... I always find myself downshifting at somepoint towards a light and then when going on green forgetting to upshift till revs are high... but maybe that's in my kia I'm only remembering... hummm yeah, not happy on gear selection either... seems like I'm always wanting to put her into an overdrive when coasting down our hill... i should start just putting it in neutral... up and down a 1K ft. hill every day... sucking up my gas at like 8 mpg... do i still love my taco, yes, would I buy something else, no, but needs major overhaul... and I whine a lot... ;o)

 

Because s6 drives differently than in drive. There’s no t learning in s mode . It drives like when your taco was new before the transmission adapts to the way you drive.

 

I drive like everyone here too. In D mode then switch slide it to 4 when ready to pass and up to 5 or six whenever needed then back to D.
When going up hill I leave my foot on the gas pedal and use the S mode to downshift which gives me more torque to climb up then back to D when on top and vice versa going down hill using the engine to slow me down a bit with the help of the brake. I think this is normal driving to me.

 

Idk, but i have dropped it into S4 from 60 mph when entering a steep hill, only saw 2500 rpm or so on the tach.

 

What the hell is this S6? My truck only goes to S5. If you want 6th gear, just put in the drive mode. Mine always stays there when i'm going 65-75 mph on the roads here. I don't see a need ever for S6. Even when i tow my boat in S5 and come to a steep grade, the transmission will automatically sense it, and downshift to 4th gear. Its basically the same with the drive mode.