Question for 2016 V6 AT owners: does shifting "improve" with mileage?

This is my first automatic in *years*. 2016 AC TRD OR automatic. Drove from Santa Cruz to Pismo Beach and back this weekend. I'm only at 650 miles at this point, so I was driving like a granny (cruise pegged at 65 to 68).

There is a lot of rolling hills up and back, down, it felt like it was favoring keeping RPMs low (12-1500), returning it was favoring the 1800-2k range.

I doubt it was "learning" but the difference was noted.

Milage was hard to determine due to some around town slo miles, but maybe 20.7 +/- .2.

 

Basically with ECT turned off, the transmission is up shifting as soon as possible causing the truck to be in a higher gear than most likely desired, thus the lackluster throttle response. With ECT turned on, the transmission is allowing more RPM prior to shifting allowing the truck to be in more of the power/Torque band. Basically ECT on is more like we would expect a auto transmission to shift. With it of then we have the more gutless lackluster throttle response. Toyota probably brought ECT back because they knew we would hate the newer Auto tranny shift points.

In many standard transmission you will see an indicator light when to shift which is way too soon, of course we wait until it feels better to shift.

 

I have noticed a considerable difference between behavior at 150 miles and 1150 miles - at 150, the small hills along US60 east of I10 in Phoenix caused downshift, and it took a long time for it to realize it could go back to 6th; at 1150 miles, driving Loop 101 West of I17, with similar small hills, there was only one downshift, and as soon as the hill was crested (back to flat) shifted back up to 6th.

 

ECT sounds like tow/haul mode to me. Which I like to use on my current 1/2 ton. This lazy feeling transmission is nothing new to the market, all the half tons act this way. Couple that with deactivating half the cylinders and it's even more sluggish.

 

OP here. I picked up a new 2016 TRD OR DCSB last night. Both the engine and shifting were noticeably "better" than the SR test drive that I described in my original post. I'm not sure what the difference is chalked up to, but the engine made good power under normal driving and the shifting seemed fine.

After 51 miles, all is well.

 

OP here with another update. The AT shifting has improved to the point that it is a non-issue. I just put the transmission in "drive" and go. I don't engage ECT, I rarely use "S" mode. The engine and transmission seem to be working well together. The roads here are pretty hilly, nearly all of my driving is under 65 MPH on back roads and small two lane 55 MPH limited highway. At little more low end torque would be nice, but this engine makes very good power as it's rev'd out.

 

I admit, I felt the same way when I test drove it. It seemed like there was not enough power, and that not much was going on. But....I'd look down, and realize that I was already going 40-50 MPH. I think that (in addition to all the gearing, electronic control, etc) we are so used to feeling what vehicles do, that with this being so smooth, you think nothing is happening, when you are actually accelerating a great deal more than it would seem. Just how it felt to me.

 

Another thing I have noticed, is the pedal travel is more to active similar results on older models. This may be contributing to the lack of power, because we really have to push the pedal down more.

 

I am a little over 4k miles and the engine and transmission have improved. I saw a big difference once I hit roughly 800 miles.

 

Here's my 2 cents, I've got 5900 miles on mine and I've already taken it to the dealer for the tranny( 4x4 3.5L A/T) they reset the tranny via computer and it was way better for a couple days but then it went right back to shifting all the time and staying in 3rd or 4th gear doing 3k+ RPM. Imo the tranny sucks ass and I'm waiting for it to grenade on me. The best advice I have is to run in ECT mode and slap shift, if it feels like shifting for you that is....

 

Mine has been shifting well since the day I took delivery.

 

The overall trend I am seeing is some people tolerate the transmission and some people hate it.

 

me too. huge win for toyota

 

Mine seemed to improve after about 800-1000 miles. It could be that I got used to it, but I do feel like it learned my driving habits after some time and didn't search so much. Doesn't bother me at all anymore. That said, I also have a 2014 Dodge Durango R/T with an 8 speed AT. It searches for the right gear when climbing, but it's noticeably better because the gear ratios are much closer and it has a lot more power...

 

Mine seems to have gotten better in the last 100 miles (around 1600).. I haven't been too easy on it either so I think it's learning my driving habits. If it starts seeking, just stomp on the gas.

 

13K miles and no change in shifting since day one

 

Beginning to think it's a psychological thing. Most people prbably just get used to it.

 

I like to hit the gas so not an issue for me.

I will say with more gears the response time can be a bit slower when needing an extra boost after traveling at a steady speed.

Coming from a 2005 4.7 liter tundra access cab I have been pleasantly surprised. This truck can do everything the 2005 could do, but is majorly updated. No more cord and cassette to hook up my phone.

Cab is much quieter.....

 

Mine's been great since day one. It is different, but I feel like I have gotten to know it and it works fine. If it's not doing what I want, I change what I'm doing. Simple. (Sport mode, pushing the little pedal on the right, etc.)

G.

 

The only thing that mine does that drives me crazy is going from 6 to 4 on just about every hill I hit on the interstate when using the cruise control. If the cruise os not on, it only drops down to 5th and pulls just fine. 4th gear at 80mph is abnoxious!! If it wasnt for that one thing, I'd be 100% happy. Maybe I'll get used to it.