3rd gen engine skip

Would regearing help?

 

Yes it is a feature and I don't like it but gotta live with it unless you change driving habits to always be at higher revs.

 

Same thing happens to me with my automatic. Drives me crazy! I get everything thinks it’s supposed to be normal and just the design of the truck or that we all want to spend money to OV Tune it. But I’ve driven hundreds of vehicles and this is the worst I’ve experienced. The closest thing to it was a 90 Escort and I fixed that by replacing a fouled spark plug.

 

https://youtu.be/6KBiH7Qe8yk To me, it seems like the power is right where I expect/want it.

 

Nature of the beast.

Precisely why the 6AT trucks will downshift to 4th under the same conditions. The engine needs to run at a higher RPM to produce the power required to maintain the speed. What you're feeling with the manual in 6th gear is the engine lugging because it's under too much load and the computer is doing it's best to stop detonation from occuring.

The way I understand it is higher grade & non-ethanol fuel helps as it reduces the pre-ignition when the engine is under load at low rpm.