Shift Pattern Surprise

[mrmagoo69]

Pulling out onto a highway I needed to get up to speed fast. Tachometer showed 3500 rpm when shifting to the next gear with moderate throttle position. After reaching what I believe was 6th or 7th gear I let up on the throttle and the transmission down shifted and caused rpm's to hit 5000 rpm before up shifting. So my question is why would the transmission down shift after moderate acceleration?

Sponsored

 

[Cancunbadlands]

Many modern automatic transmissions (especially 7, 8, or 10-speed units) have "lift-off" logic. When you are accelerating hard and suddenly let go of the throttle, the computer thinks, "The driver is backing off for a turn or traffic, but they’ll want to accelerate again soon." Instead of upshifting to a high cruising gear (which would make the car feel sluggish if you stepped on it again), it downshifts or holds a lower gear to keep the engine in its "power band."

 

[mrmagoo69]

Thank you for the explanation. Drove my 99 Ranger for 17 years with the 4 cyl mitsu 5 spd combination and I miss thinking for myself while driving.

Sponsored