[The_Warlin]

I have test driven a Latitude auto for the second time today, and both times on the interstate, I only had to get to about 68 for it to hit 9th gear. A lot of people have been saying that auto drivers will never hit 9th gear but it was very fast to me.

Also a lot have been worried about the 9-speed being sluggish to shift. This hasn't been a problem either. I would say with stop-and-go traffic that it maybe feels a bit sluggish in the 2nd-4th gear range, but honestly I think it's mostly just the feel of the extra gears changing up and down in quick succession in slow traffic.

Anyway just my two cents on the auto tranny. With any luck, the 9-speed won't see the problems with the Renegade that it did on the Cherokee. Maybe FCA found that sweet spot. We can hope!

 

[PAK325]

It definitely is a factor in the trailhawks. Shorter gearing means you hit 7th around 45 mph.

 

[PAK325]

Just checked today and I hit 9th at 66mph on I74.

 

[raypla]

Anybody try the autoshift/manual feature? My wife's new patriot has and it's very nice, you can manually up shift, to a point, downshift and it works well. I'm curious if it works as good in the Renegade and would like to hear some feedback from those who have driven it.

 

[hatman]

I would love to here about performance up/down steep mountain passes, isn't anything around here except small mountains 3 hours north. Plan on moving back west someday so this would be good info for me.

Thanks



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[NBCGLX]

I'm glad to hear that the gearing in the Renegade (non-TH) seems more reasonable than that found in the Cherokee, where 9th gear is basically only a very high speed cruising gear. Sounds like Jeep had a rethink of the overall gearing in the Renegade that makes the 9-speed much more usable.


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[bwbike]

Anybody try the autoshift/manual feature? . . . I'm curious if it works as good in the Renegade and would like to hear some feedback from those who have driven it.

I drove a Trailhawk today and "played" around with the autostick feature. It works well and shifts promptly. Not Challenger Hellcat 8 speed autostick promptly, but quite adequate for a four cylinder car.

You can start in second gear too which is nice if you're on icy roads.

I tried the Rock Mode with the 20:1 crawl ratio. The 20:1 ratio is just the automatic transmission holding in first gear. You are limited to about 25 mph (engine redline). It doesn't have a reduction transfer case like a Wrangler. But I won't be crawling up any rocky mountainside.

 

[raz-0]

I drove a Trailhawk today and "played" around with the autostick feature. It works well and shifts promptly. Not Challenger Hellcat 8 speed autostick promptly, but quite adequate for a four cylinder car.

You can start in second gear too which is nice if you're on icy roads.

I tried the Rock Mode with the 20:1 crawl ratio. The 20:1 ratio is just the automatic transmission holding in first gear. You are limited to about 25 mph (engine redline). It doesn't have a reduction transfer case like a Wrangler. But I won't be crawling up any rocky mountainside.

My question with that is if the first gear in the 9 speed is skipped during normal operation to put in a gear that gets you the 20:1 ratio, or if they all have the same first gear and the TH will jsut lock it there for you?

I would imagine that with a 20:1 ratio, first gear really wouldn't be used for very long under normal operation.

 

[NBCGLX]

My question with that is if the first gear in the 9 speed is skipped during normal operation to put in a gear that gets you the 20:1 ratio, or if they all have the same first gear and the TH will jsut lock it there for you?



I would imagine that with a 20:1 ratio, first gear really wouldn't be used for very long under normal operation.

The TH uses a different final drive that gives it shorter overall gearing, which permits the 20:1 crawl ratio in 1st gear.


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[Indiana Jones]

The TH uses a different final drive that gives it shorter overall gearing, which permits the 20:1 crawl ratio in 1st gear.


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This.

 

[Ecologyboy]

I would love to here about performance up/down steep mountain passes, isn't anything around here except small mountains 3 hours north. Plan on moving back west someday so this would be good info for me.

Thanks



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I have driven my TH (glacier) three times between Colorado's western slope and Denver, with two passes at 10,000 and 11,000 feet with long, steep (6% or more) grades in places on I-70. In my two previous jeeps (2011 and 2013 Patriot 2.4L 5-speed manuals), I would have to go back and forth between 4th and 5th or just keep it in 4th. The TH's 9-speed is a lot smoother in the shifts, of course, and gives the feeling of a lot more power. In cruise control set at 69 mph, it drops about 3 mph before downshifting slightly and accelerating back up. With CC off and my foot with steady pressure on the pedal, the TH either already knew or has learned to just stay in the same gear in a high-torque range at about 4-4.5K rpm. So much better than constant shifting.


By the way, how do you know what gear it's in. Sometimes at a stoplight, I see a "1" on the digital display with up/down arrows next to it, but it goes away when I start moving and has never shown anything above a "1." Is that supposed to show the gear it's in? If so, it doesn't work.

 

[aardvark]

Anybody try the autoshift/manual feature? My wife's new patriot has and it's very nice, you can manually up shift, to a point, downshift and it works well. I'm curious if it works as good in the Renegade and would like to hear some feedback from those who have driven it.

Yes, I've used the manual mode a few times and it works exactly as expected. I really like it.

 

[aardvark]

I would love to here about performance up/down steep mountain passes, isn't anything around here except small mountains 3 hours north. Plan on moving back west someday so this would be good info for me.

Thanks



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I live in southern california and we have a lot of very steep mountain passes. Slower than highway speeds I think it's fine. I don't exactly love it on the highway on long steep hills, but I'm getting used to it. I have a Trailhawk, for what it's worth.

 

[bwbike]

I've noticed the following.
My Trailhawk won't shift to 9th gear until I am up to about 64 mph. The speed limit is 65 around here on a few highways so I get to use 9th quite often.

Mine always starts in 2nd gear in normal driving. It might quickly shift to 1st if you floor it from a stop, but I only did that a couple times (as part of the break in after 300 miles) and didn't get an exact rpm vs. speed look.

When going up a grade, it will shift to 8th, 7th, or even 6th if it is steep enough and maintain the cruise control speed. It will maintain speed quite well most all the time.

The transmission tends to hold onto a lower gear while climbing a steady grade, almost to the point of a bit too much engine whine. That's easily fixed with a quick bump to the left and backward with the shift handle.

The computer will attempt to rev match while slowing down while the transmission is down shifting. I think the computer is a little over-zealous and slightly over-revs at times. I noticed this more on the 6-5 & 5-4 shifts. It gives the feeling of a slight acceleration. It's not really annoying, it just is. I can see why some might think something is wrong with the transmission. I think it is just the way this transmission is.

Manual mode shifting is fast and smooth unless you are out of range of a certain gear (like going too fast for a low gear or too slow for a higher gear). It is so simple; just a flick to the left. Flick to the right at any time to go back to full auto mode. I sometimes flick to the left just to see what gear the transmission is in sometimes and then flick it back. The actual gear indicator only comes on while in manual mode.

Overall, I like the way the 9 speed works. That says a lot from a guy who likes manual transmissions.

 

[rhicks]

I have driven my TH (glacier) three times between Colorado's western slope and Denver, with two passes at 10,000 and 11,000 feet with long, steep (6% or more) grades in places on I-70. In my two previous jeeps (2011 and 2013 Patriot 2.4L 5-speed manuals), I would have to go back and forth between 4th and 5th or just keep it in 4th. The TH's 9-speed is a lot smoother in the shifts, of course, and gives the feeling of a lot more power. In cruise control set at 69 mph, it drops about 3 mph before downshifting slightly and accelerating back up. With CC off and my foot with steady pressure on the pedal, the TH either already knew or has learned to just stay in the same gear in a high-torque range at about 4-4.5K rpm. So much better than constant shifting.
.

Glad to know the TH can handle the mountains. My test drive was basically between Golden and Genesee on I70 and it handled the short climb at 70+ with no problems but there was just too much traffic to give it a good run. I test drove a couple of other autos and they always want to hunt on that stretch. Coming from a manual to the TH I was surprised there wasn't any gear hunting but to see another confirmation is great.