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9-speed PM Transmission Review / Update?

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#102 ·
Hi,
I have new 2024 PM, I have found that I can get it into 9th gear if I am going level or downhill and manually put it into 9th gear. The RPM going 65-70 will drop below 2,000 (1,800ish). I am getting 20 MPG on level ground. Uphill just a little and drops to 16, steep hills 6 to 8, but my van is 8,500 lb. But going back down the hill in 9th I get 48 MPG. So I have been very happy, I do mostly free driving. Getting 18 to 20 MPG in something 8,500 lb is great. Shifting is so smooth, it is like having continuously variable transmission.
 
#103 ·
DJS said:
Hi,
I have new 2024 PM, I have found that I can get it into 9th gear if I am going level or downhill and manually put it into 9th gear. The RPM going 65-70 will drop below 2,000 (1,800ish). I am getting 20 MPG on level ground. Uphill just a little and drops to 16, steep hills 6 to 8, but my van is 8,500 lb. But going back down the hill in 9th I get 48 MPG. So I have been very happy, I do mostly free driving. Getting 18 to 20 MPG in something 8,500 lb is great. Shifting is so smooth, it is like having continuously variable transmission.
Click to expand...
What I would pay to see a video of this. Showing Speed, rpm, and the shift into 8th or 9th. I really can’t believe that one van would be different.
 
#105 ·
DJS said:
Hi,
I have new 2024 PM, I have found that I can get it into 9th gear if I am going level or downhill and manually put it into 9th gear. The RPM going 65-70 will drop below 2,000 (1,800ish). I am getting 20 MPG on level ground. Uphill just a little and drops to 16, steep hills 6 to 8, but my van is 8,500 lb. But going back down the hill in 9th I get 48 MPG. So I have been very happy, I do mostly free driving. Getting 18 to 20 MPG in something 8,500 lb is great. Shifting is so smooth, it is like having continuously variable transmission.
Click to expand...
I know you think you got above 7th, but given the previous discussion in this thread, you can understand why we might doubt you actually did.

How did you "manually put it into 9th gear", and how do you know it was actually in 9th? If the 9-spd is anything like the 6-spd in my 2017, what we sometimes call "manual mode" is actually called "Electronic Range Select (ERS)" in my owners manual. All that does is restrict/cap the upper end of the gear range. The transmission is still fully automatic below the selected "top gear". I can force an early downshift, or prevent further upshifts, but I can't force it into a higher gear than it would normally use under those conditions. Plus, the dash display does not tell me what gear I am actually in at any given moment. Check your manual for "Electronic Range Select (ERS)".
 
#106 ·
SteveSS said:
I know you think you got above 7th, but given the previous discussion in this thread, you can understand why we might doubt you actually did.

How did you "manually put it into 9th gear", and how do you know it was actually in 9th? If the 9-spd is anything like the 6-spd in my 2017, what we sometimes call "manual mode" is actually called "Electronic Range Select (ERS)" in my owners manual. All that does is restrict/cap the upper end of the gear range. The transmission is still fully automatic below the selected "top gear". I can force an early downshift, or prevent further upshifts, but I can't force it into a higher gear than it would normally use under those conditions. Plus, the dash display does not tell me what gear I am actually in at any given moment. Check your manual for "Electronic Range Select (ERS)".
Click to expand...
Just more reasons why I would prefer a Manual Transmission in my Promaster 😁 ;

 
#108 ·
RV8R said:
Just more reasons why I would prefer a Manual Transmission in my Promaster 😁 ;

Click to expand...
Yeah me too; I've always liked driving stick. But I also don't think the way the PM automatic functions is a bad thing. Upshifting a manual transmission before conditions (rpm & speed) support it is never a good thing either. I like ERS mode; I use it a lot. But it's also nothing special or unique. It's really no different from how the PRND21 worked in automatics since I was kid. Putting it 2 just caps the top gear at 2. But it will still start out in 1 before shifting itself into 2. And "manually" shifting from 2 to D won't force it to upshift before it wants to normally.

I was taught to put the PRND21 in R for race, and stomp down on the go-fast pedal. ;)
 
#109 ·
My '23 will merrily display 8th and 9th gear manual mode but at that point no RPM or sound / vibration changes noticed, feels like a PlaySkool kiddy seat toy...

Someone with a good OBD unit & graphing probably already has disproven 8th & 9th but maybe a new condition has been met and our poster ^^ has it happening, be neat to see live data snapshot...
 
#112 ·
Just got a 2023 with a Safari Condo RV buildout, and it weighs 8200 lbs with full tanks and two people. Traded in my 2020 Promaster Zion which weighed about the same and had the 6-speed.

The 2020 had a noisy (flared) downshift on any slight upgrade on the Highway at 100kmh (60ish), went from 1500 rpm in 6th to 3000 or 3500, and then dragged back down to 2500

The new one rarely shifts on slight upgrades, but in 7th it runs closer to 2000 rpm at that speed.

All I can say is so far I like this new transmission a LOT better.
 
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