I took a test drive yesterday. Easy to drive. Decent handling for a big van. tight turn radius. Cockpit ergos leave something to be desired. I'm 5-10 and when I put the seat in a position that felt right for the steering wheel my legs were a little cramped.
My biggest gripe is the auto tranny. I dislike automatics, but I was hoping this would have some sort of manumatic type operation and be acceptable. It looks like it does with the -/+D shifter, but I found that when I tried to shift + it indicated that it was in a higher gear but I could tell by the RPM that it didn't shift. I like to keep it in as high of a gear as possible for the best fuell economy (no, I don't lug the engine). It wasn't just keeping me from lugging the engine, it definitely could have been shifted down a gear, but it kept me in a gear just in case I needed more power than I thought I needed.
The other thing it did that I didn't like was an automatic downshift when I was going downhill. I was coasting, in drive, downhill at a speed I liked, could have been faster, when it decided I needed more engine braking and shifted down a gear. Very annoying. It seemed like I could give it a little gas and then let off and we were happy again, but I'm not sure I could be happy long term with this tranny.
I think it's going to be tough to maximize fuel economy with this transmission. That alone might make the diesel option, or a Ford more attractive.
Is this tranny used in any other Ram trucks?
My biggest gripe is the auto tranny. I dislike automatics, but I was hoping this would have some sort of manumatic type operation and be acceptable. It looks like it does with the -/+D shifter, but I found that when I tried to shift + it indicated that it was in a higher gear but I could tell by the RPM that it didn't shift. I like to keep it in as high of a gear as possible for the best fuell economy (no, I don't lug the engine). It wasn't just keeping me from lugging the engine, it definitely could have been shifted down a gear, but it kept me in a gear just in case I needed more power than I thought I needed.
The other thing it did that I didn't like was an automatic downshift when I was going downhill. I was coasting, in drive, downhill at a speed I liked, could have been faster, when it decided I needed more engine braking and shifted down a gear. Very annoying. It seemed like I could give it a little gas and then let off and we were happy again, but I'm not sure I could be happy long term with this tranny.
I think it's going to be tough to maximize fuel economy with this transmission. That alone might make the diesel option, or a Ford more attractive.
Is this tranny used in any other Ram trucks?