Shifting on VUE AWD

[baskerj]

All:

Two questions...when accellerating in my VUE...it does not have a constant accell like my old Grand Am had. It's almost like a smooth jerki-ness. Is this normal?

Second, About 1 in 15...maybe 20 times I brake, it jerks almost as something slipped off. The shop says it is just the transmission downshifting, but I my thoughts are, A) a new car should be able to downshift smoother than that and B) if it was the downshift, wouldn't it happen every time?

Any ideas?

John

[XtremeGrandAm]

I dont think it should do that...but now that you mention it my grand am does that ocasionally.....

[Qlara]

You didn't mention it's a AWD VUE 4-cyl or AWD VUE V6?

If you heard about the new automatic transmission from Saturn VTi, this tranny only mates with 4-cyl (AWD or FWD). The special about this VTi tranny is its step-less shifting capability.

So there'll be no jerkyness since its stepless , maybe you're indeed driving one now.

[OhioVueBoy]

Yea, if its a VTi, it will occasionally jerk and will drive like that. If it is a V6, they sometimes will downshift upon deceleration to offer better acceleration... perhaps it thinks you are heading into a turn or something. However, also one thing that might wierd you out is... assume you are going 35 MPH and stomp it to the floor... the transmission will downshift, and then downshift again.... we have so many people complain about that at work and its totally normal.
~D.J.~

[Qlara]

Originally posted by OhioVueBoy
assume you are going 35 MPH and stomp it to the floor... the transmission will downshift, and then downshift again.... we have so many people complain about that at work and its totally normal.~D.J.~

This kind of behavior exists in all Saturn's Auto tranny. From S-series, L-series to VUE (Not sure if VTi can do this too! ) I don't think it's a problem, and indeed it gives you extra 'Kick' to power up the motor to do Passing quicker.

My guess is that the Auto tranny just being designed to perform sequential step-down to lower gear, thus we feel double downshift and RPM needle to near Redline.......that's fun!

[OhioVueBoy]

But the 5 speed auto in the VUE can do it 1 more time. I had one do a triple downshift getting on the highway once.. it was wierd as hell.
~D.J.~

[Qlara]

Triple downshift?!?! Now I know why people are complaining....

Maybe because the gear ratio is tall for each gear, thus the motor won't over-rev after downshifting 3 times in the same moment?

Cool tranny.....

[OhioVueBoy]

LOL well it wasn't at once.. it was stepped.. like it actually shifted into and out of each gear....
~D.J.~

[robnang]

We just had our '02 AWD, V6 VUE in for a similar sounding problem. It's usually on the (down?) shift. The dealer replaced a "valve". In addition, according to the service tech's discussions with Saturn this is a "normal" condition. The tech also stated they drove several others on the lot and confirmed the same condition.

Can others confirm this?

IMHO, for an SUV built on car platform it's unrefined.

Rob

[OhioVueBoy]

Originally posted by robnang
We just had our '02 AWD, V6 VUE in for a similar sounding problem. It's usually on the (down?) shift. The dealer replaced a "valve". In addition, according to the service tech's discussions with Saturn this is a "normal" condition. The tech also stated they drove several others on the lot and confirmed the same condition.

Can others confirm this?

IMHO, for an SUV built on car platform it's unrefined.

Rob

Drive a tracker, RAV4, and a CR-V and tell me that. Sure, the Honduh might have it beat out in refinement, but hitch a 3500 pound trailer to the back of the Honduh and watch it squirm.
~D.J.~

[L300Boy]

Originally posted by baskerj
All:

Two questions...when accellerating in my VUE...it does not have a constant accell like my old Grand Am had. It's almost like a smooth jerki-ness. Is this normal?

Second, About 1 in 15...maybe 20 times I brake, it jerks almost as something slipped off. The shop says it is just the transmission downshifting, but I my thoughts are, A) a new car should be able to downshift smoother than that and B) if it was the downshift, wouldn't it happen every time?

Any ideas?

John

Slight slip? between applying the break and letting off? in an automatic, that could be the torque converter locking up and unlocking. Assuming your vehicle has nothing wrong with it, of course.

The really cool thing about saturns is the torque converter always likes to lock up. Although it wont stay locked up if you move the gas Letting off the gas or holding it still will reapply the torque converter lockup.

I dont know why it doesnt like engine speed to change while its in lockup, maybe it requires a certain RPM range and doesnt like to be bothered with. ?

[mr weather]

I have noticed the multi-step downshifts on my 5 speed auto Vue. It's really quite a neat experience. I don't mind it at all and my wife could care less (she just likes the V6 power and taller ride height/view).

Another thing I really appreciate is the fifth gear makes for a very quiet highway ride. The engine only turns around 2100 rpm at 110 km/h.

Here's a question: does the transmission "learn" your driving habits and program the shifts accordingly?

[Qlara]

Originally posted by mr weather
Here's a question: does the transmission "learn" your driving habits and program the shifts accordingly?

All Saturn line-up with Auto Tranny has this 'Smart' feature built-in since day one.

[mr weather]

Originally posted by Qlara
All Saturn line-up with Auto Tranny has this 'Smart' feature built-in since day one.

Hmmm.. neat. Any way to "reprogram" it? I'm asking since my wife drives a little less agressive than me and would the two different styles royalling screw up the "Smart" process?

[OhioVueBoy]

Originally posted by Qlara
All Saturn line-up with Auto Tranny has this 'Smart' feature built-in since day one.

Actually, I believe it was only environtment parameter learning until they canned the Normal/Perf. switch, now it is full fuzzy logic, but back then it wasn't... it only learned environmental changes, not the way you drive.
~D.J.~

[radioouman]

No way to lock in parameters that I know of. When I made short trips driving at 35 mph for most of the way, the car shifted differently from the way it does now, since I moved and drive at 45-55 mph for most of my trips. It doesn't take long for the computer to learn how you drive, but it will take a little time.

[L300Boy]

Originally posted by mr weather
Hmmm.. neat. Any way to "reprogram" it? I'm asking since my wife drives a little less agressive than me and would the two different styles royalling screw up the "Smart" process?

Maybe on an S car .... i hear the fuzzy logic can take many ignition cycles to change profiles. Not sure how true this is.

I do know that the L series will change within a matter of a few minutes. The VUE is very similar to the L series so they both are probably the same.

The L300's 4 speed auto can control shift quality using a variable bleed solenoid. The computer has full control over this and can change from very, smooth gradual shift, which increases ride quality but reduces performance to very aggressive, hard shifts, decreases ride quality -- some people dont like jerking, but increases performance.

It watches what you do with the pedal to determine what to do.

Driving along on your sunday drive, you decide to start hotdogging around and smashing the pedal to the metal, it reacts by letting you redline it and changing to **** poor shift quality giving you some nice hard shifts. It does this very quickly.

Now here's the quirk...

Say you are weaving in and out of traffic, flooring the car, downshifting all the time on the freeway. A few miles up the road you run into stop-and-go traffic. Your now pretty much stopped and you move up 5 feet every 30 seconds. Welp, that aggressive shifting profile will stay there for quite a few cycles before it blends it down into a soft shift. Happens to me all the time.

So i guess compared to the S series fuzzy logic, the L's computer doesnt hold grudges for months at a time just because grandma borrowed your car for the weekend. It adapts much more quickly. Same goes for the VUE i bet.

Shift points I havent quite figured out yet. I do know the car will eventually "learn" that a steady 30mph speed limit is not a good time to shift into 4th. It just holds 3rd, turns on the torque converter lock ..... shift points seem to change more gradual than shift quality. The car will always let you take it to redline like a bat out of hell, but other shiftpoints seem to be reliant on how you drove earlier.

[robnang]

Drive a tracker, RAV4, and a CR-V and tell me that. Sure, the Honduh might have it beat out in refinement, but hitch a 3500 pound trailer to the back of the Honduh and watch it squirm.
~D.J.~

I agree the other vehicles mentioned are pick one (too small, too expensive, too cheap.)


Rob
2002 V6 AWD

[radioouman]

VUE's maximum towing capacity with AWD V6 is 2500 lbs. I'm sure that a VUE would squirm with 3500 lbs on it too!!!

[OhioVueBoy]

Originally posted by radioouman
VUE's maximum towing capacity with AWD V6 is 2500 lbs. I'm sure that a VUE would squirm with 3500 lbs on it too!!!

That was a typo... I meant to say 2500 but by the time I realized it I could not edit it. Still... hook my jetski onto the back of a CR-V or a Rav4 and watch it tow, now compare it to my VUE... I will walk all over those imports.
~D.J.~