Solid Engine, Average Transmission - 2015 Jeep Renegade Trailhawk Long-Term Road Test

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Solid Engine, Average Transmission - 2015 Jeep Renegade Trailhawk Long-Term Road Test

Our 2015 Jeep Renegade Trailhawk benefits from having the larger of the model's engines as standard. Too bad its transmission doesn't make the best use of its extra power.

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daryleason

Basically, it's not the transmission itself. It's the programming utilized by Fiat/Chrysler/Jeep to try to boost the fuel economy by forcing it to hold a higher gear or upshift earlier. I'd bet there will soon be aftermarket shift modules to give you more usable torque on the low end by resetting the shift points.

defyant15

^^ Problem is the tranny has questionable (at best untested reliability) and doing the above will void your much needed warranty. This is an issue that should have been done right from the factory and was a key reason I passed on the Cherokee TH.

yellowbal

Isn't the 9-speed packaged in a way that requires two dog clutches? The shifts between 4-5 and 7-8 require that the engine reduce torque until the dog stuff can align.

darthbimmer

It seems like with every automatic transmission using more than 6 forward gears the automakers have sold us a bill of goods. Mated to an engine with a moderately broad powerband, 6 well-spaced gear ratios provide all the range that is necessary for speeds up to and even well beyond any legal limits on public roads. The push to 7, 8, and now 9 gears is a matter of badge engineering and attempting to eke out an incremental few MPG on EPA tests that will rarely be duplicated in real-world driving.

misterfusion

This same transmission is in some Acura and other vehicles (Range Rover?), where it has also reportedly disappointed users. My guess regarding the real issue is that it's about 70% "I'm not used to how this feels, so it must be bad", and 30% "Legitimately needs a reflash".

Personally, I feel that it's more engineering than the application calls for (a good 6-spd would please 99% of users), but for automakers it was the path of least resistance to CAFE compliance. Think of it as skip-shift for automatics -- supposedly saves on gas, while wasting your patience.

kirkhilles1

I think having a smooth transmission is almost more important than a smooth engine. Its tough to enjoy an engine when you get that rough shift.

bankerdanny

daryleason said:

Basically, it's not the transmission itself. It's the programming utilized by Fiat/Chrysler/Jeep to try to boost the fuel economy by forcing it to hold a higher gear or upshift earlier. I'd bet there will soon be aftermarket shift modules to give you more usable torque on the low end by resetting the shift points.

I bet their won't be. Go ahead and do some research and find anyone that sells that sort of thing for any automatic. For whatever reason, nobody offers programming modules for transmissions the way they do for engines. This has become increasingly mystifying to me as transmissions get ever worse about getting to top as quickly as possible and resisting downloads as much as possible. There are quite a few cars where I would leave engine parameters alone but want improved shift manners.

agentorange

The fix for the 9-speed transmission is readily available, it's called a CVT.

allthingshonda

ZF, the company the designs and builds this transmission, stated that 8-speeds is the most gears that an automatic transmission can use without excessive gear hunting. Yet their customers, in an ever increasing need to eek out one more MPG, demanded more gears. Agentorange is right, the answer is a CVT.

Ford will be introducing their new 10-speed transmission for trucks in the new 2017 Raptor. I don't understand the engineering technicals behind it but from what I can understand it will operate as an 8-speed but have different 2 different ratios available for tow/haul mode.

explorerx4

@allthingshonda,
Fords 5 speed trans in my old Explorer. had a different 2nd gear depending on upshift or downshift.
Not sure how that worked.

emajor

agentorange said:

The fix for the 9-speed transmission is readily available, it's called a CVT.

Yep. 9 whole gear ratios and the transmission can't decide which to be in and doesn't want to let you access the lower ones. We have an Altima with a CVT and there is none of that nonsense. It's smooth, isn't hobbled by fixed ratios, and doesn't fight you at all when you want a "downshift".

daryleason

What I think is funny about CVTs is that the car companies talk about it as "new technology" when basically, it's the same concept as what Henry Ford used when he produced the Model T. While it was significantly cruder, the Model T basically had a CVT.