Can someone explain my 09 standard auto trans?

[Dushibagels]

Hello, Can someone explain my 09 vibe gt standard auto 5speed trans to me. Or link a link of another post. I understand the basics of it all, but what I don't like or understand is the car downshifts when I don't downshift and the readout on the dash doesn't tell the actual gear I am in, just the highest gear that I was in.I don't like this. Is there any GM computer updates I can get to fix this?I guess I am ok with the downshifting whenever it wants, but at least tell me what gear I am in so I don't have to guess like my motorcycle .Here is an example. I take off in 1st, shift to second then to third. Now I want to pass someone. My RPM's in third are high enuff to go around them at a nice pace, but the car downshifts to second (or so I think cuz nothing tells me it did) so I stay on the gas and the rpm's near redline. The car says it is in 3rd gear but clearly it is in 2nd. I want to bump the shifter up one to go to the next gear but I don't and let the trans shift on it's own to 3rd. I know there has to be a bunch of safety idiot proof programming, but it seems excessive.IMO it is easier to drive a real manual transmission then this standard auto trans. Don't get me wrong, love the car and auto portion of the trans is good enuff for me.Please excuse spellings. Thanks for the help.

[star_deceiver]

Quote, originally posted by Dushibagels »I understand the basics of it all, but what I don't like or understand is the car downshifts when I don't downshift and the readout on the dash doesn't tell the actual gear I am in, just the highest gear that I was in.It's actually a top gear limiter with aggressive shift points.... nothing more A useless setup IMO and just another reason to do it right and buy a stickshift!

[trask]

I agree with you this is one feature on the vibe that bothers me with the sport shift, the gear indicator does not show the actual gear you are in when you tap it over to sport mode at a stop light, or start out in sport mode it will always show 4th gear on the readout unless you physically tap it down even though the transmission is already in first gear. The transmission will then treat the sport mode as if it were a regular automatic transmission minus the 5th gear. I have never heard of a fix, or correction to this, some say its a safety thing but I think it`s kind of confusing. This has been discussed here before but I can`t find the thread.

[vit]

I don't realy care for that "semi auto" option. If I wanted a manual trans, I would have bought one. Our 2011 Outback has the paddle shifters, works a little better, but still pretty useless to me.

[Dushibagels]

Thanks for the info. So what I get from this is, if I put it into standard mode and put it in 4th or 5th and leave it there, it will actually drive in a "sport" mode like with different shift points?And yes I know I should have just bought a manual, but the gf drives it 95% of the time and she doesn't care either way, and I got such a good deal on it, couldnt pass it up. I generally shy away from an auto trans in a 4banger due to the power loss vs a stick. I know this isn't always the case. But when I test drove the car it had enough for power for me.

[vibenvy]

I've played around with it a few times and don't really care for it. Something to keep in mind is that using the shiftable mode nets lower gas mileage compared to leaving it in Drive. I always just leave mine in Drive.

[trask]

Quote, originally posted by J_TO_ENVY »I've played around with it a few times and don't really care for it. Something to keep in mind is that using the shiftable mode nets lower gas mileage compared to leaving it in Drive. I always just leave mine in Drive.Same here, I don`t care for it . I may use it in real slow traffic or coming down a hill just to keep from braking to much.

[Kincaid]

When I'm driving a stick shift I sense when I need to shift. I know that is normal, but what is strange is that both times when I've driven a manumatic, I'll suddenly realize that I'm going 4,000 rpm in second gear. I don't know why I can't sense that it's time to shift.