A10 tranny lugging in 10th - anyone else?

[Houston Kid]

Pretty sure like every other automatic ever to exist with electronic control a quick little stab of the throttle will downshift it and stop the lugging. I have to do it all the time in my POS beater Malibu and its only got 4 gears. If you keep tipping the pedal in slowly its not going to do what you want.

S mode solves the problem I have an 18 base model with the A10.

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[ForYourOwnGood]

S mode solves the problem I have an 18 base model with the A10.

S mode solves a lot of problems :cheers: including boredom.

I only got to drive an A10 briefly on a test drive but I think it will be in my next car when I get ready to trade this one in.

 

[Cobra Jet]

Let’s clarify:

Toggle switch Drive Mode “Sport” solves the problem even better than just throwing the gear lever into “S” mode....

 

[Rash]

Pretty sure like every other automatic ever to exist with electronic control a quick little stab of the throttle will downshift it and stop the lugging. I have to do it all the time in my POS beater Malibu and its only got 4 gears. If you keep tipping the pedal in slowly its not going to do what you want.

It doesn’t, that’s my point. A quick little stab often just makes it shudder. It needs sustained hard pedal, and even with that it will lug briefly before reluctantly and harshly downshifting. I’ve driven automatics all my life - none of
them did this.

Those saying S mode solves the issue - that’s fine as long as the issue is just Ford’s calibration and not a problem with my car. Sounds like a least a couple others have the same issue, so hopefully it’s not just my car.

 

[Rash]

S mode solves the problem I have an 18 base model with the A10.

So are you saying you’ve experienced the same issue?

 

[Lonmon]

The way you describe it is not the same for me. It does not require more then a little extra pedal for it to down shift and it does not harshly downshift either. You may have an issue. I have experienced the lugging/shudder but only briefly. I can gently accelerate out of it or press a little extra pedal for it to down shift, no more then a quarter pedal. This is in normal D. I do not have the drive modes since mine is base but in S it does not allow the rpms to get as low in any gear. Usually when the shudder will occur it is right around 40-45mph and at close to 1k rpm. I bet your problem is a software issue not a mechanical issue. I would use it as a great excuse to get a tune. I'm sure a tuner could help eliminate this issue buy commanding the trans to shift before you reach 1200rpms or so and it would no longer occur.

 

[Hack]

It sounds like the programming of the automatic transmission is set up to eke out that last tenth of a tenth of an mpg. Crummy.

 

[Houston Kid]

So are you saying you’ve experienced the same issue?

Not exactly the same issue but similar. The shifts lag and it stays in a higher gear way longer creating a slow response if in D when pushing the skinny pedal.
If driving on the interstate in D while trying to pass another car, when I push the gas the transmission lags to down shift and the cart putts along. As far as rolling up to red lights or a stop I've not noticed it because I am in S.

Therefore I use S all of the time. I don't have a toggle switch being a base model.

 

[Loki-GT]

3.55 here. No problems except when I put some cheapo supermarket petrol in. The car did not know which gear to choose for about half a mile.

I had the dealer put 93 in mine the night I bought it, they balked saying the car runs fine on '87. My response, they added two more knock sensors on the 2018 after bumping up compression to 12.01 so put in 93 octane and I've been using nothing but ever since.

I also have the 3:55's and during the ride to work today I was watching how easily the car goes up hills even down to 1,100 rpms in 10th gear which seems low but wasn't a problem and the car maintained speed no problem.

Another steeper hill it dropped to 9th for a few seconds and upshifted.

The fact Ford was able to get a 12.0 compression motor to run on swill is amazing however I bet it's also part of why the OP is having an issue, I could be wrong but I would run the 87 out and put in a tank of 93 and drive it for a bit then try a few hills and see how it does then.

 

[itguy08]

The fact Ford was able to get a 12.0 compression motor to run on swill is amazing however I bet it's also part of why the OP is having an issue, I could be wrong but I would run the 87 out and put in a tank of 93 and drive it for a bit then try a few hills and see how it does then.

The Direct Injection is how they get it to do that. Same as how the Ecoboosts all will happily run on 87 day and night. It's pretty cool what they can do with the DI system.

 

[Loki-GT]

It doesn’t, that’s my point. A quick little stab often just makes it shudder. It needs sustained hard pedal, and even with that it will lug briefly before reluctantly and harshly downshifting. I’ve driven automatics all my life - none of
them did this.

Those saying S mode solves the issue - that’s fine as long as the issue is just Ford’s calibration and not a problem with my car. Sounds like a least a couple others have the same issue, so hopefully it’s not just my car.

This tells me that Ford needs to check the programming and possibly reflash.

Before doing so you could disconnect the battery which will start learning fresh, I would also get 93 into the tank. If it still does it after this, time to visit Ford and show them.

 

[Loki-GT]

The Direct Injection is how they get it to do that. Same as how the Ecoboosts all will happily run on 87 day and night. It's pretty cool what they can do with the DI system.

Agreed, friggin amazing. My wife has the 2.0 Fusion which we run 87 in because it's her DD. Last time it was real low on fuel I put a tank of the good stuff in and it was a completely different engine. With 87 you could feel it hold back, it kind of surged during regular acceleration.

With 93 in there, damn car hauls butt, for a 4 door turbo, gas mpg went up almost 2mpg for the tank as well.

 

[c-rizzle]

I'v mentioned this a couple times in other threads, so thought I'd start a dedicated one and try to explain it better. For clarity, I have a 2018 GT Premium, A10, 3.15 gears, non-PP, 87 octane gas (so far).

When in D mode in 10th gear, if I slow down gradually approaching a traffic light, the tranny will stay in tenth all the way down to about 42 mph/1100 rpm or so. No problem with that. The problem comes when trying to accelerate at that speed. So, for instance, if when approaching that light I have slowed down to 44 (still in 10th), and the light turns green, when I give it gas , instead of it either accelerating in 10th or downshifting to 9th, it will hold on to tenth and lug the engine - the car will actually shudder bit. I have to really mash the pedal to get it to downshift, and it doesn't do it easily. This also occurs when going up a hill in 10th - as the car slows down, it lugs instead of downshifting, even with moderate pedal pressure.

This isn't an issue in S mode since the tranny won't go into 10th until a much higher speed.

Anyone else experiencing this? I'm trying to determine if this is just Ford's calibration for the A10 or whether this is a problem with my car.

REALLY? :headbonk:

Problems:

1. 10th gear is like double overdrive, made for fuel conservation
2. 3.15 gears are for fuel economy.
3. You're using 87 octane, so your missing probably 10hp+

Solutions:

1. use S mode, change gears manual, or change to Sport/Track modes if you want it to be more responsive (and come out or not go in to such a high gear)
2. Should have bought a 3.55 gear car
3. use higher octane gas, and the car will feel a little zippier

 

[Hack]

REALLY? :headbonk:

Problems:

1. You're using 87 octane, so your missing probably 10hp+

The guy isn't talking about WOT runs in the 1/4 mile. Use a little logic.

 

[Houston Kid]

I run Shell 93 100% of the time for better or worse.

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