Does anyone have a super smooth A10?

[CrazyHippie]

Hi. My 10R80 went through phases during the learning period when it was new. At first, it shifted inconsistently, searching for the right gear, skipping gears, and occasional harsh shifts (especially in Sport+, Track, etc.)

At about 3000 miles or so, it settled down substantially and is now very smooth and consistent in Normal mode, and snappier but not overly harsh in the upper modes.

My belief is that not only does the trans controller need to learn, so does the driver. Apparently, normal mode behaves it's best (for me) if I drive gently and consistently. This means gentle acceleration and very consistent throttle application. It will absolutely jump if you want it to in Normal, but the smooth consistency is best when driven gently.

I find the opposite in the sport modes - if I'm not firmly into the accelerator, shifting is harsh, but when pushed, it's snappy and predictable.

I may seek street tuning some day but for the time being, it's doing very well.

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[GrayMater22]

Just wondering if anyone has a super smooth a10? Mine is pretty smooth in S but still doesn’t feel super smooth. Has some aggressive shifts that are not like silk for sure.
I understand the potential fixes including trans fluid, resets etc but mine does not seem as bad as others.

Just wondering if anyone has a super smooth A10 or is the nature of the beast simply not smooth even at its best?

Mine is smooth as silk now after my steeda tune, before the tune it was extremely jerky and shifted way to violent in track and drag mode. It was like night and day after the tune.

 

[5550snotamerc]

You need the Forscan software and some sort of OBD2 adapter. There's thread on it, and the positive results prompted me to try it even though the shifting was quite smooth after the other 2 things I did.

I have the odb dongle on the way and installed the software already so I will be working on that when it gets here. How did you top off the tranny? Or even realize it was low? I thought it was semi sealed.

 

[PhillyMike]

Overall not as smooth as either the A7 in my old 2011 G37 or the A8 ZF in my 2015 Dodge Durango.

First 1K miles I'd get some WTF shifts, but since then I get 'normal' but not always smooth shifts.
The only thing that really bugs me now is when I am slowing down and approaching a stop and lift off the throttle without immediately braking, sometimes it UPSHIFTS as I slow down which makes it feel like I'm jerking forward at the wrong time.

Recently took a family friends 11 year-old kid and his grandpa for a spirited ride, the 11-year olds comment was 'Wow you can really feel the shifts when you step on it!'. This was intended as a positive comment. It probably sums up the tuning philosophy at Ford. Make it hard and appeal to the inner child.

 

[Whitest Russian]

I've had a few rebuilds on mine.

I'd say it's fairly smooth now. Only 2 things stand out at this point:

1. During winters hen I first start the car in the morning and drive out out of my driveway, it sometimes feels a little clunky but shifts normally while actually driving. It feels like it's searching for what gear it should use and takes a few seconds to decide? It's a very weird feeling.
2. When I floor it, it still does a hard shift from 4th to 5th.

 

[EFI]

How did you top off the tranny? Or even realize it was low? I thought it was semi sealed.

Check out some of the threads in the transmission forum, there's some discussion around that.

There's a filler neck and dipstick on the side of the case that you would use to fill the pan and measure the level of the fluid.

https://www.mustang6g.com/forums/attachments/10r80-fluid-level-disptick-info-pdf.469336/

 

[DougS550]

Anyone?

My 19 PP1 punches fast and hard, which I totally love from a performance car. But wanting Silky smooth shifting from a performance car? I hope you find what your looking for.

 

[young at heart]

My 19 PP1 punches fast and hard, which I totally love from a performance car. But wanting Silky smooth shifting from a performance car? I hope you find what your looking for.

There‘s of course an obvious reason for that.

A smoother shift is normally achieved thru increasing slippage, which by definition equates to decreased performance. A hard shift = less rpm loss. I first came across this in the late ‘60s with Ace Wilson Pontiac’s Royal Bobcat shift kit for the GM Turbo-Hydramatic. I loved that bang shift then and I still do!

 

[EFI]

But wanting Silky smooth shifting from a performance car? I hope you find what your looking for.

There‘s of course an obvious reason for that.

A smoother shift is normally achieved thru increasing slippage, which by definition equates to decreased performance. A hard shift = less rpm loss.

One would think that with today's sophisticated computers and shift control, a transmission could be tuned to "slip" in normal mode thus creating a smooth shifting unit but then change that to be more firm with less slip in performance mode. This would equate to the best of both worlds, smooth shifting when putting around and brutal fast shifts when racing.

But alas it doesn't seem Ford can do that with its current technology, although if I had to choose only one of the two I would go with the harsher shifting but knowing it's got the best performance...at least in this type of car.

 

[shogun32]

I don't know if there are any Camaro owners here who could chime in but whatever I was reading said the GM implementation was much smoother.

The GM trans is a piece of beauty. The Ford one is a disgusting, rotten turd.
The 2020 F150 tune is MUCH better than the Mustang version. But it still stinks. I had Unleashed Tuning take a crack at it and it got better still.

Aftermarket tune is the only way to really fix. Actually I take that back, 6MT is the only *PROPER* way to fix.

 

[shogun32]

They’re both rough as a cob

I realize if you're out hunting you didn't bring along a roll of Charmin, but geez at least you could use some leaves, as long as it's not sumac or ivy.

 

[DougS550]

One would think that with today's sophisticated computers and shift control, a transmission could be tuned to "slip" in normal mode thus creating a smooth shifting unit but then change that to be more firm with less slip in performance mode. This would equate to the best of both worlds, smooth shifting when putting around and brutal fast shifts when racing.

But alas it doesn't seem Ford can do that with its current technology, although if I had to choose only one of the two I would go with the harsher shifting but knowing it's got the best performance...at least in this type of car.

You might want to contact a tuner and ask if that's plausible to have smooth/slippery shifts in normal mode and then the necessary harder shifts when driving WOT.

 

[EFI]

You might want to contact a tuner and ask if that's plausible to have smooth/slippery shifts in normal mode and then the necessary harder shifts when driving WOT.

I mean, we know it's possible. From knowing the details of the tune parameters available and from first hand experience of many owners getting great results from tunes (myself included).

I was more saying about this coming direct from Ford, you'd think with all their money in R&D they could do that.

 

[bayguy]

If you haven't check out this tsb : https://static.nhtsa.gov/odi/tsbs/2023/MC-10234596-0002.pdf . It helped out a bunch with my rough shifts on my stock tune. Can't say if it will help with a custom tune though, but I do think they are based on whatever shifting strategy you have installed currently.

I think hitting it with a kam reset on a tuning device forces its relearning process and can result in smoother shifts. You have to drive consistently for it to shift smoothly and if you just randomly get on the gas I don't think the a10 is smart enough to accommodate it. I don't know if it is able to learn for different modes either, like having shifter in (s) for example and exclusively driving it aggressively in that mode.

 

[EFI]

I don't know if it is able to learn for different modes either, like having shifter in (s) for example and exclusively driving it aggressively in that mode.

That's correct and that's a problem (and the reason why disabling the learning parameters works so well).

If you drive hard, it will learn you drive hard and make the shifts hash all the time even when you're just putting around. If you drive lightly, it will learn you drive lightly and have weak shifts when you drive hard.

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