Does auto transmission prevent engine lug?

[alho]

Hi,

I noticed that on the my '10 3, when I go on the highway and reach about 80kph, the car will shift to 5th gear and I'd be revving at around 1500rpm. At this speed the car doesn't seem to accelerate much. When I give it just a little bit more gas to get it to accelerate, the engine starts a low moan.. and sometime it seems like I am lugging the engine.

Is this normal as in the computer is trying to save gas? Or maybe I need to flash the ecu or something? I don't want to be putting too much stress on the engine or tranmission..

I assume the computer should be smart enough to prevent lugging the engine or anything like that?

Thanks

[crono06]

Hm, I've noticed this sometimes on my 2010 as well...

[Skwiggler]

When you give it a little more gas it should pop into 5th passing, so it'll pump up the rev's a little bit, but not as much as if you were to downshift to 4th.

I've accelerated while in 5th, but it was at higher speeds, 110-130, etc. Not any lugging to my ears, its a slow acceleration but then again I'm not flooring it.

[alho]

When you give it a little more gas it should pop into 5th passing, so it'll pump up the rev's a little bit, but not as much as if you were to downshift to 4th.

I've accelerated while in 5th, but it was at higher speeds, 110-130, etc. Not any lugging to my ears, its a slow acceleration but then again I'm not flooring it.

Right.. It's perfectly fine when you are at like 95+ speeds IMO... but its' when it's at 80..75.. that worries me..

[-cj-]

You need to be more aggressive with the accelerator in those situations. It will force the transmission to downshift into 4th...

[alho]

That's what I thought too... but back to the original question: is ATX smart enough to prevent engine lug?

[SonicBoy]

It should be smart enough but I'm sure there's also a parameter calculating fuel economy that keeps it in the higher gear rather than down shifting.

[FlashEngineer]

I thought the trans has the 5th gear with O/D (overdrive)? I notice if I lightly tap the throttle on 5th it has an extra gear, but if you press down a bit to get more acceleration, then it shifts back into 5th. Doesn't happen on 1st to 4th though

[alho]

Hmm I keep hearing this 5th OD/passing gear or something, but I dont seem to ever feel it at all... at 5th and going at 80 , it seems like I need to give it quite a bit of gas for it to downshift so it can accelerate properly or it accelerates reallllllly slow with the engine moaning back to me...

I am in a GX btw..