Transmission Mode for best day to day driving.

[Trailfirst]

Just thought I'd share MY experience with one aspect of the AWD transmission modes in the KL - I'm not after a debate - I KNOW what works best FOR ME - and am just offering that info so that that people can try it themselves and perhaps enhance THEIR experience driving their KL too. For us this has MADE our KL into everything we expected of it - very much like we've had the initial joy of buying our KL happen all over again!!!.

This might even be something EVERY other KL owner alredy knows!! - but as Snow isn't a common thing on our minds or in our Aussie environment I can't help wondering if at least some are missing out on something wonderful thru automatically ignoring Snow mode - please read on:

Overall I figured from the outset that "Snow" mode was basically N/A forever for our TH (we're in North and North / West Qld) - with "Mud / Sand" and "Rock" being for offroad use - to be tried when we eventually do the offroad thing - and "Sport" prolly likely a bit hard on the equipment before it's had a decent break in period (revs constantly being up around 4000 scared me off sport when I initially tried it).

SO - after having driven our Trailhawk for close to 1400km from new just leaving it in "Auto" mode and putting up with the bogging down after snappy takeoff and having to mash the pedal and wait for it to wake up to accelerate once moving, and sometimes klunky shifts etc., I got curious and decided to try "Snow" mode.

WELL!! - compared to the wierdness of Auto mode, Snow mode makes the KL into a pleasant, responsive, NORMAL AND PREDICTABLE driving experience!!!. It's plently lively - WHEN you want it to be and the WAY you want it to be!

It makes the KL behave like any decent powerful automatic car.

Try it - decide for yourself

[lujabe]

I'll have to give it a try... In auto mode it definitely wants to grab the highest gear possible ASAP..Holding gears too long used to annoy me, but it doesn't seem such an issue any more, so maybe I've just learned to anticipate the tranny's behaviour or something... Sport mode seems pretty - basic - as you noted it just wants to hold RPM about 1000+rpm higher than necessary even after you've eased off the throttle. I think I've used it twice and switched back to auto within a couple of minutes...

The only thing worth mentioning about snow mode - I read somewhere that it won't shift any higher than 6th gear in snow mode - have you noticed it working that way?

[Trailfirst]

Hi lujabe - absolutely give it a go - as you're probably aware, according to the manual Snow makes for 60/40 front/rear drive - which when you think about it is a pretty smart way to have it balanced in general - ie. good traits of both front and rear drive with the bias to stability and control of front without the full on torque steer etc. (I simply can't manage a 90 degree accelerating turn from standstill in Auto without wandering about a bit! ). For a start the steering is slightly lighter in Snow than Auto which is nice.

The biggest thing right off is that the initial "snap" off the line isn't as sharp in Snow mode as Auto (2nd gear takeoff?) - but don't be put off - she'll still wind up very handily - you just need a little more pedal.

I think that perhaps the ECU learns each mode? - so very likely you've gotten improvement in Auto mode as that's happened. I didn't actually do much town driving during the first 1200km - which was a cross country run from Cairns to Mt Isa - then we discovered the awesomeness of Snow mode within the first couple of days in Isa - so I guess really didn't give Auto mode much chance to develop town learning - but it sounds like you've suffered the same basic Auto mode "eccentricities" that were annoying us - so will very likely love what Snow mode does for you!. Big warning tho - once you've been using Snow mode for a while, if you ever forget to set it and for example travel a short distance from startup to an intersection without realising and then try to join traffic etc. then you might end up hung out by the sudden lack of predictable behaviour. I made a wally of myself on Saturday coming off the front line of 2 lane traffic lights because I did exactly that Nothing dangerous or even close call, but I ended up with lots of revving and gear changing to get the job done and there was no smoothness or grace in it - vs the seamless NORMAL BEHAVIOUR and smooth performance that Snow mode gives you...

As far as the 6th gear thing - good point! I have to admit that we actually haven't done much highway cruising since making Snow mode our standard setting... We did cruise for about 45 minutes out on the open highway during my wife's first intro drive tho, and I don't recall it feeling strange. When I drove across from Cairns (in Auto mode) I found myself manually selecting I think 5th in 80 zones, 6th in 100 zones and 7th in 110 zones - to keep the revs at about 2300 or so - which seemed a nice sweet spot for the engine and stopped the trans shuttling about (1300 is just too low unless the road is flat or downhill!). If the limit is 6th then yeah - cruising in 110 zone (ie. between 110 and maybe 118 ) might need the use of Auto so you can use 7th.

At the Cardwell Range (about a km of steady and fairly steep uphill grade) I was travelling in the wee hours so was cruise control set to just over 80 (wary of wildlife) - with 5th top selected - and it didn't kick down until just short of the very top - where it kicked down for just a few seconds.

Technically too using Snow - ie. constant AWD - will use more fuel - tho from what I've read, there shouldn't be a huge increase in consumption.

[lujabe]

Just thought I'd give you a follow-up on this - I mentioned when I had mine serviced last week that some of the shift behaviour seemed not quite what it should be - I specifically mentioned 1-2-3 upshifts were more noticeable than I'd normally expect in a modern auto, and that the occasional downshift was way too harsh/abrupt. They reflashed the transmission software to a more recent version, and it's changed the behaviour - the 1-2-3 upshifts are smoothed out, and the downshifting behaviour is much better - it doesn't try quite so hard to hang on to a higher gear now, just downshifts smoothly and gets on with what you asked it to do...

I'm much happier with it's behaviour now - so might be something for you to keep in mind (I don't get the impression that they'll actually do the reflash to update software unless the customer specifically raises an issue).

[Trailfirst]

Thanks lujabe!! - I'll raise it with the dealership when ours goes in for its service.