What gear am I in?

[Bruce Olson]

My telluride has only 8000 miles on it and since I’ve owned it I find it sluggish at a certain speed around 25/30 mph in Smart mode. It seems like it’s skipping a gear. Dealer blew me off without even test driving it. Is there any way I can monitor what gear it’s in when it’s in automatic shift mode?

 

[Sal Collaziano]

My telluride has only 8000 miles on it and since I’ve owned it I find it sluggish at a certain speed around 25/30 mph in Smart mode. It seems like it’s skipping a gear. Dealer blew me off without even test driving it. Is there any way I can monitor what gear it’s in when it’s in automatic shift mode?

Welcome. Moving this topic out of the Non-Telluride discussion area and into the technology section where I think you'll get more help. Welcome to the community!

 

[NDBlackEX]

You can flip the shifter into manual and it will show the current gear you are in on the instrument cluster.

The car is designed to get you into the highest gear possible for fuel economy sake. It may skip a gear or two at times once you have completed your acceleration and you settle into a certain speed. If you quickly go back to the accelerator I could see there being a lag after it had just shifted into a higher gear.

Another thing I might suggest is to be aware of where your foot lands on the stupid bottom hinged pedal. I would find it sluggish at times but making sure my foot was higher on the pedal took care of that. A lot of people gripe about the power but I find it to be more than adequate for the type of vehicle. It certainly isn't a slow vehicle and it's actually one of the quicker vehicles in its class.

 

[BubCam]

My 2021 SX-P has plenty of power, I think.
I believe if you want to know what gear you are in, you can move the gear shifter over to the left (manual mode) and it will tell you what gear you are in on the dash between the tach and Speedometer.

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[Cam3n]

Smart mode defaults to economy mode (which gives the lowest acceleration performance) until you drive aggressively and it switches to a more aggressive mode. You can either:

1) switch to another mode like Comfort (which is more balanced) or Sport.

2) Just before you accelerate... press/tap the accelerator all the way to the floor rapidly (down and up in one second) this will not cause you to leap forward, but will signal to the computer to switch you temporarily in to sport mode. Then accelerate normally with more authority for that moment. This works at any speed by the way.

I'm surprised the dealer didn't help you with the above.

 

[Derekm900]

I've had my vehicle one year and I find it's starting to get sluggish too. Especially when doing around 25mph and you try to accelerate. It's a joke. You almost have to press the pedal to the floor but then the engine seems to jump 4 gears like going into overdrive before accelerating. It's not the greatest engine.

 

[Cam3n]

I've had my vehicle one year and I find it's starting to get sluggish too. Especially when doing around 25mph and you try to accelerate. It's a joke. You almost have to press the pedal to the floor but then the engine seems to jump 4 gears like going into overdrive before accelerating. It's not the greatest engine.

To be clear, the engine is fine, it's the transmission control points that are to blame.

 

[NDBlackEX]

I've had my vehicle one year and I find it's starting to get sluggish too. Especially when doing around 25mph and you try to accelerate. It's a joke. You almost have to press the pedal to the floor but then the engine seems to jump 4 gears like going into overdrive before accelerating. It's not the greatest engine.

I think it's more the tuning of the transmission. It's definitely not a slow car but it is designed for fuel economy, not performance so if you are in a high gear and accelerate quickly, the transmission has a fit. If you are smooth in your acceleration I feel it pulls quite well.

There may be something wrong with your car if you are having issues at all speeds but driving style could play a part in it as it's not tuned for speed.

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[JAM]

Both my previous cars had step downs on the accelerator- does the telluride drop a gear when you accelerate fast or would you need to slip it into manual to do that?

 

[G-206113]

I've had my vehicle one year and I find it's starting to get sluggish too. Especially when doing around 25mph and you try to accelerate. It's a joke. You almost have to press the pedal to the floor but then the engine seems to jump 4 gears like going into overdrive before accelerating. It's not the greatest engine.

Mine seems to be getting worse with time and I know exactly what you are talking about. It seems dangerously unresponsive at times. I suspect it's a problem with the transmission, but am not positive. I've brought the issue up again with the dealer and insisted they test drive it, which they did, but then they told me they found nothing.

 

[beato1]

This may answer some of these Telluride issues on acceleration: "gasoline direct injection has a poor accelerator pump"

Low-Speed Pre-ignition​

Low-speed pre-ignition is an issue usually associated with GDI engines. The problem here is that gasoline direct injection has a poor accelerator pump; you can find a carburetor having one or two accelerator pumps. So when you are at a high load, low-speed engine operation, and you push your throttle, it squirts more fuel through your accelerator pumps. During this condition, bits of carbon leave the valve and go into your combustion chamber, which finds its way to the cylinder wall, and is absorbed by the fuel and oil on the wall. As the piston shifts up, it transfers carbon particles to the crevice clearance, and these particles get diluted with oil and fuel, which smokes, causing low-speed pre-ignition.

Above may not have anything to do with acceleration but good to know:

Significant oil consumption​

With the Gasoline Direct Injection system, the fuel squirts into the engine stick to the cylinder walls and mixes with the oil. So during combustion, the oil on the cylinder wall containing gasoline ignites and burns off. This is the primary reason why a lot of GDI engines are reported to have high oil consumption.

Here's a link: What Does GDI Mean on a Car? | Rx Mechanic

 

[Cam3n]

This may answer some of these Telluride issues on acceleration: "gasoline direct injection has a poor accelerator pump"

Low-Speed Pre-ignition​

Low-speed pre-ignition is an issue usually associated with GDI engines. The problem here is that gasoline direct injection has a poor accelerator pump; you can find a carburetor having one or two accelerator pumps. So when you are at a high load, low-speed engine operation, and you push your throttle, it squirts more fuel through your accelerator pumps. During this condition, bits of carbon leave the valve and go into your combustion chamber, which finds its way to the cylinder wall, and is absorbed by the fuel and oil on the wall. As the piston shifts up, it transfers carbon particles to the crevice clearance, and these particles get diluted with oil and fuel, which smokes, causing low-speed pre-ignition.

Above may not have anything to do with acceleration but good to know:

Significant oil consumption​

With the Gasoline Direct Injection system, the fuel squirts into the engine stick to the cylinder walls and mixes with the oil. So during combustion, the oil on the cylinder wall containing gasoline ignites and burns off. This is the primary reason why a lot of GDI engines are reported to have high oil consumption.

Here's a link: What Does GDI Mean on a Car? | Rx Mechanic

Good info. So is there any upgrades that can be made to increase consistent fuel flow at low speed?

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[beato1]

Good info. So is there any upgrades that can be made to increase consistent fuel flow at low speed?

I think this is inherent to gdi engine by design? It’s sorta like a compensatory mechanism to avoid further flooding the combustion chambers and thus, as a consequence, increase the LSPI numbers which will only contribute more to carbon deposit formation? New LSPI oil to combat this problem are now reformulated (GF-6) but the best antidote is frequent oil changes to get the fuel diluted oil out! This will also mitigate the problem of intake valve deposits, along with the use of top tier gas! Sorry, this may not satisfy your question about a quick cure but learning to anticipate things (consistent fuel flow is avoiding too many sudden accelerations and brakings) when driving may help a little and may go a long way to longevity of the engine, unless you plan on keeping it only for a few years! Driving style and habit impacts fuel consumption which also affects longevity of the engine as what the above article explains in between the lines. It’s a wonder gdi engine can perform so many things like less fuel with more power (unheard of in the past) but alas, we can’t have our cake and eat it, too! Some sacrifices were made in the name of surviving the competition and federal requirements! Thanks!

 

[Cam3n]

I think this is inherent to gdi engine by design? It’s sorta like a compensatory mechanism to avoid further flooding the combustion chambers and thus, as a consequence, increase the LSPI numbers which will only contribute more to carbon deposit formation? New LSPI oil to combat this problem are now reformulated (GF-6) but the best antidote is frequent oil changes to get the fuel diluted oil out! This will also mitigate the problem of intake valve deposits, along with the use of top tier gas! Sorry, this may not satisfy your question about a quick cure but learning to anticipate things (consistent fuel flow is avoiding too many sudden accelerations and brakings) when driving may help a little and may go a long way to longevity of the engine, unless you plan on keeping it only for a few years! Driving style and habit impacts fuel consumption which also affects longevity of the engine as what the above article explains in between the lines. It’s a wonder gdi engine can perform so many things like less fuel with more power (unheard of in the past) but alas, we can’t have our cake and eat it, too! Some sacrifices were made in the name of surviving the competition and federal requirements! Thanks!

All makes sense and thanks! I am curious if something like Pedal Commander will mitigate the effect as a bandaid and at the cost of fuel efficiency.

 

[beato1]

Hetes an inyeresting info: “The lesson? Turbocharged engines may claim fat torque curves starting from low rpm, but they’re significantly more responsive if you drive them as you would a naturally aspirated engine: Downshift, then accelerate.”

You may gain some insight (or not) from this link:Turbo vs. Non-Turbo: Putting Throttle Response to the Test

 

[Cam3n]

Hetes an inyeresting info: “The lesson? Turbocharged engines may claim fat torque curves starting from low rpm, but they’re significantly more responsive if you drive them as you would a naturally aspirated engine: Downshift, then accelerate.”

You may gain some insight (or not) from this link:Turbo vs. Non-Turbo: Putting Throttle Response to the Test

But isn't the point that we can't control our downshift timing on an automatic? If this was manual it wouldn't be an issue. Hence the Pedal Commander thought.

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[beato1]

The jury is still out on this! Some people said their car felt like a different car—“very responsive” and some said “0-60 is the same”! But those two can have the same and or different meanings—responsive and 0-60! Best.way is to see it for yourself. Life is about enjoying the moments! Thanks.

 

[beato1]

Oh, have you tead this article? Pedal Commander Problems (Explained)

 

[Cam3n]

The jury is still out on this! Some people said their car felt like a different car—“very responsive” and some said “0-60 is the same”! But those two can have the same and or different meanings—responsive and 0-60! Best.way is to see it for yourself. Life is about enjoying the moments! Thanks.

Very true. Also, my understanding is that Pedal Commander allows custom profiles, so user results may vary depending on technical proclivity.

 

[beato1]

Well, let me corrrect myself—life is “also” about enjoying the moments! Different strokes for different folks, i guess! Good luck!