My new Grand Cherokee Limited (the one with all the trick differentials) is my first automatic, and I'm baffled by the shifting program (of the complete lack of one) in 4L.
I'm no off-road expert, but I've driven lots of trucks off road for work and play. usually, once I get the technique and timing down for a given vehicle, things go ok. I use 4L mostly to control speed, but also to finesse stream crossings, rock fields, or slimy climbs - places where smoothness is rewarded and jerky moves can make me have a bad day.
But the Cherokee in 4L undriveable. Things are sort of ok as long as I stay in one gear, but shifting down is like driving into a concrete wall (I was even worried about tripping the airbags), and shifting up is like being rammed from behind by a semi.
I've tried mightily to match engine speed between the time I select a gear and the time that the computer gets around to actually engaging the clutch, but the driver has no control over the timing of the shift. It just happens sometime after the gear lever is bumped. I haven't ever been able to do anything but make things worse.
Here's my complaint: the damn thing is run by a computer that knows exactly how fast each wheel is turning, how fast the engine is turning. It knows damn well what is going to happen when it bangs in the clutch, but it does it anyway. I'm medium-certain that this vehicle has throttle-by-wire, so it would be a simple programming exercise to match everything up before engaging the clutch, and the whole thing could happen more smoothly than on a manual operated by any but the most expert off-roader.
But they evidently didn't even try.
While I was on the road this summer, I talked to a lot of dealer service guys about this. Their attack approach was amazingly uniform (I think DC must send them all to some central campus to learn how to do it) - 1.) Emasculation - "You don't know how to drive off road. Maybe you should stick to pavement around the mall," 2.) Denial - "No, you don't know what you're talking about. It doesn't do that," 3.) Obfuscation - "You're not supposed to shift between 4H and 4L while you're driving," 4.) Guilt - "You're abusing this fine vehicle. It's intended for driving on pavement around the mall," 5.) They-All-Do-That - "They all do that," and finally 6.) Get-Outa-Here-Kid-There're-People-In-Line-Behind-You - "You're supposed to come to a complete stop before you change gears in 4L."
So far, I've selected 7.) None-Of-The-Above, stayed in 4H, and relied on the brakes with the ABS to control speed. So far, I've managed to stay out of trouble.
But I payed a shitload of money for this car, gulled, I suppose, by the "Trail Rated" business, and I expected a functioning 4L.
Believe me. I understand the overlay of marketing hype, and I get the fact that the Cherokee isn't a real off-roader, with its leather, its take-off-your-shoes-and-put-on-these-paper-slippers carpets, its "no-step" door jambs, and its frilly plastic skirts. (I was buying some stuff in a logging equipment store in northern BC, talking up the zoomy drivetrain on the Cherokee, the guy came out, looked in the driver's side window and recoiled, "It's a GIRL'S Jeep!"). I had expected (hoped?) that there would be some moles in the organization that cared about the basics. Guess maybe they all took early-out packages during the last reorganization.
Any suggestions? I mean besides trading it in on a truck with sticks.
Cheers, Fred Klingener