Camry Impression after Trip

The 07 is a 5spd A/T. Are you in cruise control while doing 80? how many passengers? I had the same experience with my 07 but I also felt that on other cars that I rented during long trips (a freestyle with 4 adults and 2 kids no luggage and on a 300 with 3 adults and 2 kids + luggage). Not too bad I guess, because most of the cars driving the same direction slowed down during the climb and nobody really stands out speeding on the climb. But of course a 6yl camry will be more powerful than the 4

5 speed? Yea, now I see that. The selector has a 4-D indication but I see they are two different positions. So it was shifting from 5th to 4th to 3rd. Anyhow, yes, I was using cruise control. Just my wife and I with a little luggage. jor

On Jun 19, 4:52 pm, jor wrote:

I think it's more the cruise than the tranny.. My corolla does that when going up a fairly steep grade with the cruise on. It will downshift twice sometimes, which seems to be overkill to me, but thats what it does.. Now, if I'm not in cruise, it rarely does that, or if it does, it will usually just shift down one gear. What I do with the cruise on is to manually give it the gas slightly ahead of time, and that way it won't usually do it.. Like I say, it seems to be a signal from the cruise saying, "hey, punch the gas, I'm slowing down", and don't waste time about it!! When that happens going up a grade, I can turn the cruise off, and it will usually instantly shift back to higher gears. That heavy punch in throttle could be part of what makes the tranny think it should downshift. If the cruise is set at say 70, and you hit a steep grade, if you go slightly faster than 70, it won't happen. It'll cruise right up the grade in O/D, unless it really senses it needs to downshift to keep from lugging. So like I say, it seems to be more induced from the cruise, than the tranny itself wanting to do it. It will rarely do that with the cruise off, and if it does, it's usually just one gear down, instead of two. Course, my corolla is a 4 speed A/T, not a five.. Anyway, it bugs the heck out of me when it does that, but I've found ways to get around it, so it doesn't do it much. IE: going up a grade, manually gas it, so the cruise doesn't end up the signal to do it. MK

Thanks, MK. I think you are absolutely correct. I tried driving (and maintaining 80 mph) without the cruise and didn't have the problem. I'll take your suggestion and will thus avoid the jet engine-like scream of the four cylinder. jor

It seems to me that Toyota tunes its gear-selection algorithms strangely biased towards downshifting. My automatic Rav4 downshifts in situations where I would not begin to consider downshifting my stick Rav4. They'r both

00's.

Glad it worked out.. Other than that, the cruise control is actually pretty good and tight. It holds speed pretty close, and will climb grades on the interstate pretty well on it's own, as long as they aren't too steep. You'll get to where you can recognize the grade level where you need to manually give it gas so the cruise thinks it's speeding, or at speed and doesn't give any throttle. I'll bump it to 71 or 72 on a 70 cruise set going up a hill, and rarely have the problem.. The cruise thinks it needs to slow down... :) I use the cruise almost all the time. Even on slow streets if they are fairly long. It's always on on the interstates.. But my foot is usually ready if I see a steep grade coming up.. I'll start to slowly override the cruise with my foot till I get over the hump. MK

I have a 5-speed manual in my V6 Ford Contour. The cruise holds the speed very closely, even going uphill. Usually, the speed going uphill is around 60 mph (55 mph speed limit; usually just under 70 mph on interestates). The hills are fairly steep, steeper than what is on interstates. I guess this is an advantage of manual transmissions.

Jeff

SLIDESHOW

Dang...2+2=987.... I just realized you are probably the same Jor as over at Fordification... Small planet... To the ones that are in the dark, that's a 67-72 ford truck forum.. IE: "bumpside".. :/ I've got a 68 F-250... A 74 F-100 too.. MK

Ha ha... got me! Nice to see you over here with the Toyota maniacs. I have a 67 and a 68, both F-100s. You and I are probably the only Fordification guys on UseNet. Most people anymore don't even know what it is. jor