The Scion 2014 has the 2.5 L 2AR-FE I4 engine and the U760E/F - 6 speed automatic transmission. It have a very low millage (24000 miles). I can feel the car getting bored when I'm going 30 mph with the transmission in D. Same when I'm going 60 mph. When I shift the transmission shifter to the left it goes into 4th gear. The RPM goes up to 3000 rpm (at 60 miles per hour) and the car obviously doesn't downshift when I accelerate like it does when in D. At 30 miles per hour in 4th gear the RPM is below 2000 rpm. Question: Other than higher gas mileage (which is nothing compared to my 2014 Honda CR V) can riding in fourth gear damage the transmission? The red zone starts at 6200 RPM. Thank you for your answers.
I can feel the car getting bored
Incredible technology, instead of the driver now the car gets bored!?
What do you mean?
(If the transmission is doing weird stuff, it's best to replace the fluid)
can riding in fourth gear damage the transmission?
Probably not, 2k-3k is normal - but usually you'd want it to be ~2.5k instead of over 3k...
If a take my BMW motorcycle as an exemple, the bike run well at 80 miles per hour. The engine feel good (and happy).
The Scion feel good at 75 miles per hour. The engine run smootly and it seems happy...
That's why I am asking if I can ride on the 4th gear in town
I often drive my 1.4L car at around 85~90mph (135-145 kmh) for me that's 3k~3.2k rpm so that's not an indicator.
Realistically I don't see why you'd want higher RPM?
I'd keep it between 2k and 3k is fine, maybe 3.5k - not more.
It's not a bike, it's an 8 year old Toyota.
But your transmission is trying to shift ASAP for a reason,
Shifting under load will make your transmission toast faster than it would otherwise.
Toyota's 6 speed (U660/U760) is worse than a Peugeot's 6 speed (AT/AM6) - I wouldn't load it too much.
Keep an eye out for transmission temperature, these overheat and then require teflon ring replacement.
If a take my BMW motorcycle as an exemple, the bike run well at 80 miles per hour. The engine feel good (and happy). The Scion feel good at 75 miles per hour. The engine run smootly and it seems happy... That's why I am asking if I can ride on the 4th gear in town (It's the French way of seeing things). {black}:smile:
You didn’t mention the model, but does it have a sport mode? Or overdrive on/off button?
My Scion have the U760E/F - 6 speed automatic transmission. According to the owner manual it have a S mode driving.
According to the owner manual :
When the shift lever is in the S position, the shift lever can be operated as follows:
Downshifting Upshifting
The selected shift range, from 1 to 6, will be displayed in the meter.
The initial shift range in S mode is set automatically to 5 or 4 accord- ing to vehicle speed. But, the ini- tial shift range may be set to 3 if AI-SHIFT has operated while the shift lever was in the D position.
Shift ranges and their functions
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● Automatically selecting gears between 1 and 6 according to vehicle speed and driving conditions. But, the gear is limited according to selected shift range.
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● You can choose from 6 levels of engine braking force.
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● A lower shift range will provide greater engine braking force than
a higher shift range, and the engine speed will also increase.
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S mode
●When the shift range is 4 or lower, holding the shift lever toward “+” setsthe shift range to 6.
●To prevent excessive engine speed, a function was adopted that auto- matically selects a higher shift range before the engine speed becomes too high.
●To protect the automatic transmission, a function is adopted that auto- matically selects a higher shift range when the fluid temperature is high.
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Downshifting restrictions warning buzzer
To help ensure safety and driving performance, downshifting operation may sometimes be restricted. In some circumstances, downshifting may not be possible even when the shift lever or a paddle shift switch (if equipped) is operated. (The warning buzzer will sound twice.)
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Then just use S mode along with the paddle shifts to make the transmission ‘not bore’ itself..
Many thanks for your answer.