How does the 5r55s shifter work?

It is more of a personal preference IMO.
I like autos but I like the option of manually shifting it too.
Ratchet shifters offer more control over that then stock does.
But you got to admit in traffic and stop and go an auto is more user friendly.
Take it from a guy with knees that are old and creaky.
And face facts that you cant out-shift them and you never miss a shift.
And off the line you have torque multiplication that a manual cannot offer without burnin a clutch.

I run my pressures 5% over stock except the 1-2 shift and the 4-5/OD shift.
The stock pressure is good for those as the 1-2 is quick and 5% on it is a bit rough.
The 4-5 is an under-speed shift and a harsh shift there could be disastrous on the drive train.
10% pressure increases are just plain teeth breakers and cant be good on the tranny.

Let's try to avoid the usual MT vs AT controversy here. For whatever reason, OP wants to know how the 5R55S shifter works instead of taking the usual way out by going aftermarket.


Norm

Agree.
I want know to myself and see if I can mod a quicksilver.

I’ve had my tci shifter for almost 10 years without an issue and I used to shift it manually about 90% of the time. I can control whatever gear I want it to be in. Even in drive, if o want to stomp on it I downshift it manually and it will only drop into the gear I select. I don’t ever let it downshift 2 gears. Even from OD I put it into 4th and then shift it into 3rd.

After about 15 ideas I've come to the conclusion to modify the stock 5r55s shifter for a more classic "muslce car" look. I will be making a few of these so let me know if you might be interested. I will be creating a new post once I have my prototype. But keep in mind this is targeted to muscle car hot bois.

Couple of notes for those discussing the operation. Until I got my tranny tune close to being dialed in the way I like it, I used to pretty manually control the transmission functions. The only issue is in fourth when you step on the throttle. I would normally time it and downshift manually. I keep the rpm's up anyways so it would be a rare occasion where the tranny would want to downshift two gears. That is what you want to avoid with these delicate units.

Sometimes, well most of the time, when starting from a stop with light throttle and light load on the motor, the tranny would start in second anyways. So for the one who mentioned having the ability to start in second, the thing does it by itself. I'm sure there is some table you can tweek to make it happen more often if you would like.

I have a TCI shifter with a B&M handle for the OD button. When I start my car I always turn off the OD, at least until I hit the freeway and get it up to about 70. I tried to set it up to turn off automatically like my traction control but it wouldn't work. Something to do with the start up sequence was not allowing it to stay off. Anyways, I pretty much have 100% control over the tranny functions with the shifter and how you use it. I've had it for 10 years with zero issues. 3rd transmission but all with the same shifter.