Too much upshifting with the automatic

[Mike728]

I know Ford programmed the automatic tranny to upshift as much as possible for fuel economy, but is there any way to tune the car in order to prevent the tranny from upshifting into high gears at low speeds/light throttle? I would prefer it to shift automatically for daily street use rather than use the +- buttons on the shifter. With the D or S modes, my car is all the way in 6th at 40 mph and I feel like it's lugging the engine because the RPMs are well under 1500. Is it even nnormal for the auto to go to 6th at that speed? It seems almost dangerous to drive the car that way because there's a huge lag when I need power. It's also probably not good for the engine to be lugging around town at low RPMs/high gears.

 

[86GT351]

Is the car stock? Tuning can change the shift characteristics of the vehicle.

 

[Mike728]

The car is completely stock except for the big Borla mufflers. I've been thinking that the car may have lost some torque in higher gears/lower RPMS due to the mufflers, but it seems like it just upshifts too much. 6th gear at 40 mph?

 

[Robert Larimer]

The car is completely stock except for the big Borla mufflers. I've been thinking that the car may have lost some torque in higher gears/lower RPMS due to the mufflers, but it seems like it just upshifts too much. 6th gear at 40 mph?

I would recommend you get a tune if you want to wake up your automatic. MPT makes great ones for the 3.7. Shifts are firmer and shift points are much more aggressive.

 

[skwerl]

I agree with Robert. A good tune makes all the difference in the world. I may be biased because I've been using him for over 12 years, but Justin at VMP has done me right on every vehicle I have owned in the last decade+. Ford is notorious for terrible shift characteristics trying to meet the EPA mileage regulations and it makes the vehicles unsafe to drive. Even with just a standard 'canned' tune on a stock car it makes a world of difference, and Justin's tunes make the car or truck drive like it is supposed to. My F150 I bought in 2019 is the last vehicle he tuned for me and I haven't had to touch the tune in over 4 years and 50K miles, it is perfect.