Honda lurches ahead with pesky 9-speed transmission

two thousand sixteen Honda Pilot navigates space inbetween abate minivan and sleek crossover

Nine-speed transmissions are here to stay. They’re being touted as a fuel-efficient selling point in vehicles such as the two thousand sixteen Honda Pilot, in top-of-the-line Touring and Elite trim levels.

But these transmissions are also something that might take some getting used to. One aspect of these “teething” aches can be seen in the behavior of our Pilot Elite tester, which demonstrated a trait best described as “funky.”

While coasting into a stoplight, the transmission downshifts and the engine revs higher in the lower gear, as it should, but the Four,317-pound SUV momentarily lurches forward. It shouldn’t, nor do the peculiarities end there.

Very first gear is a mere commencing point or creeper gear, as the nine-speed flicks out of very first inbetween five to seven mph, quicker than you can say something like “shift!” That’s not unusual for a nine-speed, but shifting up to the next gear while gently accelerating results in the transmission hunting for the next gear for a long 2nd. Under moderate or aggressive acceleration, the tendency isn’t as noticeable.

But if you were to attempt to alleviate baby to sleep by driving leisurely around the block, for example, there would be a pronounced jack that would result in one fussy baby and one angry car shopper who just dropped $50,000 on an otherwise excellent AWD-alternative to the minivan.

The odd sensations may be the driver needing to adjust expectations to fresh technology. A visit to Piloteers.org, one of the leading Honda Pilot consumer message boards, shows fewer complaints about the transmission in a December thread than in a July thread about the same trim line.

Brian Weinberg, director of retail operations at Grossinger Honda, admitted the fresh technology takes getting used to.

The two thousand sixteen Discovery Sport, which goes on sale this spring, marks a fresh direction for Land Rover. It’s part of what will become the Discovery sub-brand that is aimed at versatility while Range Rover models concentrate on refinement. Both model ranges will share Land Rover’s tradition of suggesting go-anywhere.

The two thousand sixteen Discovery Sport, which goes on sale this spring, marks a fresh direction for Land Rover. It’s part of what will become the Discovery sub-brand that is aimed at versatility while Range Rover models concentrate on refinement. Both model ranges will share Land Rover’s tradition of suggesting go-anywhere.

“I drove one and I noticed the difference but I’ve never driven a nine-speed before,” he said.

Of the ten complaints filed on safercar.gov, the recall arm of the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, none are for Honda’s fresh nine-speed transmission.

“At this point there hasn’t been a service bulletin,” Davis Adams, Honda product spokesman, said of the voluntary notices automakers issue to dealers to fix or address a mechanical quirk. Technical service bulletins are not mandated by NHTSA and are not recalls. “If this is a major concern and critical mass to confirm it, then Honda will be quick to remedy it.”

The Pilot transmission, tuned differently, is also in the two thousand sixteen Acura MDX, where it has drawn criticism from consumers.

“Just returned from dealership . because of the jerkiness in shifting, harsh downshifting and all-around horrible transmission behavior,” posted gemesq in an April two thousand fifteen post on the MDX forum, MDXers.org.

The two thousand sixteen model year has slew of workhorses, including fresh versions of the Toyota Tacoma and Nissan Titan pickups, Chevrolet Malibu and Kia Optima sedans and the Honda Civic puny car. But it also has some sparkling showcase horses. Ford, Audi, Ferrari and Acura all have fresh supercars. Cadillac is.

The two thousand sixteen model year has slew of workhorses, including fresh versions of the Toyota Tacoma and Nissan Titan pickups, Chevrolet Malibu and Kia Optima sedans and the Honda Civic petite car. But it also has some sparkling demonstrate horses. Ford, Audi, Ferrari and Acura all have fresh supercars. Cadillac is.

(Tom Krishner and Dee-Ann Durbin)

Nine-speed transmissions provide better fuel economy with more precise spectacle. The nine-speed transmission manufactured by ZF Friedrichshafen AG, for Honda and Acura uses sixteen percent less fuel than a six-speed at constant speeds, albeit it takes some getting used to.

ZF also designed the troublesome nine-speed transmission in the Jeep Cherokee when it launched for model year 2014, and for other vehicles made by Fiat Chrysler Automobiles, or FCA, such as the Chrysler two hundred sedan and Fiat 500X crossover. The hundreds of complaints on safercar.gov included remarks about lunging, rough shift switches and even disengagement.

FCA CEO Serigo Marchionne admitted to Automotive News on February Two, 2015, that FCA had to do “an inordinate amount of intervention on that transmission.”

FCA ordered successive software updates or “reflashes” to fix the problem, at the consumer’s request.

“FCA launched a brand-new transmission on the wrong vehicle,” Larry Vellequette, who covers FCA for Automotive News, said in a phone interview. “Fresh transmission, fresh engine, with a disconnecting rear drive system — it’s a hugely complicated lump of machinery.”

Reluctant to talk about the fresh Pilot’s transmission since he hasn’t driven it, Vellequette added that FCA used ZF’s design but that FCA built the transmission itself.

Honda, on the other mitt, let ZF build the nine-speed transmission in its vehicles, which include the Acura MDX.

Different automakers using the same transmission does not make the same results.

“We didn’t put the Pilot out as quickly as Chrysler did with the Jeep,” Adams said. “This is the most modern version of the software, so we have better expectations.”

Since nine-speed transmissions such as the one used by FCA and Honda are adaptive, they read the driver’s inputs and driving conditions to recognize patterns and optimize shift points. That might explain why consumer message boards are more forgiving and dismissive of transmission complaints.

The teething period can gnaw at the nerves of consumers who have dropped almost $50,000 on a fresh car.

Should drivers have fresh expectations or should they learn to drive differently to avoid a lurching rail?

“I wouldn’t recommend an early one,” Vellequette said of nine-speed transmissions. “As with any fresh technology, it takes a while to get through the teething aches.”

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