silvertoy

This will be my first automatic out of the 14 vehicles I've owned, and honestly, I'm starting to doubt even getting this one with auto, but the wife doesn't like stick and even I'll admit that I'm tired of smelling clutch on the trail. I test drove a manual and thought it had a good amount of power, but not a lot compared to my FJ which has excessive power. I fear that the auto will be significantly less enjoyable, so I need to find a dealer with an auto and take it for a drive to confirm this. The important thing is not acceleration for me though, this is a 4x4, not a drag racer, and the only reason that the power would be important is for passing and on ramps. The low gearing for crawling is more important. My 02 (MT sport) had plenty of power, but that was with the I6 which was a great engine with lots of low end torque, but it also stunk in the hills at highway speeds, there's alot of mountains around here.

silvertoy

Well I had a chance to drive the Auto (that's with the 4.10) this weekend and I would have to say it's a deal breaker, I really don't like the auto at all. The dealer was nice enough to give me a test drive that included all kinds of roads including highway, dirt, and twisty, very good test drive. But on the hills the auto drove me mad with it's gear hunting, granted, eventually I just stuck it in 2nd and left it there and it wasn't so bad. And the same for the descent, I had to put it down in 2nd in order to keep off the brakes. I just didn't like it. I have a lot of hills to climb on some of these back roads and this would drive me nuts. The road manners were nice enough on the highway, but then again, there was one stretch with about a 5degree incline that just drove that transmission nuts, I had no problems with the manual however and now I have to re-think what I will do as far as which car to trade and if I would consider the 2 door. Thanks for you help so far.

yellowbull

I dont think enough people use 2nd and 1st with an auto. I use them all the time when I need more RPM's and power. It can be kind of like a manual but only when you need it.

skibum

I own a four door X with the slushbox. Believe it or not, the auto gets significantly better with time. When I first bought mine I was convinced to a moral certainty that the tranny was f--ked. Turns out the Jeep actually has a limited form of artificial intelligence and needs several hundred miles to learn and adjust to your driving style. After almost 6000 miles, I still can't say that the tranny is perfect but the difference between now and then is like night and day. Not nearly the same amount of hunting for the right gear and other assorted forms of stupidity that went on earlier. Just my .02. Good luck.

silvertoy

Thanks for the heads up, that's good info to know, I'll do my research and try to find out if that's what did indeed happen. Glad to hear about your good experiences too.