Hey guys, new guy here, so I broke down and bought a 2012 wrangler, my first car was a 96 xj and have been longing for a new wrangler for a while. I settled for the 2012 sport with automatic (despite my desire to keep my manual since the dealer had none in stocak and I could not wait). So anyway here is my question it looks like my automatic has the tap shift feature built in but my dealer did not say anything, nor does the paperwork. once in drive you can tap handle from left to right and cycle through 1-4 much like a tap shift would work. Not that I plan onn using this feature but if I did is that really what its for or is this an attempt to save plastic and just let you choose your lower gears this way. anyway I searched in did not find much so please be gentle on this newb.

 

Well since this feature just came out this year we are all newbies
Actually it operates a little funky to me
It's the same on my wife's Durango
I wish it worked like on the chevy cars
But it doesn't
Read your owners manual for a good description but basically when you move it left it drops 1 gear from the current gear
Moving right selects the highest gear that it will shift to
And if you keep tapping it right will put it back in drive
So if you put it in drive then move it left it will lock it on First
Tapping it right willing it to 2nd
This will make it start in first then shift to second
No matter what gear you select it will always start in first then auto shift up to the selected number

This feature works different then most of the other manufactures
Not sure why they designed it this way
I'm hoping that an aftermarket co
Will come out with a different program for it
Be careful and don't accidentally tap it left while cruising because it will downshift.


Sent from my iPhone

 

thanks for the info, yea I am liking this automatic driving despite driving stick my whole life, so I will most likely keep it in drive.

 

I use it to downshift when I go down steep hills to keep from using my brakes so much. You can also use it to limit your top gear as was mentioned to keep it out of overdrive for example. If you are towing something up a steep grade or you have large tires and haven't regeared, the overdrive might cause you to drop out of the power band and drop the rpms too much. Locking out the higher numbered gears will let you control the power better.

 

I only use mine when in four low with hill decent. It allows me to control the speed going down hills without riding my brakes all the time. I had the same feature in my '09 Ram and never found a real need for it in normal on road driving.