Shifter in L and the car still shifts?

[CrashTestDummy]

I was taking the car out for a little trip this morning, and just for giggles, I put it into L, and accelerated pretty normally out of my driveway. While driving down the road, I could feel the transmission shift two times, then it seemed to stay in 3rd, until I up-shifted the shifter to D. Is this the way it works?

[GTObert]

Uh, yeah.

[9C1fanatic]

The 2014 column shift cars are the same unfortunately. I even tested throwing it into low at about 60 miles an hour to see if the car would gradually shift back in the second and then first when I was going slow enough but it never did just stayed in third . This is yet another sign of the times. I like these cars mainly because they are a Caprice but also because they have far fewer anti-stupid driver features than most contemporary cars but still you can see the gradual trend of eventually replacing the human element in driving

[9C1fanatic]

One thing is good for on the road course type driving where the speed stay well under 100 miles an hour most of the time putting it in low does make the car more responsive as it only has to deal with three gears instead of six making the downshifts quicker

[9C1fanatic]

Instead of thinking it as low gear I think of it as a low range of gears It would still work in the mountains at most speeds similar to putting the old caprice 9C1 into second gear

[K9Vic]

I always use "L" low when going down hills in urban areas as it keeps me off the brakes. I also use low when going through a roundabout as it has quicker response over drive. More so if you are at a stop and have to accelerate quickly.

[storm9c1]

I always use "L" low when going down hills in urban areas as it keeps me off the brakes. I also use low when going through a roundabout as it has quicker response over drive. More so if you are at a stop and have to accelerate quickly.

Not sure how strong the overrun clutches are on the 6L80E but I know they were terrible on the 4L60E and would burn out if doing lots of engine braking. Ask me how I know... (manually shifted 2nd gear is dead on my '95 Caprice and that trans has been rebuilt 3 or 4 times LOL).

As for the other "anti-stupid" features, my 9C3 has a floor shift with tap-shift support. If I try to shift it at weird times, it will simply say "Shift Denied". Annoying. However, this transmission has other good features. In "performance mode", it will stay in lower gears when you let off the gas, unlike the old designs that will upshift immediately. However, the computer has to sense that you really want "performance mode". Otherwise it shifts normally. You have to do some spirited driving to trigger it. I know there is some algorithm that is explained somewhere for this...

[bsparks72]

Brakes are cheap and transmissions are expensive. I wouldn't use manual downshift to slow down unless I had already burned through the brakes.

[storm9c1]

Brakes are cheap and transmissions are expensive. I wouldn't use manual downshift to slow down unless I had already burned through the brakes.

I agree. But when you are towing, sometimes you need both. But otherwise, I try not to downshift anymore after learning my lesson and toasting the trans on my '95 a few times.

[K9Vic]

I am never going over 35mph using low going down slight hills and the sport shift does a much worse job over getting stuck in a lower gears at higher speeds while in drive. You need the quicker response from a stop in L in these roundabouts. Not sure if any of you have ever driven in one, but you need a quick response sometimes from a stop and using low does help.