Thread: Hilux hybrid.4wd vs dmax ls 4wd

Originally Posted by Shearer

I have been driving a new Hilux at work recently and doing a bit of steepish off road stuff. Using the auto transmission "manually" is ok but there is a big lag between changing down gears and it actually happening, and sometimes it seems to have a mind of it's own when it comes to what gear it thinks you should be in???

Yeah, I've had that on a fairly steep downhill gravel road into a tight almost 90deg corner and a single lane bridge (where you are the give way driver as the other side has no visibility until you are on the bridge approach). The auto box decided to try to change down as I was braking to roll over the steep stuff - no manual option just the older style D plus numbers type. As it downshifted I rolled over the lump and the road steepened up and left me relying on the truck's brakes and the electric/hydraulic brakes on the trailer while the thing tried to run away and the transmission tried to work out what gear it needed to be in. In the end it was OK as nothing was coming, but I rolled onto the bridge at about 10Km/H and had no chance of stopping at the give way line should I have had to. Manual override of the auto would have been better as I wouldn't have shifted there most likely but it still takes longer to change gear than with a manual type box.

The newer Kia's have a servo operated clutch mated with a manual 8-speed I think, which is a new wrinkle in the transmission type complaints. Be interesting to see if that comes out in the new Kia truck, Iveco have been using them for years.