Speaking of Powered Liftgates...and 6 speed automatics

rented a Dodge Caravan for a week. Had powered sliding side doors and
powered lift gate. Cool. But once the cool wore off all the powered
bull**** does it make opening and closing the darn things much slower
then non-powered ones. And of course there's more stuff to break. I
know they have to offer it if any of teh competitors does but it's
really so silly. Finding the right button on the key fob can take
longer then just yanking the handle and opening the darn door.

And the 6 speed automatic transmission in it, what a pain. The engine
had plenty of power. But there was some kind of disconnect between
what I want, what the engine is doing and what gear the transmission
thinks it should be in. Sometimes, going up a hill or just
accelerating mildly hard, you'd push the accelerator for just a bit
more power and it would drop what seemed like 3 gears, engine revs up
into a major power band and suddenly there is more power and more
acceleration they you want so you have to pull off the throttle, which
of course makes it up shift.

It did get a bit over 25 mpg by my very rough estimate for the 3000
miles of use, not bad for a large minivan driving with little regard
for strict economy.

On 6/28/13 4:24 AM, Ashton Crusher wrote:
> rented a Dodge Caravan for a week. Had powered sliding side doors and
> powered lift gate. Cool. But once the cool wore off all the powered
> bull**** does it make opening and closing the darn things much slower
> then non-powered ones. And of course there's more stuff to break. I
> know they have to offer it if any of teh competitors does but it's
> really so silly. Finding the right button on the key fob can take
> longer then just yanking the handle and opening the darn door.
>
> And the 6 speed automatic transmission in it, what a pain. The engine
> had plenty of power. But there was some kind of disconnect between
> what I want, what the engine is doing and what gear the transmission
> thinks it should be in. Sometimes, going up a hill or just
> accelerating mildly hard, you'd push the accelerator for just a bit
> more power and it would drop what seemed like 3 gears, engine revs up
> into a major power band and suddenly there is more power and more
> acceleration they you want so you have to pull off the throttle, which
> of course makes it up shift.
>
> It did get a bit over 25 mpg by my very rough estimate for the 3000
> miles of use, not bad for a large minivan driving with little regard
> for strict economy.
>

And, of course, a manual transmission is not an option on a us market
grand caravan. So you are screwed :-(

On 06/28/2013 04:46 AM, Brake Dive, Acceleration Squat and Body Roll
Bros Suspension Works wrote:
> On 6/28/13 4:24 AM, Ashton Crusher wrote:
>> rented a Dodge Caravan for a week. Had powered sliding side doors and
>> powered lift gate. Cool. But once the cool wore off all the powered
>> bull**** does it make opening and closing the darn things much slower
>> then non-powered ones. And of course there's more stuff to break. I
>> know they have to offer it if any of teh competitors does but it's
>> really so silly. Finding the right button on the key fob can take
>> longer then just yanking the handle and opening the darn door.
>>
>> And the 6 speed automatic transmission in it, what a pain. The engine
>> had plenty of power. But there was some kind of disconnect between
>> what I want, what the engine is doing and what gear the transmission
>> thinks it should be in. Sometimes, going up a hill or just
>> accelerating mildly hard, you'd push the accelerator for just a bit
>> more power and it would drop what seemed like 3 gears, engine revs up
>> into a major power band and suddenly there is more power and more
>> acceleration they you want so you have to pull off the throttle, which
>> of course makes it up shift.
>>
>> It did get a bit over 25 mpg by my very rough estimate for the 3000
>> miles of use, not bad for a large minivan driving with little regard
>> for strict economy.
>>
>
> And, of course, a manual transmission is not an option on a us market
> grand caravan. So you are screwed :-(
>

so write the manufacturer [not the dealer] and complain. they don't fix
stuff if they don't get feedback.


--
fact check required

On 6/28/13 4:40 PM, jim beam wrote:
> On 06/28/2013 04:46 AM, Brake Dive, Acceleration Squat and Body Roll
> Bros Suspension Works wrote:
>> On 6/28/13 4:24 AM, Ashton Crusher wrote:
>>> rented a Dodge Caravan for a week. Had powered sliding side doors and
>>> powered lift gate. Cool. But once the cool wore off all the powered
>>> bull**** does it make opening and closing the darn things much slower
>>> then non-powered ones. And of course there's more stuff to break. I
>>> know they have to offer it if any of teh competitors does but it's
>>> really so silly. Finding the right button on the key fob can take
>>> longer then just yanking the handle and opening the darn door.
>>>
>>> And the 6 speed automatic transmission in it, what a pain. The engine
>>> had plenty of power. But there was some kind of disconnect between
>>> what I want, what the engine is doing and what gear the transmission
>>> thinks it should be in. Sometimes, going up a hill or just
>>> accelerating mildly hard, you'd push the accelerator for just a bit
>>> more power and it would drop what seemed like 3 gears, engine revs up
>>> into a major power band and suddenly there is more power and more
>>> acceleration they you want so you have to pull off the throttle, which
>>> of course makes it up shift.
>>>
>>> It did get a bit over 25 mpg by my very rough estimate for the 3000
>>> miles of use, not bad for a large minivan driving with little regard
>>> for strict economy.
>>>
>>
>> And, of course, a manual transmission is not an option on a us market
>> grand caravan. So you are screwed :-(
>>
>
> so write the manufacturer [not the dealer] and complain. they don't fix
> stuff if they don't get feedback.
>
I live in urop and therefore could not care less about manual
transmission availability in the states