Hi all, I've had my 2008 RDX for less than a year about 11,900 miles. It's been a great vehicle but now I have noticed something and wonder if it is normal.
When driving in S mode (transmission selection) my RDX used to upshift automatically from 1st - 4th gear and if I wanted to select 5th I would tap the paddle up.
Now I have noticed the car only upshifts to 3rd (holds 3rd gear)(not 4th) but if I use the paddle to upshift I can select 4th and 5th.

In D-mode it works fine no problems. Is this part of the adaptive transmission software that learns your driving habits. I have a habit of driving in 3rd in the city (S mode) with paddle. And now I'm wondering if the transmission learned this habit?

 

gsvette - I guess I haven't used the "S" mode enough. When I've used it I've pretty much red-lined the engine and it didn't swtich from first to second gear for me (which I prefer). At what RPM is it switching gears for you?

 

phoward_15- Actually the shift points are fine in S mode it depends how long your on the throttle which is determining shift points. At WOT it shifts right at Redline. But it will not shift into 4th gear in S mode and it used to when I got it new!
However in D mode it shifts and goes through all 5 gears normally.
So I'm just wondering is it possible the adative transmission learned that in S mode I have been shifting into 3rd and leaving it there manually. And now it holds it in third gear automatically also?

 

As far as I know, and per the owner's guide, the transmission isn't adaptive. You are limited to 4th gear in S mode. You should be able to shift through the 4 gears in S mode easily, but only if you are at the right speed. You can't get into 4th gear while you are crawling along in a parking lot. Maybe you aren't at a high enough speed (mph) to get into 4th gear. Check the owner's guide on the shift points because you should be able to get into 4th gear in both S mode and D mode with no problem if you are at the correct speed. Hope this helps.

 

Mine is the same way. Even if I'm doing 40+ it will hold 3rd gear is S mode until I upshift it with the paddle shifter. It used to shift into 4th when it was new as well.

 

If you want the gears to shift automatically then drive in "D" mode. It only makes sense to me that you have to "manually" change the gears in "S" mode. I don't see the problem here. I'd much prefer that it didn't change gears in "S" mode and leave it up to the driver. That's the whole point of manual driving.

 

phoward_15- I'm not looking for a problem this is just something that I have noticed as a change from when the car was new. I tend to drive in S mode a lot. But there are times I let it shift automatically in S mode. When I get aggressive then I pull on the paddles and put it in manual mode (a feature I like cause my toy Corvette has a manual transmission). Around town the car is asleep in the D mode.

sj993- glad to hear I'm not the only one who has noticed this. Thanks!

 

This is simply a change in behavior now versus what it did when it was new.

If it were only a manual mode then when you put into sportshift it would be fully manual at that point it wouldn't require you to use the paddle shifter first to make it manual. It gives you the option of automatic sport shifting and manual shifting.