On page 375 of the owner's manual, it says that when in S mode (not using paddle shifters) that the transmission should shift up to 4th. Mine only shifts to 3rd. I'm sure since if I tap the up paddle shifter, the revs drop and the indicator hen says 4. Has anyone notice this? I'm hoping that the manual is wrong or it's just a software problem. A major transmission problem with only 8k on the odo would really suck.

Thanks, Sean

 

what speed were you driving at when you did this?

 

On my '09 I4 this is normal behavior. When I floor it to get on the freeway in S, it stays in 3rd until I tap the paddle, and then it moves to 4th.

I checked out the 2011 I4 manual and it does state that S shifts into 4th, but only at "high speeds". So, perhaps you were not traveling fast enough when this happened.

 

yes, 3rd has a very high gearing, itll take you near 90, 4th is pretty massive too, but 3 is sweet spot

 

3rd limits at 110 mph in S Mode

 

geeze.. that's insane and highly fuel inefficient.

 

Does S mode make the gas pedal more sensitive?

 

^ i dont think so

 

probably not, just hold the gear longer, so you can rev higher and stay in the sweet spot longer