The TL automatic transmission will always shift to second gear, want it or not. You can't keep it in 1st. :'( Is there any (relatively easy) way to change this?

Of course, I am not sure that I would do it under warranty.

 

'L' will do that.

 

L will also shift to 2nd by itself. There is no way to hold either L or SS in 1st.

 

L only helps you stay in 1st gear longer... but forever...

 

I found that putting it in low will keep it in first. Once I reach a high RPM I push it up and pull into SS. Now it's in 2nd. You have to do it quickly so that it does not go into 3rd or 4th.
This works pretty well.

 

From the Owner's Manual, page 183:
"Accelerating in first gear, the transmission upshifts to second gear at about 37 mph. You must move the shift lever to D to upshift to third gear."

 

Depending on how "ready" the engine is, it will upshift accordingly. I have found that if you keep it in L or D, it USUALLY will upshift right around 6800 whereas in SS1 or L sometimes it tends to shift around 6300...if you are "Racing" then the best thing to do is probably either keep it in D or L (keep foot on gas always) and when IT (not you) upshifts to second at redline, go SS2 and you should be able to get 75 in SS2

 

I'm not sure the right RPM... but TOV site ever had the video displaying the shift-point of RPM on SS mode and D mode.

 

Can you give specific directions on how to find that? (You usually do :-) )