Driving in S mode

C

CentcomPete

Member
During city commuting, and when not on the highway, I drive in 4s mode -the change in gearing makes a huge positive difference in throttle response/transmission characteristics. I have only been doing this for a week or so but would like to always drive in this gear when I'm around town doing less than 45mph.

I see nothing in the manual about driving for extended periods in 4s. Is there anything wrong with this practice?
 
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CentcomPete said:
During city commuting, and when not on the highway, I drive in 4s mode -the change in gearing makes a huge positive difference in throttle response/transmission characteristics. I have only been doing this for a week or so but would like to always drive in this gear when I'm around town doing less than 45mph.

I see nothing in the manual about driving for extended periods in 4s. Is there anything wrong with this practice?
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Nope, I only drive in S mode , did that with my Tundra as well. I definitely notice the slight difference it makes. I also hold down the trac button for 3 seconds to turn off all the nannies every time I start it up before I even shift it out of park, did the same on the Tundra and FJ. I also notice a slight MPG increase it seems.
 
yeah do that myself, little better mpg and more zip around town, will also bump it down one when im about to pass on the highway
 
I notice no difference except the 5th gear is locked out. It does help when I'm cruising around 40 mph on a slight downhill grade, it prevents that overdrive gear-hunting. But no performance, shift point difference at all.
 
i keep mine in 4th around town.. i'll bump it up if i'm going over 45 for an extended period of time. just feels better.. like the power we wished we had in 5th lol
 
I use it more for engine braking coming off the highway or going down a hill in our neighbourhood I'll shift down to 3rd rather than ride the brakes.

Also... I don't believe 4th is locked out as you can shift back up to it in S mode. I also found out really quick S mode does not auto shift at redline lol.
 
Same for me - 4S below 40 mph. I don't notice a performance change, but it stops that annoying 4-5-4-5-4 hunting right around 38 mph.
 
JayceeP said:
I also found out really quick S mode does not auto shift at redline lol.
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I am not sure about this. I believe it is stated from Toyota that it WILL shift if you hit redline and I KNOW it will not you go into a lower gear if the 4R's computers knows it will go into redline, it just gives you the single 'no' beep.
 
i never use it. for some reason i always thought it is not good for transmission.
any thoughts if there is any possibilities to damage transmission, even over time?
i want to keep this truck for my 5 year old son:):driving:
 
westwind77 said:
I am not sure about this. I believe it is stated from Toyota that it WILL shift if you hit redline and I KNOW it will not you go into a lower gear if the 4R's computers knows it will go into redline, it just gives you the single 'no' beep.
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I've hit the rev limiter a few times in 3rd gear (in S -Mode) merging onto the highway while pulling my boat.

So- from my experience at least- the tranny didn't upshift. I didn't hold it on the limiter for more than a second or two though.
 
Jeremy556 said:
Why not?
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D, or Drive gives you all 5 gears. S, Shift (or Sport) locks out successively higher gears of your choosing. So, making all 5 available in both modes seems redundant.

I use S mode usually only off-road. But, as posted above, sometimes in town to prevent the 5-4-5 hunting. Most of the time though, D is fine around town.
 
I use S mode when going up any incline when between 50 and 65 mph. I encounter several on every commute. Actually increased my MPG from 18 to 19 and I have a more responsive throttle.
 
buchaja said:
D, or Drive gives you all 5 gears. S, Shift (or Sport) locks out successively higher gears of your choosing. So, making all 5 available in both modes seems redundant.

I use S mode usually only off-road. But, as posted above, sometimes in town to prevent the 5-4-5 hunting. Most of the time though, D is fine around town.
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I disagree - I use S mode pretty much all of the time, and having the ability to choose overdrive (in those rare instances I am traveling down a grade that isn't steep enough to require engine braking), in line with the rest of the gear choices, only makes sense. I can't even imagine a negative to having the ability/option.
 
If I wanted to bang away at a plastic stick, I'd have bought a proper manual, not pretended to drive one with my AT.

The shifting mechanics, response time, and overall ergonomics of the system in no way behave like any MT I've driven and about the only time I use it is when I want engine braking--but even then Toyota prefers to override your decisions if they think the RPMs would be excessive for vehicle speed.

And if you bury the gas, the 4Runner will accelerate while holding every gear to as close to the red line as possible--at least mine does.
 
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LandCruiser said:
If I wanted to bang away at a plastic stick, I'd have bought a proper manual, not pretended to drive one with my AT.

The shifting mechanics, response time, and overall ergonomics of the system in no way behave like any MT I've driven and about the only time I use it is when I want engine braking--but even then Toyota prefers to override your decisions if they think the RPMs would be excessive for vehicle speed.

And if you bury the gas, the 4Runner will accelerate while holding every gear to as close to the red line as possible--at least mine does.
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Can you even buy a midsize SUV with a proper manual anymore?
 
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