When you click on links to various merchants on this site and make a purchase, this can result in this site earning a commission. Affiliate programs and affiliations include, but are not limited to, the eBay Partner Network.
I've often elected to move to 3rd rather than be forced into 4th, which it will accept, but I want to make the decisions!
Originally Posted by Kent1999
Mine is just that $20 is cheap, and after that, I can then choose to drive like a grandpa *or* aggressively, however I feel like driving at any particular moment. These cars have a LOT of torque off idle, and allow a lot of leeway in short-shifting when just schlepping around town.
I never drive like a Grandpa or Great-grandpa (which I am) but still want to make the shifting decisions 100% of the time -never the car! But I do casually "schlep" occasionally, as retired folk can! Why rush home as their will just be more added to the Honey-Do-List!
Don't be a slave to the Honey Do List. Insist that all entries must be nouns where you supply the verb, thus "Lawn" can translate to "Mow the lawn" or "Admire the Lawn." Easy fix, just like the shift gizmo. OP has his answer. Install gizmo or don't. Same goes for the rest of us. /thread.
All these posts about well, just rev it higher in 1st miss the point. There are times when that just doesn't work like making a slow right turn behind slow traffic. I instinctively shift to 2nd mid turn and then get lugged down in 4th. I know, I could consciously try not to shift but I still mostly do. I don't have an eliminator yet so it bites me once in awhile like that but never on a straight take off.
Don't be a slave to the Honey Do List. Insist that all entries must be nouns where you supply the verb, thus "Lawn" can translate to "Mow the lawn" or "Admire the Lawn." Easy fix, just like the shift gizmo. OP has his answer. Install gizmo or don't. Same goes for the rest of us. /thread.
Lawn is not my problem! After rolling in 3 gave up! Not one blade of grass now. But have over 1000 plants and water falls! Always something to do!
My question is why is it designed for 1st to 4th not 1st to 3rd, seems the gear ratio from 1st to 4th causes the rev to drop, to where the 1st to 3rd would keep rpm's up.
^^^
It's all related to the Federal driving cycle required when measuring mpg. Chevy does whatever to get the best mpg! Has nothing to do with real world driving!
The Owner's Manual shows what they say will achieve the best gas mileage:
For the best fuel economy, Shift FROM TO:
1st to 4th @ 17 mph (note it assumes skip shift activates so no 2nd and 3rd)
4th to 5th @ 25 mph
5th to 6th @ 40 mph
6th to 7th @ 45 mph
My question is why is it designed for 1st to 4th not 1st to 3rd, seems the gear ratio from 1st to 4th causes the rev to drop, to where the 1st to 3rd would keep rpm's up.
Likely just mechanical expediency.
Easy to bump the shifter path a little to the right with a simple solenoid push, and slot it down into the 4th gear gate as it tries to go down into 2nd.
To go into 3rd instead, you'd have to completely reverse its direction from downwards to upwards, basically force the user to stop his shift motion and make a U-turn with the shifter back up into the "3rd" gate. Not really a practical way to do that.
All these posts about well, just rev it higher in 1st miss the point. There are times when that just doesn't work like making a slow right turn behind slow traffic. I instinctively shift to 2nd mid turn and then get lugged down in 4th. I know, I could consciously try not to shift but I still mostly do. I don't have an eliminator yet so it bites me once in awhile like that but never on a straight take off.
Easy fix, don't shift out of first during a slow right (or left) turn behind slow traffic, keep both hands on the wheel, focus on the turn, and traffic. Get rid of that instinct. It's a bad habit.
My question is why is it designed for 1st to 4th not 1st to 3rd, seems the gear ratio from 1st to 4th causes the rev to drop, to where the 1st to 3rd would keep rpm's up.
I wondering the same thing. Seems like a really stupid feature to allow you to shift into 4th, but not 2nd, between 14 & 19 mph.
Almost as dumb as the Stop/Start feature on my Grand Cherokee to save a miniscule of gas to increase the mpg rating.
Who thinks up this crap???
I wondering the same thing. Seems like a really stupid feature to allow you to shift into 4th, but not 2nd, between 14 & 19 mph.
Almost as dumb as the Stop/Start feature on my Grand Cherokee to save a miniscule of gas to increase the mpg rating.
Who thinks up this crap???
Are you unaware of federal regulations requiring that manufacturers meet a corporate average mpg target number for all models produced by that manufacturer? Are you aware that the target numbers move increasingly higher over time? Did you know that CAGS allowed both the C6 and C7 to avoid the Federal Gas Guzzler Tax? Do you really think manufacturers designed and implemented things like CAGS and Start/Stop systems because they wanted to?
The 15-19 mph window for CAGS is actually incredibly clever, because it satisfied federal regulators, and the engineers knew full well that the vast majority of customers driving Corvettes would never see it.
^^^ Below is a pic I produced some time ago. It is based on real data but obviously varies depending on where you drive, city versus highway. This was an average.
Note very little of the energy in gasoline gets to the rear wheels! What does, about a 1/3 is wasted when braking!
~17% is consumed idling!
Those that don't like Skip/Shift and forced 4 cylinder mode in automatics need to get ready for a Vette with Start/Stop (have it in our BMW SUV and it's hardly noticeably it's done so well. GM is as smart as BMW and will implement just fine! Don't even hear the starter motor and the car starts as soon as your foot leaves the brake and before you hit the gas pedal! Today they are stopping the engine right after combustion in a cylinder and that pressure provides much of the power needed to crack the engine!)
Our BMW also as a form of simple braking energy recovery. It only powers the alternator when coasting or braking! Lets that large AGM battery power the AC fan when the engine is off! It also powers the electric water pump, needed with Start/Stop. Regenerative braking is coming.
Current F1 cars use a great technology. They have a motor/generator attached to the engine that charges a small battery when braking and the battery delivers 160 hp for a short time (few seconds) when useful. The system weighs under 100 pounds. Would be a great way to get a Vette from a stop light (a large energy consumer) and could operate for max ~10 seconds only requiring a small battery! Lots of opportunities and GM will use as you note to meet their Corporate average MPG that is getting tougher!
PS: Those who will only drive a pushrod V8 best buy now as my "guess" is the new mid engine Vette will have a twin turbo, double overhead cam, 4 valve/cylinder ~3.5 Liter V6! The 2017 Ford GT gets 647 hp from an engine with those specs! Have to use some of that wasted exhaust energy!
All these posts about well, just rev it higher in 1st miss the point. There are times when that just doesn't work like making a slow right turn behind slow traffic. I instinctively shift to 2nd mid turn and then get lugged down in 4th. I know, I could consciously try not to shift but I still mostly do. I don't have an eliminator yet so it bites me once in awhile like that but never on a straight take off.
Thanks for most of the classy replies, Folks! I contacted my dealer and he said they don't have the chip for the 2018 yet and check back in the spring. My guy said the old 'resistor' flashed all sorts of codes in the 18 so it was a problem. Not sure if it's inhibiting or just lights. Guess I won't get the one on ebay.
Cost is $25 and they'll install it when they do my oil change for nothing.
Again thanks and maybe I'll muscle memory it above 20 mph and it won't be an issue anymore.
Are you unaware of federal regulations requiring that manufacturers meet a corporate average mpg target number for all models produced by that manufacturer? Are you aware that the target numbers move increasingly higher over time? Did you know that CAGS allowed both the C6 and C7 to avoid the Federal Gas Guzzler Tax? Do you really think manufacturers designed and implemented things like CAGS and Start/Stop systems because they wanted to?
The 15-19 mph window for CAGS is actually incredibly clever, because it satisfied federal regulators, and the engineers knew full well that the vast majority of customers driving Corvettes would never see it.
The 1X4 skip shift has absolutely nothing to do with keeping the C6 and the C7 from avoiding the gas guzzler tax. It might help very little on a model that was extremely close to the 22.5 MPG trigger point.
Only the C6 ZR1 had to pay the gas guzzler tax, not the Z06 or the base C6. GM did make a change in the 5th & 6th gear transmission ratios on the ZR1 in 2012 to improve the highway gas mileage, but it failed to get the ZR1 above the 22.5 MPG trigger point. The C6 Z06 already had those high 5th & 6th gear transmission ratios. The base C6 could have not had the CAGs and it would not pay the GG tax, same with the base C7. The C7 Z06 M7 would be close to paying the GG tax, but I'm not 100% sure as I don't have the numbers for the C7 Z06 M7 to see how close it is to having 22.5 MPG or less(calculated for seeing if the GG tax was hit) which would require it to pay the GG tax.
It only helps the CAFE numbers which are calculated different from the gas guzzle tax.
GM knew at what speed most people would likely shift gear at(15-19 MPH) thus they selected that range in which to force the driver to shift to 4th gear to keep the engine RPM's down, thus improving the gas mileage. They also factored in what would happen if they forced the driver to shift at too low a speed/RPM and bogged the engine in 4th gear.
If most people were shifting from 1st to 2nd at, say 20-25, then that would have been the speed at which GM would have set for the CAGS activation. The 15-20 MPH which GM chose was not an arbitrary number that they picked out of a hat.
It was not GM's intention to force people to shift from 1st to 2nd at a higher speed/RPM to avoid the CAGS from kicking in. All that does is to use more gas than actually shifting from 1st to 2nd between 15-19 MPH without a CAGS in place, which is what I do since I have deleted the CAGS.
I can shift from 1st to 2nd gear at 5 MPH or at 17 MPH or at 61 MPH, based on the driving conditions at the point in time when I want to shift gears. With the CAGS deactivated, I can shift into what ever gear I choose at any speed I choose, without any interference from the car's computer and solenoid..
Thanks for most of the classy replies, Folks! I contacted my dealer and he said they don't have the chip for the 2018 yet and check back in the spring. Cost is $25 and they'll install it when they do my oil change for nothing.
Again thanks and maybe I'll muscle memory it above 20 mph and it won't be an issue anymore.
The CAGS Eliminator is not an IC chip. It's a simple resistor that is in a plastic housing that plugs into the wiring harness that goes to the transmission. The CAGS Eliminator also includes a sperate plug that fits into the transmission electrical plug-in to keep it clean once the wiring harness is removed.
The purpose of the resistor is to fool the computer into believing the solenoid is in proper working order. If the resistor is not in the circuit when you unhook the wiring harness from the transmission, then the computer sees an open circuit and thinks the solenoid is defective and throws a code(CEL).
My CAGS Eliminator resistor burned out after about two years of operation and I replaced it with a 2.2k ohm 1/2 watt carbon-film resistor from Radio Shack. It's been in place for some 7 years now without throwing a code(CEL).
The CAGS Eliminator is not an IC chip. It's a simple resistor that is in a plastic housing that plugs into the wiring harness that goes to the transmission. The CAGS Eliminator also includes a sperate plug that fits into the transmission electrical plug-in to keep it clean once the wiring harness is removed.
The purpose of the resistor is to fool the computer into believing the solenoid is in proper working order. If the resistor is not in the circuit when you unhook the wiring harness from the transmission, then the computer sees an open circuit and thinks the solenoid is defective and throws a code(CEL).
My CAGS Eliminator resistor burned out after about two years of operation and I replaced it with a 2.2k ohm 1/2 watt carbon-film resistor from Radio Shack. It's been in place for some 7 years now without throwing a code(CEL).
You must be referring to the bypass for a C5. I think the resistance is less for C7. I measured one that was supposed to be for a C7 and it was only 25 ohm.
I wish that someone that is installing one of the current ones being sold for the C7 would measure the resistance with an ohm meter before they install it.... It would be interesting to see what resistance the suppliers are selling now.
Wonder if anyone has actually just measured the resistance of the lock out solenoid
You must be referring to the bypass for a C5. I think the resistance is less for C7. I measured one that was supposed to be for a C7 and it was only 25 ohm.
I wish that someone that is installing one of the current ones being sold for the C7 would measure the resistance with an ohm meter before they install it.... It would be interesting to see what resistance the suppliers are selling now.
Wonder if anyone has actually just measured the resistance of the lock out solenoid
The 2.2K ohm is what I'm using in my C6.
I don't know what the resistance is (if it is any different) for a C7.
10-05-2017, 06:19 PM
I never drive like a Grandpa or Great-grandpa (which I am) but still want to make the shifting decisions 100% of the time -never the car! But I do casually "schlep" occasionally, as retired folk can! Why rush home as their will just be more added to the Honey-Do-List! 
