FLAT ACCELERATION AT MID THROTTLE

[Robwill]

Everyone,

New to the Forum. Have a 21 Ranger Lariat FX4 and have noticed while accelerating at around mid throttle like merging quickly on to the interstate, that when the truck hits around 55-60 at around 3500 RPM, it seems to get "confused" and just sits there without accelerating or upshifting. If I mash the go pedal further down, it goes like normal with gusto. Has anyone else noticed this behavior and if so, had it checked out?

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[Robwill]

I agree. It only happens in the one situation so I either accelerate slower or go a little harder. Almost feels like the ECU is pulling boost or timing until I push it harder.

 

[that408guy]

Does this also happen in sports mode as well? I use to get a dead spot when accelerating around the same point (not every time). But since I've switched to sports mode I have not had it happen once. Still getting the same gas mileage too surprisingly.

 

[Robwill]

Haven't tried that but will tomorrow. Thanks Eric!

 

[9zero1790]

mine does not do as you described. but, mine has the ford performance pack tune so maybe the tune fixed the slump of the stock tune. is your turbo doing its thing when you feel the slump ? maybe its boost drooping off

 

[Robwill]

Not sure Mark. When I go deeper in the accelerator, it hauls the mail so the boost is there with more throttle. It just has a flat spot at about half throttle at 3500 in 5th or 6th. I'm going to try Sport mode and see if that helps. I had a 2014 2.0 Escape that was a completely different running car when in Sport so hopefully my Ranger will be the same.

 

[JasonTremor]

I find that drive mode seems to short shift at anything other than full throttle. Therefore, any time I need to merge on interstate on ramp or merge into quick moving traffic, I pull it back into sport mode first.

 

[Robwill]

Thanks Jason.

 

[NotBudule]

Tow mode is the sweet spot ? ?

 

[OFC Ranger]

Two Answers You Seek:

1. Tow Mode (which should have been D mode to start with to be honest)

2. Tuner (addresses terrible e-throttle response and gear mapping)


Bonus Answer: Tow Mode + Tuner

In town lock out gears 8, 9, and 10 - for highway lock out gear 10, or if in tow mode it will do this automatically. I actually increased my in town MPG doing this.

Remember at the end of the day Ford designed the truck to meet stupid .GOV regulations first and then performance second.

 

[Robwill]

Tow mode is the sweet spot ? ?

After a couple of days of using Sport mode and then Tow mode I have to agree with you that Tow mode is what DRIVE should have been. It actually uses every gear and drive like it should. The transmission in tow mode almost performs as well as the ZF8 transmission in my wife's Jag. I'll never understand why Ford developed a great 10 speed transmission and then programed it to skip half the gears under normal driving conditions. Frustrating. The only way to make it better would be to have Tow mode be on permanently without the annoying dash light. Has anyone attempted to do that using Forscan?

 

[NotBudule]

Don't think you can forscan that, you can get a "tune" , but that's money and possible warranty void ... I'm in Tow 80 % ... would be 100% but my drive from work has some hills the first several miles , Tow is just to heavy on the braking for my liking , I just hit tow at the bottom and cruise it on home ... Tow mode without the brakes would be my perfect tune ? but around 500 bucks and iffy on the warranty is gona have me pushing buttons for a while , I bitched at first , but now it's automatic...

 

[Motorpsychology]

Remember when automatic transmissions were automatic? Three speeds, put it in Drive and drive, tow, whatever.

 

[Robwill]

Yep. And I remember trucks that had gaps in power delivery because the the gear spacing was so wide that the engine fell off the torque curve at every shift or it was geared so low it turned 4000 rpm at 70 mph and got 15 mpg. What Ford and GM need to fo is what ZF did on the 8 speed that is in every BMW, Jag and Mercedes and a lit of Chrsyler products. They have Eco, Comfort and Sport settings. Basically, the Comfort settings correlate to Tow mode on our Rangers without having to push a damned button every time and see a dash light.

 

[scarchild35]

I've had mine for about 9 months now. I'm coming from a 2000 Ranger with 3.0, 5 speed and 4:10 rear axle. It was peppy in the first three gears (NOTHING like the new one though) and by the time you got to 4th or 5th on the highway acceleration was a word that may as well have never even existed. I drove that truck for 23 freaking years. I mention this because I find the transmission in my new truck just fine. At first I was learning how to get what I wanted out of it and it took me awhile to figure out the motions, so to speak. I use a combination of tow mode, locking out gears, sport mode and even manual shift to get what I want. Once you figure it out it becomes second nature.

I actually like the amount of control I have over all the different modes but at this point, I honestly just leave it in D most of the time. Yes, there are some spots in certain gears at certain rpms that are a little disappointing but I've just adapted by using the throttle pedal. I am a sales engineer by profession and drive a lot every day, city, highway, back roads, you name it. I just don't get bashful with the throttle when it's in D and I do just fine, averaging around 24 mpg (calculated the old way). I drive very conservatively but every so often do a WOT blast just for fun. Just a few short seconds from 75 to 95 and that's as fast as I've ever been in it but it accelerates so quickly from 70 or 75 or even 80, I think I'll be happy for a long time to come. So find what works for you and do it.

I do like the braking in tow mode but I got a little aggressive the other day in sport mode and it definitely made some pretty dramatic downshifts while decelerating rapidly from a decent speed. I just wish I could monitor shift patterns while in S mode. The traction control works just when I feel it needs to. The tires will chirp or squeak a little under decent acceleration in S mode even in 2nd and 3rd but I've yet to intentionally try to break the tires loose by driving hard with traction control off.

So having said all that, NO I do not miss my five speed. At all. Even if Ford offered a Ranger with a manual, tempting as it may be, I'd still go for the automatic. 23 years of driving my old one wore out my enthusiasm for using a clutch. In a perfect world, we could get the 7 speed Tremec like they put in the Cobra GT500, that would be pretty amazing. And probably add another 15k to the price. That's what the Ranger Raptor should have gotten, in my opinion.

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