[notlostnow]

I live in a smallish town in Florida, not far from Tampa. Many of the roads I drive on have a 45 mph speed limit, so this is a very common speed for me to run. I have noticed that if I am driving in auto mode, the car does not shift into 5th gear until about 50 mph (around 3000 RPMs), yet if I run up to 50 mph and then slow to 45 mph, the transmission remains in 5th (at about 1800/1900 RPMs).


It is more fuel efficient to be in 5th gear at 45 mph (steady driving through town, timing the lights when possible). The car will NOT allow me to manually shift into 5th gear at 45 mph. I imagine it is programmed that the RPMs are too low. But if it will stay in 5th gear if I slow down to 45 mph from 50 mph, why can't I upshift to it?


Does my question make sense, or am I overthinking things here?

 

[Alvon Elrod]

I've also noticed the shifting of the automatic is different from any automatic I've ever driven. Seems that is programmed to not let it 'coast' and get good fuel economy, but rather the programming is such that when you lift your foot from the accelerator, the engine braking is used to slow the car. Seems odd to me. I would thing that the lower air drag coefficient would let the 124 spider get better mpg than our Fiat 500 (manual transmission), if both are driven in a gentle mode to get fuel economy. However, the Fiat 500 gets much better fuel economy than the 124.


Alvon

 

[notlostnow]

I would thing that the lower air drag coefficient would let the 124 spider get better mpg than our Fiat 500 (manual transmission), if both are driven in a gentle mode to get fuel economy. However, the Fiat 500 gets much better fuel economy than the 124.


Alvon

EXACTLY! I traded a manual Fiat 500 for my 124 Spider. It was averaging 38 mpg and getting 42 mpg on the highway. I am looking for ways to improve the mpg on my Spider. I know the turbo hurts the fuel economy, but when I baby the car, I can usually coax close to 30 mpg (trip average) out of it. I will be resetting my overall average at the close of the day on August 31--that is showing 23.3 mpg right now, probably because sometimes I just cannot resist the urge to goose it, LOL! OR because the first couple hundred miles that we owned the car, we all kind of tromped on it a lot. September's average should be better.

 

[algiorda]

HI Michelle,

I also live in the Tampa area. Where did you get your Fiat 124?

Also, I've noticed on many new cars the transmission will "break in" after 500-1000 miles. Meaning, the shift pattern will change a little. You might wait until you put more miles on to see if it changes.

Al

 

[Greg]

OK, I'll try and help,

The 124's fuel economy should be very similar to the 500 Abarth, and in my experience it is. If you can keep your foot out of it, it will get about 35mpg on the highway at 70-75mph. I am sure you could coax it up higher if you could maintain 60mph, but nobody does that.

When you put your foot down and spin the turbo up, the little engine will start to drink fuel. That's the nature of turbo engines. So in order to get really good numbers, you need to stay out of the turbo boost. That said, it still does OK when you get on it a lot, but it's not representative of how fuel efficient the engine can be.

Compared to the regular NON turbo Fiat 500, it's just not going to match that car in fuel economy. The base 500 has more compression, no turbo, and is more fuel efficient, but it's slow.

Greg

 

[Greg]

I've also noticed the shifting of the automatic is different from any automatic I've ever driven. Seems that is programmed to not let it 'coast' and get good fuel economy, but rather the programming is such that when you lift your foot from the accelerator, the engine braking is used to slow the car.
Alvon

I had not noticed this, I'll pay more attention to it next time I drive the car. I find it difficult to know what this transmission is doing since it doesn't display the engaged gear unless you are in manual mode.

Greg

 

[ameridan]

Greg,

I've contacted Fiat asking whether a dealer can reprogram the cluster shift indicator to indicate the current gear rather than "D". I hope the answer is yes I know that in manual mode, the automatic downshifts are displayed.

(I've also asked why free Nav card updates aren't for 4 years, since our warranty is a year longer than Mazda's 3 year duration, and they get 3 years of free map updates.)

 

[Greg]

Greg,

I've contacted Fiat asking whether a dealer can reprogram the cluster shift indicator to indicate the current gear rather than "D". I hope the answer is yes I know that in manual mode, the automatic downshifts are displayed.

They are going to say no. However, if people really want changes to this, I can talk to Toby about it. I was thinking about asking him to reprogram my car's full throttle shifts in Drive to happen at 6500rpm, instead of 6250. Right now the only way you get up to 6500 is by shifting manually.

(I've also asked why free Nav card updates aren't for 4 years, since our warranty is a year longer than Mazda's 3 year duration, and they get 3 years of free map updates.)

Since my Classica doesn't have Nav, I don't know anything about it, but that seems like a fair question to ask them.

Greg

 

[notlostnow]

algiorda, I got my Spider at Parks Alfa Romeo FIAT of Wesley Chapel. Where did you get yours? My car is approaching the 1000 mile mark, so I will be watching to see if there is a change in how the transmission performs. Thank you for the info!


ameridan, if you move the stick to the left, the gear the car is in appears where the "D" was. Technically, I guess this is putting it into Manual Mode. I agree, it would be really nice to see what gear the car is running in, although I am beginning to get accustomed to it and can tell by speed & RPM.


I am going to ask the tech guru at my dealership about why I cannot upshift to 5th when cruising at a steady 45 mph. I've been "speeding" up to 50 mph (until it shifts), then slowing back down to 45 mph to run at the lower RPMs. I feel I shouldn't have to do that! It obviously won't hurt the car or it would downshift to 4th rather than remain in 5th. Silly car.

 

[Greg]

I am going to ask the tech guru at my dealership about why I cannot upshift to 5th when cruising at a steady 45 mph. I've been "speeding" up to 50 mph (until it shifts), then slowing back down to 45 mph to run at the lower RPMs. I feel I shouldn't have to do that! It obviously won't hurt the car or it would downshift to 4th rather than remain in 5th. Silly car.

You are correct, but the tech's answer will likely be something like "that's the way they programmed it" or some mumbo jumbo about acceleration vs. deceleration, hills or something like that. They won't say, oh yeah, you are right, we have a reflash for that.

You are of course correct, 45mph in 5th is 45mph in 5th, regardless of how fast the car was going 15 seconds earlier.

Greg

 

[ameridan]

Quote:
Originally Posted by ameridan
(I've also asked why free Nav card updates aren't for 4 years, since our warranty is a year longer than Mazda's 3 year duration, and they get 3 years of free map updates.)

Since my Classica doesn't have Nav, I don't know anything about it, but that seems like a fair question to ask them.

I got a reply back on this one already.

FIAT warranties are for manufacturing defects. The navigation updates will soon be available via Fiat Toolbox. 
While some software updates are available under warranty however navigation updates are not included.

I'm sorry we cannot provide you with a more favorable reply.

Now back on topic...

 

[canesice]

I got a reply back on this one already.

FIAT warranties are for manufacturing defects. The navigation updates will soon be available via Fiat Toolbox. 
While some software updates are available under warranty however navigation updates are not included.

I'm sorry we cannot provide you with a more favorable reply.

Now back on topic...

Unfortunately this is standard FCA...
No updates are provided in my RAM pickup either. (Uconnect vs. Fiat Connect)

It stinks.