Gear indicator on dash?

[grayshadow]

I think the current vehicle you have is going to drive you insane.

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[John Whammer]

Good questions! I grew up driving a manual transmission and my first vehicle had a manual transmission. As you drive a manual, you know exactly what gear you are in and you get a better feel for what is going on with the vehicle, specifically the drive train. You learn to feel when the engine is lugging and you need to down-shift, when the engine is revving and that you need to shift, etc.

Since that time, all of my vehicles have had 4-speed automatic transmissions. But the things I learned from driving manuals still apply to the automatics. Many times when I see a hill coming up, I will pull it out of over-drive and into 3rd. It gives the chance for the engine to get into the powerband at the base of the hill instead of part way up after lugging down.

About a year ago, my wife and I rented a Jeep Wrangler Rubicon for a week and it had an option of turning on an indicator on the dash that showed which of the 8 forward gears you were in. I LOVED IT! We were driving mostly in hilly country and when I had the cruise control on, as we would approach a hill, it would very smoothly shift from 8th to 7th and some times even into 6th depending on how long and steep the hill was. It was fascinating and entertaining and gave me a connection to the vehicle as I watched it do its magic. It was much different than the 4 speed autos that I have been driving for the past 30 years. The shifts were nice and smooth and each shift ticked the RPM up just a bit instead of the very large RPM changes that come with shifting from 4th to 3rd.

But even more important, being aware of the temperatures and behavior of both the transmission and engine helps identify problems as you are driving and, as mentioned earlier, especially while pulling a trailer.

Our new Bronco's 10 speed automatic has very subtle shifts. As we start going up a hill, if you aren't paying attention, you barely notice the shifts and you can easily loose track of what gear the transmission is in. And after years of being keenly aware of what is going on with the transmission, I feel a little blind. Also, it is my understanding that 7th gear is 1:1, meaning that one revolution in results in one revolution out. In a planetary gear transmission, this means that it is the strongest gear because the gear sets themselves are not spinning but instead they are rotating as a mass. As you are pulling a trailer up a long steep grade, this is the gear you want to be in to reduce temperatures. It would be nice to know what gear I'm in without having to shift into manual mode.

After driving the Rubicon last year, I was sure that our new Bronco would have this feature. I still have a little hope that we may still find an option to turn this feature on. Not having it certainly isn't a deal breaker. But it would certainly be disappointing to me not to have it.

this is a great reply. I’ve been very annoyed by the failire of folks to just understand why this is desirable. Basically, Knowing what the engine is doing is beneficial to driving a vehicle.

 

[JimmyG]

this is a great reply. I’ve been very annoyed by the failire of folks to just understand why this is desirable. Basically, Knowing what the engine is doing is beneficial to driving a vehicle.

To you it is, to others it isn't. We all have different opinions. No need to get annoyed. You do you and the rest will do what they want. Relax, it will be ok.

 

[Stampede.Offroad]

As long as it shows what gear you are in when you change gears, what would be the usefulness of displaying all the time? Won’t you know what gear you are in?...

To know what the vehicle is doing? So you can recognize undesirable behavior before **** explodes?

Why display the speed, or tire pressure, engine temp, etc. etc. etc.? Dummy lights for everything!

Maybe some day we can replace the fake analog speedometer with something useful like this. Surely the computer is tracking the info, and other Ford models like the pickups usually display this, so with the right modification Bronco should be able to.

 

[8cam]

It's all software and Ford has the tech in other vehicles. I really hope at some point there's an update (or a hack) that puts the gear indicator on all the time AND uses the higher-gear lockout feature. I live in a mountainous area and both features are really useful. The way it grabs 10th as quickly as possible just means it gets lumpy and slushy going up and down mountain roads. And the auto shifting is nowhere near as smooth as it should be, so it gets caught out. Hell just going into my driveway confuses it, so I either hit it at a run, or come to a near stop before going up. I really need to enable sport mode and see if it improves things.

 

[dgorsett]

It's all software and Ford has the tech in other vehicles. I really hope at some point there's an update (or a hack) that puts the gear indicator on all the time AND uses the higher-gear lockout feature. I live in a mountainous area and both features are really useful. The way it grabs 10th as quickly as possible just means it gets lumpy and slushy going up and down mountain roads. And the auto shifting is nowhere near as smooth as it should be, so it gets caught out. Hell just going into my driveway confuses it, so I either hit it at a run, or come to a near stop before going up. I really need to enable sport mode and see if it improves things.

I have been totally happy with the performance of my 10 spd and don't find it hunty at all, but I still want this feature. Knowing what gear you're in and being able to limit the upper end is endlessly helpful in hilly country or off road.

 

[8cam]

I have been totally happy with the performance of my 10 spd and don't find it hunty at all, but I still want this feature. Knowing what gear you're in and being able to limit the upper end is endlessly helpful in hilly country or off road.

My biggest issues might be fixed with sport mode, which I really need to unlock. Diving for the highest gear as quickly as possible, and taking a helluva boot to get it to downshift. It results in lurchy behavior in the mountains. Limiting the upper end would help a lot too.

And I know it's all possible because when you shift into one of the GOAT modes, the transmission behaves completely different. And it's awesome there. It just needs the on-road behavior improved.

 

[dgorsett]

My biggest issues might be fixed with sport mode, which I really need to unlock. Diving for the highest gear as quickly as possible, and taking a helluva boot to get it to downshift. It results in lurchy behavior in the mountains. Limiting the upper end would help a lot too.

And I know it's all possible because when you shift into one of the GOAT modes, the transmission behaves completely different. And it's awesome there. It just needs the on-road behavior improved.

My BB has Sport mode and I don't like it. Shifts much too high for me, over 4000 RPM, I like shifts around 3K. But then I'm old, so there's that. Sounds like you might like it.

 

[Hemisfear]

The whole point of my original post is that it doesn't show when the automatic transmission is in the automatic mode. It will show it when you're in manual mode but it will not show what gear the automatic transmission automatically shifts into. You can hit the plus or minus button when you're in automatic mode but then that forces the transmission to shift. I want to see what gear the transmission is in when it's in the automatic mode without me having to shift it.

But if you would need to shift, you need to shift, I don't see why you would need to see what gear you are in to make this decision?
I use this feature all the time on trail, never on road though...
Similar to the tach, but then again anyone who regularly drives stick never looks at the tach...

 

[Lakelife36]

It's all software and Ford has the tech in other vehicles. I really hope at some point there's an update (or a hack) that puts the gear indicator on all the time AND uses the higher-gear lockout feature.

@damarble would tell you in no uncertain terms that there's a fantastic hack for it.

 

[jd-ford-hd]

@damarble would tell you in no uncertain terms that there's a fantastic hack for it.

I wonder who damarble is and what happened to this user.? Probably got kicked out of the group for solving the gear display problem. The forscan people told me no way to do it that they know of.....yet.! Every F series truck has the option to select speed displayed continuously. I want it in my Broncos.!

 

[SHANUT]

As long as it shows what gear you are in when you change gears, what would be the usefulness of displaying all the time? Won’t you know what gear you are in?

Not trying to be a smart ass, just wondering when that feature would be needed or useful. My current vehicles are manuals or just have it by the gear selector.

With a 10 speed you may have an idea what gear you’re in but unless it shows on the dash you won’t know for certain. In the pick up trucks you can turn it on, so you see it all the time and it is fantastic. Also, you can lock out as many gears as you want in the truck. This is especially useful when towing so that you’re not burning up your transmission shifting too much automatically in a lot of different overdrive gears. It’s a shame the bronco doesn’t have this feature.

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