Well, I must say, pulling my 6,000ish 28' travel trailer this past week with the new van (2005 E350 Chateu V10) was a dream!!! Doing a lot of hills in Eastern Kentucky and Southern Indiana was not a nightmare like it was in my Expedition. Plus having the 5 speed trans was a BIG plus when I was able to grab 1 more gear on some of the more extreme hills. I did not like the shift points though because at some points I think that the shifts points could have been better, so I am seriously considering getting a 5 Star Tuner. I really do wish I could sell my Superchips Cortex programmer to get the extra cash!

Of course the downfall to having the great power was the MPG. I was sort of in sticker shock, but what should I expect out of a big ole van with a big ole motor!

 

Glad to hear it's working out for you. The trans may do better--or not--as it gets accustomed to your style of driving, but a tuner would definitely do what you need.

And yeah, more gears in the transmission are always better than fewer. I'm not able to comment on MPG as I don't tow but yeah, a V10 sure has some guts...

Drive it in good health,
George

 

The trans never gets accustomed to anyone's style of driving. That's an internet myth that just won't die.

 

Hmmm, well Mark, you are on the Internet too I really believe this is not totally a myth but it might be effective brainwashing. I may need to do a bit more fact finding on this.

However, I have a '91 BMW 318is (garage queen toy), an '09 Subaru Forester (DD), and my van. The first two have 5 speed sticks, so you better believe that THOSE adapt to my style of driving as they do not have a choice....

So I'm right at least on that technicality...
George

 

Glad your new behemoth is working so well Cherokee--seems it was the right choice. Good on ya man!

I'd put the SuperChips programmer up for sale on eBay and definitely get the 5 Star tuner package. With all Mike's rave for not only his products but the amazing after-sale service too its nothing but a winner.

 

I believe this is totally a myth, and here is why.

It was my job at Ford to program the software that controlled the TorqShift transmission. I was the guy that set up the adaptive software that runs the TorqShift. I didn't do anything that would learn driving style. What I did program is software that learned how long each shift took from when the computer commanded the shift until it read from the speed sensors that the shift had completed. It then memorized a change in pressure to bring the next shift into the right amount of time. It was not affected by how someone drove. How would you adapt how the trans shifts to how someone drives? We didn't want to change WHEN the trans shifts, only how firm/soft it shifted.