akirby

This is pretty cool stuff and exactly how Hackett is trying to get employees to come up with new solutions and new opportunities. I bet they're taking the VIN and using an internal Ford database like ETIS to find the exact options. I wonder if they have to get permission and access from the dealers or if they're just using public apis to get the vehicle information from the dealer inventory website?

Maybe I should have capitalized Hidden Hitch. That’s the brand. http://hiddenhitch.com/

To a point but it’s also dependent on how quickly the clutches can be engaged or disengaged and how many have to be coordinated for each shift.

You put it into S, then manually select a gear to put it into manual mode. Then when you stop and start again and you're in 1st gear, you hit the paddle and it upshifts to 3rd? If that's true then what may be happening is that when you go to S mode it reverts to the 6F55's original 6 speeds (locking out 2nd and 8th). Which actually is starting to make sense.

More shifts are ok if they’re super quick like the mustang/f150 10 speed. But when they’re slow it just compounds the issue.

I added a hidden hitch to our 2016 MKX. It tucks up nicely so you can only see the receiver itself not the cross bars and it does not interfere with the sensor at all. But I’ve heard of other brands that have blocked the sensor. So it’s hard to say for sure.

The way TSBs work is that they describe a fix for common problems to help the technicians. You don’t need a letter to tell you there is a TSB because they’re only going to update the software if you complain about it. When you take it to the dealer and describe the shifting problems they’ll see there is a TSB and apply the software updates.

I just did the one on daughter's 2014 Escape 2.0L. Once you get the replacement part it should be pretty easy to locate on the right side of the engine. On the Escape I had to remove the wipers and cowl and air intake to get to it. Edge probably has a little more room. One thing to remember that isn't pointed out anywhere online that I could see is that the plastic clips work this way: you pull out the square clip on the bottom and then you push in on the curved flush button on top to release it. I spent about 2 hours prying that recessed button off 4 different clips before I figured that out. Thanks youtube.

With something like that all you would have to do is complain about the shifting and mention the TSB # and they should reprogram it no questions asked.

I know a former Ford tranny engineer who explained the adaptive learning. There is a shift table that gives the pressure required for each shift based on rpm and throttle position. This is set at the factory. Every time the transmission performs a shift it compares the actual shift time to the defined shift time and adjusts the pressure as necessary to maintain the same shift time over the life of the transmission as parts wear, etc. When you clear out or reset the shift tables it goes back to factory default settings. I've had at least one vehicle where resetting to factory defaults worked better. Never figured out why but it wasn't just me, so that's entirely plausible. Pretty easy to test, too.

Nobody has ever questioned the transmission shortcomings. I believe what happened is that they were planning to use the new 8 speed but ran into problems and decided that only easy solution was to updated the 6F55 to a 8 spd and they just ran out of time to tune and debug it properly. The bigger question is whether that can be fixed with software or not. Hopefully most of it can be.

I already answered that - manually shifting in S mode is perfectly fine. I went further to try and explain when manually shifting is a big help. So yes I think being able to manually shift any automatic transmission under certain circumstances is a good feature regardless of how well the transmission actually performs. I tried to explain that the problems are not caused by having paddles - the problems are caused by the transmission itself being slow to shift. Has nothing to do with paddles. YOU said ALL paddle shifters are a joke and I was just trying to say that there are some paddle shifted transmissions that are superb in other (more expensive) vehicles. That comment had nothing to do with the Edge.

Not sure but I would try disconnecting the battery cable for a few minutes first to reset it.

I would guess BCM also at this point especially since it's happening on 3 different doors intermittently.

Pretty sure it's included with every Edge ST purchase. Add that to the list of ST only features. That wasn't available on the Sport.

I wouldn’t consider the engine, transmission, suspension and some body parts to be only 5% different.

We all know the transmission isn’t up to snuff, including Ford. It’s brand new and they simply haven’t got all the bugs worked out yet. It should be performing as well as the 10 speed auto in the F150 and Mustangs but it’s not. They did not make it that way on purpose. They just didn’t have enough time to get it right but chose to release it anyway. Not the first time that’s happened. But it seems that most of the gripes here are based on the Sport and that the ST isn’t a big upgrade over the previous Sport. What if the Sport never existed? Instead of being disappointed in the ST why not be surprised at just how good the Sport was even though it wasn’t tuned by Ford Performance? Maybe there just wasn’t much to improve on over the Sport? I do think Ford cheaper out a bit here because this platform is a dead man walking and will be replaced in 2-3 years. So they probably didn’t spend as much time tuning as they did on Focus or Fiesta ST. But at the end of the day this is still a utility vehicle and most buyers don’t care about balls to the wall performance. Explorer ST is a different ballgame. New RWD platform with the Mustang 10 speed transmission. I think it’s likely we could see an Explorer RS at some point, maybe with the Aviator GT’s PHEV drivetrain or maybe the GT350 drivetrain. There is a lot of potential in that platform that just isn’t available in the current Edge.

I think you’re misunderstanding what I meant. You said you could use S mode without manually shifting and while that’s true for most situations there are some where you want more direct control of gear selection - such as holding 2nd gear while descending a mountain or forcing an early downshift when preparing to pass someone. WHEN you want that more direct control the paddles are an easy and ergonomic way of providing that capability - as compared to the buttons on the shifter like my F150. I’ve owned all 3 versions: paddles, buttons on the shifter and actually moving the shifter back and forth and the paddles are the easiest to use. So to sum up, being able to directly control gear selection does come in handy in some situations and to me paddles are the most ergonomic way to achieve that functionality. You don’t need them in everyday driving. But when you do need them they work well. Now I’m not referring to the actual performance of the transmission itself - that’s a different issue. That has nothing whatsoever to do with paddles - the transmission itself has issues that Ford is working on.

I think you’re overreacting here both to the video and to what the Edge ST “should have been”. All Ford has ever said is that it’s the first SUV tuned by Ford Performance. Anything beyond that you made up yourself.

Yes, big difference in price and performance there. We traded in daughter’s 2012 Focus on our MKX and gave her the Escape just to get rid of it. I’m planning to get a Boxster in a couple of years and it will probably be a PDK.

S won’t work when going down a steep mountain - it still upshifts. I have sport mode on my F150 but I still use manual mode to force and hold a lower gear when going up a steep hill towards my house. Look at it this way - once you have an electronically controlled transmission it’s so easy to add paddles or buttons to allow manual shifting that it’s a no brainer. It’s better to have precise control over gear selection than to not have that control.

Ahem - not ALL paddle shifters are jokes. DCTs are superb transmissions and can’t be beat for performance. I’ve driven Porsches, Ferraris and an Audi on a track and it’s amazing, even in automatic mode. You lose the feel of manually shifting and working the clutch (and I agree that’s fun) but you can’t come close to manually shifting as well or as fast as a DCT. That’s why they’re using it on the GT and the upcoming Mustang GT500. Paddle shifters on a traditional automatic simply give you more control over gear selection but the transmission itself isn’t any different and you don’t get any more performance, just a more convenient way to select gears. Mainly useful for holding a lower gear when cornering or going down a mountain or forcing an early downshift before passing. In that respect they work fine, but they will never be a substitute for a manual.

There is a reason the 2.0LEB is the smallest engine offered. 1.6L would have to work a lot harder and probably not yield any significant mpg improvement - might even be worse. You would also have something never offered from the factory so there is no exact match PCM version.

It will skip gears under light throttle. That’s the benefit of having more gears. My 10 speed F150 shifts 1-3-5 under light throttle. I’ve also heard that 2nd and 3rd gear are very close to each other so it may be shifting and it’s just not that noticeable. Watch the tachometer as you shift.

It's $53K with the same level of equipment. Hard to believe they can get 5.9 0-60 with a 248 hp 2.0T even with a DCT but that's what it says so I'll take their word for it. Impressive.