Driving Tips with your Allison Automatic Transmission

Situation:
Highway Driving

Technique:

Operating in the “Drive” mode is recommended for normal driving conditions to reduce engine RPM for maximum fuel economy. Your Foretravel is equipped with an Allison Transmission with a secondary shift schedule option “mode selection button”, the mode should be “ON” for secondary mode versus “OFF” for the primary mode.

Situation:

Mountainous Driving (Up & Down Terrain)

Technique:

Manually pre-select a lower gear in order to maintain engine speed within a range of 500 RPM of engine governed speed. Road speed may decrease but power (torque) will remain at peak output while ascending a grade. When descending a grade, never use a higher gear than was used climbing that same grade. The selection of a lower gear will also minimize cycling between a gear and the next gear on a series of short up & down hills.

Situation:

City Driving (Stop & Go Traffic)

Technique:

Select the highest range that will allow the vehicle to reach the speed you expect to maintain between stops. This will minimize cycling between a gear and the next higher gear while driving in stop & go traffic conditions. When traffic conditions return to normal, move the selector back to the DRIVE position.

Situation:

Driving on Ice or Snow

Technique:

If possible, reduce your speed and select a lower gear before you loose traction. Select the gear that will not exceed the speed you expect to maintain. Accelerate or decelerate very gradually to prevent loosing traction. It is very important to slow gradually when a lower gear is selected. It is important that you reach the lower gear selected before attempting to accelerate. This will avoid an unexpected downshift during acceleration.

Situation:

Engine Braking

Technique:

To use the engine as a braking force, select the next lower gear. If the vehicle is exceeding the maximum speed for this gear, use the service brakes to slow the vehicle. Engine braking provides good speed control for going down grades. When the vehicle is heavily loaded, or the grade is steep, it may be desirable to pre-select a lower gear prior to the grade. The transmission control system will inhibit a shift into any range at a speed that will cause engine over speed. Any lower forward range may be selected at any time, but the actual engagement will not occur until road speed is reduced – downshifting is progressive as road speed decreases. The inhibit effect will cause downshifts to occur at slightly higher speeds than normal automatic downshifts.