At first I thought it was a mistake almost like the engine was lugging but it was in eco mode and shifting early.
In normal mode it can shift through three or four gears in (what felt like) one second. And it has a seven speed transmission.
I was wondering if I got a Hellcat trans by mistake!
When you're on the highway in cruise I'm sure it selects a ratio that gets the best possible milage, but they live in the country. You need to accelerate through tight turns, pass slower vehicles without hitting oncoming traffic and constantly adjust the throttle and steering on dirt roads based on conditions. Driving in the middle of nowhere is a very active process and it always feels like that car is just in the way.
Just a tiny bit of throttle causes it to downshift 2 or 3 times and rev the nuts out of the engine when all I wanted was just a little more torque. Lifting off just a little to prepare for a tight bend upshifts to engine brake, so once you're halfway through the corner and want power to accelerate through now it has to downshift 3 or 4 times to get the revs back up. It feels like I am constantly at war with the transmission trying to get it into the right gear and then stay there. It's the most indecisive codriver I've ever experienced.
One other thing about the van it's so sluggish off a dead stop it's as if a normal press of the throttle does nothing a tiny bit more you're spinning the wheels and massive torque steer.
I've ridden with people that drive like that. Self-driving cars can't come soon enough.
I just found it funny that brake jobs on that poor minivan always cost shitloads of money because she always ground the pads all the way down to the metal and obliterated the rotors. I'm sure that the mechanic always sighed and shook his head ruefully at her.
When I took my fiancee home to meet the folks, she made her carsick. I found this hilarious because I'd grown up with it, so it was completely normal for car rides to be ZOOM-STOP-ZOOM-STOP the whole way.
For the record, I drive like a grandma.
She drives a minivan with a V8 and uses every bit of it on winding Massachusetts roads. People who haven't grown up with it get carsick.
She's a damn good driver - in 10 years, she racked up about 430,000 miles in a Toyota Sienna without an accident... but holy fuck she's traumatizing to ride with.