The few times I have dropped into the auto stick function, it appeared I could only shift down, not up. I have the 2.4L/9spd on a Latitude. My last car let me shift up if it was in a reasonable range to do so (04 Chrysler Pacifica w/ 4 SPD auto stick) - but either the feature is missing on my Renegade or it has a much different definition of "reasonable"... Working as designed?
I've noticed that too, and I think it has to do with the "reasonable" range concept. If I'm hard on the gas it will only up shift near redline. If I'm sorta just playing around with lazy driving, easy in the gas, I can't get the tranny to shift to a gear above whatever gear it deems is appropriate but it will up shift until it reaches that threshold. As a side note I've yet to see 9th gear. The highest gear was 8th and that was on a flat highway with a tail wind. I think if it ever does reach 9th I should be getting somewhere around 100 mpg.
I use the auto stick a lot and it works great for me. Whether easy on the gas or hard accelerating it works fine. There is a "reasonable" range like all the other vehicles with auto stick I have had over the years. It might be worth getting it checked out at your dealer. My Latitude will go into 9th around 72 mph.
