[ryjackdad]

I have had my 14 auto non Z51 since August 9th. and have had no problems. Twice however at highway speed and trying to find the fast lane, including today on I95, I experienced high rpm's but no increase in speed. Kinda took me by surprise, and it was a little scary,and had me worried something was wrong. In that heavy traffic, my only thought was to maintain control. Now sitting here thinking about a reason for the high revs, I wonder if I accidently hit one of paddles. Has this happened to anyone else?

 

[jsvette]

If you had it on cruise control and hit the downshift paddle it would instantly increase your rpms while maintaining the same speed. If you did not have the cruise control active and accidentally hit the downshift (left) paddle it would instantaneously increase your rpms but also impact your speed by lowering it.

 

[ryjackdad]

Nope, no cruise control. Mmmmmm?

 

[jsvette]

OK, did you experience the related slow down in speed when the rpms went up? Also your display should have changed on the central screen from "D" to what ever gear it downshifted to, and the highlighted letter on the gear shift panel should have gone from D to M.

 

[rdslon01]

There is a chance PAL engaged. If so, once you are ready to slow back down, hit the paddle to shift up and it will disengage.

 

[jsvette]

There is a chance PAL engaged. If so, once you are ready to slow back down, hit the paddle to shift up and it will disengage.

what?

 

[ryjackdad]

Didn't think to look. Frankly too busy wondering what happened and staying in my lane.Happened so quickly and righted itself just as quick. I shall try to be more mindful in the future.Hopefully it wont happen again and car is fine.

 

[jsvette]

Didn't think to look. Frankly too busy wondering what happened and staying in my lane.Happened so quickly and righted itself just as quick. I shall try to be more mindful in future.Hopefully it wont happen again and car is fine.

Excellent point and clearly the right focus!

 

[rdslon01]

what?

PAL (Performance Algorithm Liftfoot) is used on automatic transmissions in some sporty GM automobiles. The idea is that you want the car to stay in the meaty part of the torque curve when you are driving in a spirited way. For example, if driving on a curvy road, you don't want the transmission to upshift when you let off the throttle for a curve, because, if it does, there will be a delay upon exit from the moment when you get back on the throttle until the transmission gets back into the correct lower gear to accelerate again.

My wife's ATS enters PAL mode more often than I would have anticipated. There were also some threads on here several months ago of a StingRay surprising an owner with something whose description was exactly what PAL does. Finally, by searching Google, I just found a thread on the other Corvette forum about PAL on Corvettes. So, I believe the StingRay has that functionality as well.

When it happens, if you don't like it in that particular circumstance, just click the upshift paddle and it will stop.

 

[jsvette]

Thanks for explaining the acronym Rodney and process.