So I'm a proud owner of a 2011 mitsubishi outlander GT and love it VERY much. Great car. I've just always noticed this one thing that I'm not quite sure of, pertaining to the way the car shifts.

What happens is that right after the car shifts, the rpm's will continue to drop slowly as if the engine was bogging, although it isn't. Basically, the car will shift, rpm's will drop due to the shift, everything is all normal, its in the next gear, but then the rpm's will slowly drop more, causing you to put your foot down more, only for it to downshift back to the lower gear and fly forwards. This is especially annoying on the highway. I've found putting it in manual seems to help this quite a bit, to the point its almost gone. I can post a video to explain things better, if needed. It almost resembles a slipping clutch, if that helps, but its not that. In fact, I just thought, its just like a CVT, but this has a 6 speed regular transmission.

Now I've done my homework, and according to what I've read, well, atleast this accounts for the throttle lag, is a script in the cars computer to make the engine run more economical, so when you put your foot down, the computer decides whether to shift down, or just apply more power to the engine, but meanwhile you continue to press the accelerator, until the engine decides it wants to kick MIVEC in, yo, and send you to outer space ;-) Now, this still doesn't account for the bogging 'feel' after the gear shifts where it gradually, and sometimes randomly, drops the RPM's.

Now, I've heard you can take it to the dealer and have them flash the ECU to fix the problem. Has anyone tried this, and does it work? Or what IS this thing where the RPM's drop like that.

Now, I'm pretty sure that this car has a 6 speed transmission, but for some reason I've heard it has a dual clutch? If so, isn't the drop of RPM's the transmission going into the second gear it lined up with the current gear? Isn't that what dual clutch trannies do? So really its just shifting again, but seamlessly because it has the next gear already lined up? But that still doesn't make sense how it even does it occasionally in manual, so lets say I shift into... 4th, and then right after it shifts it continues to bog like a CVT would as it changes the ratio's. Anyways, any help would be appreciated!

 

Do you have the Outlander GT or the Outlander Sport GT?
If you have the Outlander GT, try disconnecting the battery for a few minutes. It resets the transmission profile and drive with a heavy foot for a couple of days so it will learn your driving habits!

 

MIVEC activation is depending only on RPM, once you cross 4200 it's in.

Twin clutch transmission in North America is only available on Lancers though European diesel Outlanders have it.

There should be a RPM drop after a shifting, as first couple of seconds after shifting torque converter is not locked. Once it locks, RPM go down a bit as there is no more slippage.

So anyway, disconnect the battery, wait 10 minutes, reconnect it back.
Most likely it will solve the issue, which isn't exactly an issue, just wrong shifting pattern learned by transmission.

 

Oh, I know all about the MIVEC system. I was just joking around since I'm an addict when it comes to the sound of the engine switching the cam lobes when MIVEC kicks in. That sudden burst of loudness really makes my day :P I'm one of those nerds that give her gas on the highway just to hear the crossover. ;-) And usually when this shift issue happens on the highway, It'll downshift causing the engine to rev clearly over the 4200 mark causing the engine to switch lobes.

As for the shifting, I'm pretty sure that disconnecting the battery will fix it. I mean I've had plenty other automatic/semi automatic cars, and this is the only one I've had where the car will shift, then after a second or 2 afterwards the rpm's will just start to drop again even more. It sounds like something with the adaptive shift pattern not learning right.

Could it be the car has multiple people driving it? I mean, our whole family uses it, I being a heavy foot as well as my son, but mom being a lighter sometimes heavier foot? So its always changing? Like I said, I'm not too knowledged on these new adaptive transmissions, thats why I have guys like you, eh?

Thanks for the help though, I'll try this right now and post if it works! It sounds promising!

 

So the MIVEC cam profile only kicks in at 4200rpm on the V6?
The 2.4 used to be at 3600rpm!

 

Yeah, on my V6 it kicks in at around 4000-4200, I think it can slightly vary, but it doesn't kick in as low as 3600. I guess it kicks in later since the 3.0 is a larger displacement than the 2.4, so it doesn't start to loose power or need a larger profile until 4200.

You could get something like the Apexi V-AFC II to change the MIVEC crossover/engagement RPM, I believe they work on both VTEC engines and MIVEC engines.

 

alright, so I disconnected the battery for 10-20 minutes, and it reset everything. I eagerly took it out with an excuse to use a heavy foot, and I'm glad to report its actually noticeably better. At times the random drops after the car upshifts/downshifts still happen, but not as frequently. It feels more responsive.

Thanks for the help guys! Oh, and I've noticed that when I set the S-AWC to lock the throttle is much more responsive and those random drops in rpm after shifts is gone. Obviously the throttle response is better because now all 4 wheels are in constant power, but as for it stopping the RPM drop I'm actually not too sure!

But disconnecting the battery was a success, thanks X 9000!

 

Good to know it worked out. Coming from an 08 ES 4WD, I have noticed that my XLS with S-AWC behaves differently in the modes. S-AWC on Tarmac mode behaves strictly like a FWD car albeit taming the wheel hop when flooring from a standstill. I never had wheel spin on my 08 in Auto or Lock. Snow behaves similar to Auto and Lock behaves the same as the old car.
Wish Mitsubishi would give us details on the power distribution ratios on the AFD equipped S-AWC.

 

MayemX, you might be considering enabling Sport mode (Ds). When engaged, transmission switches later, keeps torque converter locked more often, and does not use adaptation at all.

90% of my driving is very calm so my transmission is very smooth, with 6th gear kicking in right above 40 kmh, but when I want to drive sharp, it hurts.

So Ds mode will be a solution to me. I'll report back when I enable it.

 

If you have the paddle shift, try that for a while. You can control when the trans shifts.