Having my 2012 Durango Crew with 3.6 for 3 years, I thought I would ask a question that has bothered me since I first got my Durango.

If I manually downshift it goes to 1st gear. On all cars that I used to have I could downshift each gear seperately....example: downshift from D to 3rd....then downshift from 3rd to 2nd...so forth....but with my Durango I barely touch the gear shift to the left and it goes all the way to 1st gear...no way I can go from Drive to 4th....I have to go all the way to 1st and then manually shift up each gear.

Can anyone explain why this is? Just curious.

Thanks

David

 

My 2011 crew with V6 manually downshifts one gear at a time just fine.

 

Durango has ERS (electronic range selection) and is not a shiftable automatic.

If you are stopped or in 1st gear while in D (hitting left will lock you in 1)
If you are moving at a higher speed while in D (hitting left will display the current gear you're in and lock you into that gear OR LOWER)

The gear shift with ERS displays the highest gear you want the automatic to use, it does not select the actual drive gear (except 1 obviously).

If you are displaying 5 (or 6), the automatic will use all gears.
If you are displaying 3, the tranny can use 1-2-3 as needed.
And so on.

 

And, at least with my 2011 Crew V8, if I press an hold the "-" direction while moving the transmission will select the lowest gear that it can without over-revving the engine. Similarly, if I press and hold in the "+" direction it will shift back to Drive without having to manually cycle through the available gears.

-Rod