# Automatic Transmission on the 2013 Cruze



## Richard (Dec 1, 2012)

I know there have been some issues with the Cruze Automatic Transmission, but I have to say compared to the 2010 Malibu, the automatic transmission on the Cruze seems to be improved. The Malibu had a big delay when downshifting. If you needed some extra power, there would be a delay of about 2 seconds before it would downshift. I don't notice that with the Cruze. It seems that they did improve the transmission - it seems to be more responsive and I don't notice the delay in shifting. I will say at highway speeds, if you need just a little bit of acceleration, the Cruze will not hold in 6th gear. It will downshift to 5th. With the Malibu, it would hold in 6th gear. So there is some extra downshifting that wasn't there with the Malibu, but that's understandable. The Cruze has a smaller engine with less HP, so it needs that downshift. But overall, I'm much happier with the Transmission on the Cruze than the Malibu.


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## fastdriver (Jan 7, 2011)

*You are VERY lucky that you didn't buy a 2011 Cruze! You would NOT be praising the transmission!*


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## spaycace (Feb 9, 2012)

Buy a Manual transmission ... then you don't have that problem. Ever! BUT, if you do, then of course it's operator error :th_coolio:


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## lilmrsyeti (Mar 3, 2012)

fastdriver said:


> *You are VERY lucky that you didn't buy a 2011 Cruze! You would NOT be praising the transmission!*


LOL...Speak for yourself! I have a 2011 and have yet to any *any* issues with it. Hubby and I are always saying this is the smoothest shifting car we've owned..and we've owned quite a few!


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## Richard (Dec 1, 2012)

lilmrsyeti said:


> LOL...Speak for yourself! I have a 2011 and have yet to any *any* issues with it. Hubby and I are always saying this is the smoothest shifting car we've owned..and we've owned quite a few!


I must admit that I try to stay away from cars that were either redesigned in a model year, or a new model 
car. I was highly considering the 2013 Malibu, but as I said, I would rather stay away from cars that were just redesigned. This gives them time to work out any issues. That's one of the reasons I got the 2013 Cruze - they had 2 years to work out the quirks. I remember that the 2008 Malibu (1st year of redesign) had some transmission and other issues. I really liked the Malibu and I waited for 2010. It had been out 2 years by that time and all of the issues had been worked out and everything was fine.

Regarding the automatic transmission on both the Cruze and the Malibu, it is a 6 speed, so there are a lot of gears for an automatic and the computer has to make more decisions on what gear to use. I remember when they added the 4th gear (overdrive) and that was considered advanced. Then I had a CTS with a 5 speed auto. Now, the 6 speed. I understand that you get better gas mileage, but the more gears, the more potential for problems. But they do seem to have the tranny issues worked out with the 2013.


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## Chevy Customer Care (Oct 29, 2011)

Richard said:


> I know there have been some issues with the Cruze Automatic Transmission, but I have to say compared to the 2010 Malibu, the automatic transmission on the Cruze seems to be improved. The Malibu had a big delay when downshifting. If you needed some extra power, there would be a delay of about 2 seconds before it would downshift. I don't notice that with the Cruze. It seems that they did improve the transmission - it seems to be more responsive and I don't notice the delay in shifting. I will say at highway speeds, if you need just a little bit of acceleration, the Cruze will not hold in 6th gear. It will downshift to 5th. With the Malibu, it would hold in 6th gear. So there is some extra downshifting that wasn't there with the Malibu, but that's understandable. The Cruze has a smaller engine with less HP, so it needs that downshift. But overall, I'm much happier with the Transmission on the Cruze than the Malibu.




Richard,
Thank you for the feedback on the 2013 transmission. I appreciate you taking the time to share this! If you ever have any questions, comments or concerns please feel free to contact me anytime.
Thank you,
Stacy Chevrolet Customer Service


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## fastdriver (Jan 7, 2011)

lilmrsyeti said:


> lol...speak for yourself! I have a 2011 and have yet to any *any* issues with it. Hubby and i are always saying this is the smoothest shifting car we've owned..and we've owned quite a few!



you are indeed very lucky! I hope it continues that way for you. You are definitely in the minority!


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## Richard (Dec 1, 2012)

fastdriver said:


> you are indeed very lucky! I hope it continues that way for you. You are definitely in the minority!


I know that when I complained about the delay in shifting with the Malibu that I had, they recommended a transimission reflash. I believe that's when they reprogram the transmission to improve the shifting quality. I never did this, but I know other people who did this with the Malibu and they said it improved the quality of the shifts. I have to say that the 2013 Cruze has a much improved transmission over the 2010 Malibu that I had. It's much more responsive and there's no delay in shifting. Especially at highway speeds, the shifts are instantaneous - no delays in shifting at all.


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## RyanPatty (Sep 28, 2012)

was going to say why not just get the manual i have 2012 eco cruze 6 spd and smoothest tranny i have ever played with. Can't wait to get a k&N typoon intake.


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## borstm16 (Oct 12, 2014)

I have a 2013 Cruze as well, but I am having issues with my transmission. I don't think they fixed whatever issues were going on with it.  It does not have the lag when I put it in manual though.


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## au201 (May 18, 2013)

Agreed. I love the trans in my cruze! It's by far the best auto I've ever driven. It seems the least "slushy" of the slush boxes haha. Shifts are quick and precise while still being smooth. Also as you said it seems to downshift or not downshift exactly as I want it to. GM did a really good job on this transmission. 


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## iggy (Feb 14, 2013)

On my 2013 LTZ, the only 'complaint' I have about how it shifts, is... when driving 65 or 70MPH, wanting to go a little bit faster then I can without forcing a downshift, there is too fine of a line between pushing just enough to go into 5th and pushing so hard that it drops to 4th. If you stomp on it all the way, it shifts to 4th, and the RPM immediately go to about 5,000 RPM and then you've only got like another 1000 before redlining and/or shifting to 5th. This is really annoying, there is virtually no acceleration gain by shifting into 4th under these conditions, 5th gear is just fine. So, I'm left trying to push the accelerator just the right amount to get it to only downshift one gear rather then two.

Or... well I can pull the shifter over to the left, pull back on it, then accelerate... the only problem with this, is sometimes I forget to shift back into 6th, or forget to put it back into full auto. I wish they had a button or something, that would drop it down a gear and automatically go back to normal auto after a few seconds.

Speaking of which... Is there anyway to release overdrive on a Cruze automatic? Is there a overdrive? or is that just another name for 6th gear? On virtually all other late model cars I've driven in the past 15 years, there is a button to take it out of overdrive. On my old 4 cylinder Toyota... I used this button ( was on the shifter nob where your thumb would be ) to use to get a little added acceleration, it was very convenient, so far I haven't found the convenient way to do something similar on my Cruze.


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## au201 (May 18, 2013)

iggy said:


> On my 2013 LTZ, the only 'complaint' I have about how it shifts, is... when driving 65 or 70MPH, wanting to go a little bit faster then I can without forcing a downshift, there is too fine of a line between pushing just enough to go into 5th and pushing so hard that it drops to 4th. If you stomp on it all the way, it shifts to 4th, and the RPM immediately go to about 5,000 RPM and then you've only got like another 1000 before redlining and/or shifting to 5th. This is really annoying, there is virtually no acceleration gain by shifting into 4th under these conditions, 5th gear is just fine. So, I'm left trying to push the accelerator just the right amount to get it to only downshift one gear rather then two.
> 
> Or... well I can pull the shifter over to the left, pull back on it, then accelerate... the only problem with this, is sometimes I forget to shift back into 6th, or forget to put it back into full auto. I wish they had a button or something, that would drop it down a gear and automatically go back to normal auto after a few seconds.
> 
> Speaking of which... Is there anyway to release overdrive on a Cruze automatic? Is there a overdrive? or is that just another name for 6th gear? On virtually all other late model cars I've driven in the past 15 years, there is a button to take it out of overdrive. On my old 4 cylinder Toyota... I used this button ( was on the shifter nob where your thumb would be ) to use to get a little added acceleration, it was very convenient, so far I haven't found the convenient way to do something similar on my Cruze.


6th is the overdrive gear. So no, there's no overdrive off button, you just have to manually shift down to 5th. 

Also, I've never had a problem with mine downshifting to fourth when I don't want it to...in fact at 65-70 mph it's usually making enough power that it doesn't downshift at all to gain a little speed. And when it does go to 5th im moving pretty swiftly...



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## jblackburn (Apr 14, 2012)

au201 said:


> 5th and 6th are both overdrive gears as far as i know. So no, there's no overdrive off button, you just have to manually shift down to 4th (the highest non overdrive gear).
> 
> Also, I've never had a problem with mine downshifting to fourth when I don't want it to...in fact at 65-70 mph it's usually making enough power that it doesn't downshift at all to gain a little speed. And when it does go to 5th im moving pretty swiftly...
> 
> ...


5th is a 1:1 ratio on the automatic.

Edit: Here are the ratios.
*

Type:M32 
6-speed manualM32 
6-speed manualM32
6-speed manualHydra-Matic 6T40
6-speed automaticAisin AF40 6-speed automaticApplication:1.8L1.4L turbo - Eco1.4L turbo1.8L / 1.4L turbo2.0L turbo-dieselGear ratios: 1):First:3.824.274.274.584.15Second:2.162.162.532.962.37Third:1.471.301.471.911.56Fourth1.070.961.071.441.16Fifth:0.870.740.871.000.86Sixth:0.740.610.740.740.69Reverse:3.543.823.822.943.39Final drive ratio:3.943.833.833.533.20

*


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## au201 (May 18, 2013)

jblackburn said:


> 5th is a 1:1 ratio on the automatic.
> 
> Edit: Here are the ratios.
> *
> ...



I stand corrected. Thank you. 

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## iggy (Feb 14, 2013)

Oh, I agree that it's rare that I feel the need to downshift on the highway... it's only when I get a little pissed that someone in the passing lane won't move over and wants to drive like 0.5MPH faster then the guys in the right lane. Hammer down, go around on the right the first chance I get, leaving it in 6th gear doesn't work so well for this.

As for it shifting down into fourth... well it's mostly a minor nuisance as it mostly happens when I put my foot all the way to the floor. But then, in the situation I describe above, that's what I feel like doing and I'd rather it didn't shift to 4th.



au201 said:


> 6th is the overdrive gear. So no, there's no overdrive off button, you just have to manually shift down to 5th.
> 
> Also, I've never had a problem with mine downshifting to fourth when I don't want it to...in fact at 65-70 mph it's usually making enough power that it doesn't downshift at all to gain a little speed. And when it does go to 5th im moving pretty swiftly...
> 
> ...


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## jblackburn (Apr 14, 2012)

iggy said:


> Oh, I agree that it's rare that I feel the need to downshift on the highway... it's only when I get a little pissed that someone in the passing lane won't move over and wants to drive like 0.5MPH faster then the guys in the right lane. Hammer down, go around on the right the first chance I get, leaving it in 6th gear doesn't work so well for this.
> 
> As for it shifting down into fourth... well it's mostly a minor nuisance as it mostly happens when I put my foot all the way to the floor. But then, in the situation I describe above, that's what I feel like doing and I'd rather it didn't shift to 4th.


The auto trans programming isn't brilliant, especially since the 1.4t runs completely out of steam at 5000 RPM and it likes to run it all the way to 6500. My guess, though, would be that it does that because torque multiplication to the wheels is increased in 4th compared to 5th. Though if the engines not producing max torque OR hp in the first place, what's the point. 

I don't know if the learning transmission adjusts downshift points as they learn your driving style or not, but a 1.4t rental downshifted to 4th at highway speeds VERY frequently for me around 1/2 pedal. Drove me nuts.


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## au201 (May 18, 2013)

jblackburn said:


> The auto trans programming isn't brilliant, especially since the 1.4t runs completely out of steam at 5000 RPM and it likes to run it all the way to 6500. My guess, though, would be that it does that because torque multiplication to the wheels is increased in 4th compared to 5th. Though if the engines not producing max torque OR hp in the first place, what's the point.
> 
> I don't know if the learning transmission adjusts downshift points as they learn your driving style or not, but a 1.4t rental downshifted to 4th at highway speeds VERY frequently for me around 1/2 pedal. Drove me nuts.


Must've been the rental because as far as I know the trans learns habits. I disconnected the battery for 30 minutes when I first got my cruze to reset it and now it does exactly what I want. Mine won't shift down to fourth at 65-70mph unless I put it to the floor. 


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## Chevy Customer Care (Oct 29, 2011)

borstm16 said:


> I have a 2013 Cruze as well, but I am having issues with my transmission. I don't think they fixed whatever issues were going on with it.  It does not have the lag when I put it in manual though.


Hey there,

Please feel free to reach out to me via private message if you need any further assistance with this. We would be happy to assist with this the best way possible. 

Patsy G
Chevrolet Customer Care


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## iggy (Feb 14, 2013)

It seems I may need to disconnect my battery for a while and/or maybe talk to my friend the GM mechanic, in hopes of getting my car's transmission to learn my driving style.

Yet, on the way home last night, I did some playing around... and as much as I hate to see the tachometer jump to nearly 5000 as the car shifts down to 4th gear I think there is a slight increase in acceleration when it does this, vs. the acceleration I get in 5th gear under the same conditions. Given that if you REALLY wanted the absolute best possible acceleration , you may very well want it to shift to 4th. Even so, 90% of the time, I don't want or need that slight increase in acceleration and would rather it just shifted to 5th. 

Right now, there seems to be a very fine line between pushing the peddle just enough to get it to downshift to 5th and the point where it shifts to 4th. It seems unless I reset the transmission's memory, I may never know if I can get it to work more like I want it on it's own. (me not having to manually choose the gear I want using the shifter )


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## iggy (Feb 14, 2013)

Double checking my own information about what I see driving down the highway in my 2013 LTZ, roughly 73MPH, in 6th gear, I am at almost exactly 2500 RPM. I downshift to 5th and maintain same speed the tachometer goes to 3500 RPM (40% increase in RPM). Shifting down into 4th gear I see 5000 RPM (43% increase in RPM ), red line being 6500 RPM I think.


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