[rfeng]

Have a question on the ECO (Economy mode) in my bew 2014 GC Overland.
Just receive the unit last week, and noticed that the DEF tank was only 1/2 full level. Called he dealer and they told me they must have missed topping it off on the dealer prep and told me to stop by to get it filled up.

While at the dealer they also told me that there was some factory software updates for the vehicle systems computer module, and they needed to install them. After the updates were installed it seemed to wipe out some of the Stored setting for seat position and radio channels, but I also notice that every time I start the engine it starts in "ECO" (economy mode). I can't memember if this is new or perhaps I just did not notice since I only drove the GC 2 times since talking delivery the week previous.

So my question is is the default start up in Eco mode a recent change? Can the default setting for this be changed by the user ?

Interested to hear from others about this.

Thanks
John

 

[MDBones]

The ECO mode default is always ON when you start your vehicle. You have to turn it off manually if you don't wish to use it. You can't change the default to be OFF.

 

[rfeng]

ok thanks for the information.... is the ECO mode best suited to city or highway use? Or not matter , the manual states it changes the up / down shift patterns in the transmission to get better economy

 

[MDBones]

You can use it in the city or on the highway. The only thing to be aware of in city driving is that you can end up in 7th or even 8th gear at 30-40mph and barely above idle at 1100rpm. Surprisingly, I've never had a sensation that the engine is lugging in any way but when you need acceleration it's not there like it is with ECO off. There's just a little bit of lag before the trans downshifts. That's not a big deal if you understand ECO mode and alter your driving habits for it.

For that reason some people don't like to use ECO in city driving. That's understandable. My thinking though is that ECO was probably intended more for city driving and is more effective there. Besides altering shift timing it also alters your engine idle characteristics.

On the highway you'll always get up into 8th gear regardless of mode. ECO will get you up the gears a little faster if you're not leadfoot accelerating but it will feel slightly sluggish while doing so. Don't know if it makes any significant difference as far as fuel economy goes. I do notice an increase when I use it in the city though.

 

[Willx]

Another Option if you are temporarily doing more "spirited" driving is to simply pull the Shifter back and you will see the "S" appear in the gear display. This will cause the gearing to shift later than ECO being off and it is quicker and more aggressive at selecting a lower gear. Then you can simply pull the shifter back again and it will switch back to "D".

This also causes the vehicle to hold AERO ride height at low speeds if you have Q-Lift in your truck.

The Update you got sounds like the Radio update as sometimes some settings are lost, but there was also a recent PCM update to deal with false MIL codes coming up.

 

[MDBones]

Sport mode requires manual up-down shifting with the steering wheel's paddle shifters. Just added that for clarity.

 

[Willx]

Sport mode requires manual up-down shifting with the steering wheel's paddle shifters. Just added that for clarity.

In Sport mode it will shift on it's own until you press one of the paddle shifters then it is all manual. Just press and hold the + shifter for 2 seconds and it will go back to auto shifting even in sport mode. Sport mode is a lot of fun.

 

[MDBones]

LOL... I'll have to give that a try. I always thought you needed to use the paddles when in sport mode.

 

[Willx]

It really does make the truck handle and respond much sportier when in that mode especially lower and rapidly changing speed (winding roads). Of course the handling only changes on the air ride.

Sent from my RAZR HD using Tapatalk

 

[isstay]

Looks like JGC share other stuff with Mb beside the platform, MB always starts in ECO - 2 gear and lower shifting rpm, but it can be changed to sport or manual just like GC.

 

[Willx]

IT shares up to 15% of its parts with the ML however the transmission is completely different (for which I am happy). The 7-Tronic doesn't shift nearly as fast and the 8 Speed in the Jeep is much more adaptive.