200 series auto shifting.

G'Day Dave,
Check out www.lcool.org then go to the 200 forum... all you questions will be answered...heaps of info... you have to join first ....no cost.
Very happy with my 200 ...now on my second vehicle....nicest tow vehicle I've ever had

Dave

Ditto, Ditto to what Tony just said.

LCOOL is the only site to visit to get the real story on everything 200-wise, and there is extensive postings/discussions on the very subject in question.

Also the 200 is the best tow vehicle I've ever had (2.8t van) and I will be buying another 200 in approx 6months time.

DD

Hi Dave,

I have a 2008 GXL 200TTD and have had the auto gearbox software upgrade. Prior to the upgrade, you had to be doing over 110 km/hr on a light throttle before 6th would drop in. After the software fix, it would kick in at 100km/hr on a light throttle and drop out at ~95 km/hr. So now at 100km/hr, you are only doing 1,500rpm.

To activate the revised shift pattern, you need to select 6th gear and then its activated. You have to do this every time the vehicle has been turned off, it doesn't remain in the revised pattern. May sound a pain but in reality very easy to do. I only bother if driving in the country and not towing.

The software upgrade was free and its pretty easy to tell if its been done. Either the 2 page manual update is in the owners manual or by driving at 105km/hr, put the gearboxit into 6th and see if the revs drop to ~1,500rpm. If it hasn't been done, just take it to a Toyota dealer and they should do it for free.

The EGT is some ~20C higher in 6th gear at 100km/hr than in 5th gear at 100 and I find virtually no difference in fuel economy, though others on LCOOL have reported up to 0.5l/100km improvement.

Cheers

Captain

Further to the comments above, all diesel 200's back to day one can be upgraded. It is free and takes about 10 minutes but you do have to ask for it to be done. It isn't done by default.