Driving in M5 all the time

HondaHawkGT · July 13, 2015

The only thing you're doing when you drive in M5 is locking out 6th gear and, thankfully, AFM. No harm at all.

Skip the Range and get the tune if you want a better solution. I bought the unit back in September that supposedly fixed all the issues. It caused my battery to almost completely drain dead in less than 48 hours, set off stabillitrack codes, and put my truck in a crippled limp mode state. After causing me to nearly lose my job twice due to truck issues, I'm finished with the Range unit.

Front Runner · July 13, 2015

Why is it such a big deal to not have it go into v4? I wish my denali would do it more. Mine is pretty seamless and I have to check the display to even see if it is in v4. I did notice it goes into v4 less when I went with the gm 22s vs the denali 20s, not sure what happened but still can get over 22+mpg on the hwy.

Does the 8sp make that much difference going from 4 to 8 and vice versa? It must be really bad for some of you guys to change it and risk your warranty

I've noticed the same thing with my 6.2 with GM 22's. It's not in V4 much.

mike5511 · September 6, 2015

Second day of owning my 2015 Sierra. I've already discovered the manual trick and 5th gear. For those of you asking; running in V4 cause issues with the rings over time and excessive oil use. Get on google and check it out. I would have it disabled, but that will void your warranty according to everybody I've talked to. When you first take off, just manual shift up to 5th and then it will down and up shift on it's own after that. Pretty simple.

LongrangeLauber · September 6, 2015

Second day of owning my 2015 Sierra. I've already discovered the manual trick and 5th gear. For those of you asking; running in V4 cause issues with the rings over time and excessive oil use. Get on google and check it out. I would have it disabled, but that will void your warranty according to everybody I've talked to. When you first take off, just manual shift up to 5th and then it will down and up shift on it's own after that. Pretty simple.

Range AFM disabler will do it automatically in drive for about 200

mike5511 · September 6, 2015

Range AFM disabler will do it automatically in drive for about 200

I'm new to this and the only thing I know about that is what I've read in this thread and it seems that has caused problems for some.....I'll investigate more, thanks!

MikeNH · September 6, 2015

Second day of owning my 2015 Sierra. I've already discovered the manual trick and 5th gear. For those of you asking; running in V4 cause issues with the rings over time and excessive oil use. Get on google and check it out. I would have it disabled, but that will void your warranty according to everybody I've talked to. When you first take off, just manual shift up to 5th and then it will down and up shift on it's own after that. Pretty simple.

You don't have to manually shift it ever. I always selected M4/M5 the moment I put it in gear.

Truckin 55 · September 7, 2015

I use M5 because engine is unable to keep RPM's or even speed especially with A/C on, I will use Drive or M6 if able to use Cruise Control. With Magnaflow I only hear the funny 4V noise when coasting or slowing down.

cjd10 · September 7, 2015

I found that running 89 octane helped my truck tremendously. 93 doesn't do anything for it but she seems to like 89. I used to stay in M5 in traffic most of the time but now I only use manual mode if it is stop and go crawling traffic

tnchevy · September 7, 2015

I have now ran two tanks of 89 octane and can not really feel any difference or gas mileage improvements so I am going back to 87 octane.

glcbn · September 7, 2015

Half the miles I drive to work are rural and hilly. I got tired of truck constantly downshifting into 5th,so I started keeping it in M5. No difference in mpg either. Average around 20.5 in the summer on 91 octane. Winter is a different story. Anyway, I was constantly forgetting to upshift into 6th prior to getting on the turnpike, so I quit the M5, and just deal with the annoying constant downshifting. As I posted, it made no difference mpg wise, and just a few rpm higher. Wasn't hurting anything. Just a mental thing I guess.

mike5511 · September 7, 2015

Range AFM disabler will do it automatically in drive for about 200

I'm thinking since the wife will steal it from me sometimes that this would be the way to go. I will have to remember to unplug it though because sometimes it will set for a few days. When the warranty is out, this truck will get a tune and be rid of the AFM!

chuckl1218 · September 7, 2015

I'm thinking since the wife will steal it from me sometimes that this would be the way to go. I will have to remember to unplug it though because sometimes it will set for a few days. When the warranty is out, this truck will get a tune and be rid of the AFM!

My Range works great after having the software updated, but I learned the hard way to make sure I don't forget to unplug it if the truck is going to sit for a bit...4 days and battery was dead...

mike5511 · September 17, 2015

Got my Range but haven't driven very much with it yet. It does work as advertised. Before that, I drove about 250 miles, in NW Arkansas which is hilly, all in M5 and got about 20 MPG. My speed was 60 - 70 MPH. I was pretty happy with that. I'm thinking this 6th gear thing is going to be like 6th gear on my 08 HD....pretty much useless unless your speed is up around 80MPH. I'll figure it out as the miles accumulate.

DAP56 · September 22, 2015

Is M5 the same as M7 for the 8 speed guys? I have the 6.2 with 22"s. 300 miles on the truck, I haven't seen V4 since drove it around the lot for the first time. When I need power, I put it into tow/haul mode and it flys. I will try M? Tomorrow....

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MikeNH · September 22, 2015

I'd assume so. M5 on the six speed is a very short overdrive. Driving in M mode doesn't hurt anything. Just start in 7 and work your way down as needed to fit your driving style/environment.