Can’t fault this box in most ways. Smooth seamless changes, good ratios for every speed, fast near instant changes via the paddles. I just find it holds gears / revs too high going up hills and am forever using the command shift to keep the revs down. If I was wanting to accelerate hard up a hill or was towing this would be fine but when you are just wanting to make gentle effortless ‘wafting’ progress like it does on the flat it just makes it feel like hard work. The engine has plenty of torque and doesn’t need to rev up to near 2k rpm. I’m running 255/55 R20 tyres so these make for an effective higher final drive ratio which may not help. It’s been serviced ( not megaflushed) and others have also reported this behaviour. Any remap / software updates available? 2012 TDV8 Vogue (L322)

Its not stuck in 'sport' mode by any chance? does switching it to sport mode make any difference?

My L322 with 2 tonne caravan on the back was perfectly happy changing into higher gears at 12 to 1500 rpm, 8th gear at 65mph with the caravan on the back going up hill, sounds like something isnt quite right.

On my Touareg the MAF had a major input to the gearbox performance, I'm not sure what sensors JLR use to calculate engine load etc. BMW i3 Electric Car
2012 Full Fat RR 4.4 TDV8 (now gone)
2006 VW Touareg 3.0 TDi V6

If you have an IID you can reset the 'learned' shift behaviours

. Cheers, Greg
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2011 Vogue SE 4.4 with lots of toys in Stornaway

It's definitely not stuck in sport mode. AFAIK the GAP reset function removes all the adaptation values for wear and age that influence the smoothness of the changes rather than the programming of the change vs load/speed etc? If anybody has done this I'd like to hear but I'm not tempted on a box that changes smoothly. 2012 TDV8 Vogue (L322)

A person in this part of the world is offering remapping for the 8-speed to go hand in hand with a 4.4 TDV8 remap. I'm very interested but would need to test drive a vehicle that has been done. I too would like the gearbox to make better use of the engine's torque but I wouldn't want to loose the way that mine ambles along tracks at around 1000 rpm at 40-60 kph.

Mine ambles along just fine on the flat. 2012 TDV8 Vogue (L322)

@Jaygee.

Mone is exactly the same, especially between 2nd and third. I often have to manually get it down manually.

S alluded to above the gearbox learns the drivers habits. If you regularly use the paddles to change gear they do tend to hold the gears longer as if in sport mode.

Try leaving it to its self and see if it starts to change at lower revs. 2012 tdv8 Westminster arrived Jan 19 gone Dec 23

200 TDi discovery bobtail gone
RR classic v8 bobtail gone
300 tdi Discovery 3 dr gone

I’ve only just started using the paddles after putting up with it since September. I’d have thought also that using the paddles this way would teach the box to follow my override rather than the other way round? 2012 TDV8 Vogue (L322)

@Jaygee. I'm the same as you. It did it from the very start when I bought in it 2017. I started to use the paddles as required when I noticed it holding on to gears and thought it would learn my style too. Nothing changed!

I found the 8speed was very irritating when going down steep hills. Up hills it would down shift (usually not irritating enough to intervene with paddles) but going down steep hills it really me off. Used drop down and rev so much I had to intervene via paddles. 1995 4.6 v8, green/tan (long gone)
2005 4.8iS X5, blue/black
2011 4.4 tdv8, black/black (gone)
2003 3.0d X5, Oxford green/black/manual
2021 p575 SVR, BR green/vintage tan

Mine holds the revs going down steep hills as well and I think it's a normal feature with these ZF boxes as my Audi Allroad did it as well but I don't mind it as much as the uphill rev holding. 2012 TDV8 Vogue (L322)

It’s the brake assist cutting in