'21 ZLE A10 mode button actions
 

The mode button will change the shifting algorithm instantaneously when depressed. The A10 goes into full party mode in sport or track along with steering effort increase. My '17 ZL1 A10 does not do this with the mode button. This may be old news but it was surprising to me when I was cruising down the interstate at 78mph and depressed the mode button and the transmission immediately downshifted with accompanying rpm increase. Does the A10 in the newer non-ZLE cars do this or retain the "performance shifting algorithm" once the car detects aggressive behavior not related to the mode button?

I have a 2021 A10 LT1. Sport mode does allow for later up shifts and can feel it downshifting by itself on normal slow downs compared to touring (LT1s have no track mode) If I jump on it hard from a roll , the car downshifts and I get a message "performance shift mode activated." Doesnt have to be in manual mode. I believe on my ride home in mid november with this brand new car , I jumped on it going down the highway 20 miles from the dealer and I saw the same message and was in touring mode. I have not tested the car since in touring mode because I am always in sport, so I have concluded when the car senses aggressive driving, Performance shift mode activates.

it's easy to activate, just slam the pedal quickly and it'll activate and stay as long as you are spiritedly driving.

I use this to slow down on off ramps often.

All you need to do is tap the gas about half way and let go of gas pedal. This puts you in PAS mode.

What do you mean by "party mode?" Like you're switching to sport/track and it goes into performance shift? Or are you just talking about it downshifting when you change modes to prepare for more spirited driving? If it's the former then my '19 non 1le didn't do that. If it's the latter then yes switching modes will cause the car to downshift and adjust the steering setting to match the mode (which can be disabled in vehicle settings).

As far as I'm aware performance shift can only be activated as you said, through aggressive driving. If it's activating for you on your '21 by merely switching modes then that's probably a newer feature. However, downshifting and tightening steering when changing modes is not.

Mine does on my 2021. If I'm in touring mode and cruising when I change to sport or track, it will immediately drop down a few gears and the exhaust will start burbling. Its not the same as performance shifting exactly because I don't think it drops down the lowest gear available, but it will drop just a few gears and hold it there for a bit. If you don't do anything after about 5-7 seconds, it will upshift again to whatever gear needed for your cruising speed.

I mean all of the actions I described occur when you depress the mode button... no paddles touched. "Party mode" means it's ready to rumble and the car is ready for track action or aggressive driving.

This changed between 2018 and 2019. My 2018 ZL1 A10 doesn't do it and my friends 2019 ZL1 1LE A10 will do aggressive downshift and exhaust pops in Sport or Track (just driving around the neighborhood). It's pretty cool.

Performance Shift Management


Enabled in Sport or Track mode while the car is in D.

Triggered with either throttle input past the kickdown switch or with sufficiently hard cornering at speed.


The downshift the OP saw on the highway was likely caused by a change to Track mode, which does change the default shift points.

My ‘21 ZL1 Convertible downshifts like this when changing modes, too. Also, I’m surprised at how low of a gear the trans will select when holding down the left paddle. First time I tried it, it selected a much lower gear than I expected and the rpm’s shot up near 6K. I wasn’t going very fast at the time and figured it would probably drop to second gear, but it felt like first. Woke me up, that’s for sure!

The ZL1 1LE A10 and ZL1 A10 have different calibrations. The ZL1 1LE A10 is more aggressive.

https://techlink.mynetworkcontent.co...March_2019.pdf


The 2019 Camaro ZL1 1LE now offers an available 10-speed 10L90 automatic transmission (RPO MGL). Unique calibrations were developed for the transmission as well as the Electronic -Limited Slip Differential (eLSD) and Performance Traction Management (PTM) system on the ZL1 1LE model.

What the OP is talking about is normal for all ZL1s, possibly after 2018 according to some. Maybe the 1LE had a more aggressive programming in 2019 than the standard ZL1 but no one knows for sure if all ZL1s have the same programming now. I just know that my 2021 ZL1 does exactly what the OP is talking about in his 2021 1LE.

Could be. Would make it easier for dealer techs.