StandardShift.com

In the C4, if your natural shift point falls early in the CAGS range, as mine does, a shift to fourth produces low enough RPM that anything more than a breath on the throttle will cause bucking.

Rope-Pusher wrote:The Dodge comes with a feature to force a 1>4 upshift under certain throttle settings and upshift speeds.

I've heard from some people who never notice it, because they don't operate in that window, but others hate when it forces them to make that 1>4 upshift. I've heard that the window has been narrowed, to be less offensive / affect less people while still improving the fuel smileage on the EPA tests.

Does it bother you?

I hate this feature with a mighty passion. It's the only thing I can't stand about the car, other than that it's my dream car.
The problem is I can't anticipate it, sometimes I can shift right into second and other times it won't let me, I can't figure out when it's going to happen. If anyone can enlighten me on this (or tell me if I can turn that " feature" off ) I would appreciate it.

Drive like a raped ape getting up to speed and then cruise.

With most of them it's a function of the speed at which you attempt the shift. The range of speeds at which it blocks out 2 and 3 should get smaller the harder you accelerate.

Refer to this article on Jalopnik, where they substitute a connector with a resistor in it for the solenoid on the transmission and the vehicle's confuser is none the wiser:

http://jalopnik.com/5252686/how-to-disa ... gle.com%2F

problem OP is encountering is what Tankinbeans and SonikHKS suspect, shifting to first while still rolling. the rolling speed is still too high for 1st idle, so engine breaking in 1st slows the car dramatically, as if being pulled back by an elephant.

few approaches (as others said):
1) rolling launch in 2nd (cow)
2) rev match for 1st (give it some gas) before release of clutch pedal (Watkin's recommendation, but he didn't say it)

To the OP: will feel different on different cars according to their gearing. In European gearing, on which 1st is longer, you won't feel this. On Asian gearing, you'll feel as if you were tripping over.

Reverence wrote:2) rev match for 1st (give it some gas) before release of clutch pedal (Watkin's recommendation, but he didn't say it)

Yeah, that.

watkins wrote:

Reverence wrote:2) rev match for 1st (give it some gas) before release of clutch pedal (Watkin's recommendation, but he didn't say it)

Yeah, that.

I owe it to you to have complemented this piece in my 30+ years experience with manual.
DC rev match into 1st or direct rev match into 1st is great for situations which are too slow for 2nd, or when you need to move fast and don't have time to grandma it in 2nd.

Some cars don't like it though.