I've never owned an auto before but surely it does not really have to drop back to 3rd & 3500rpm at every little hint of an incline, I have tried using the Hold button next to the gears selector but it doesn't seem to do anything and leaving it in 3rd seemed a bit silly. This car is more powerful than my previous Mazda B2500 which had no problem holding top gear on the same road. I feel that the RE4's top gear is too high. This feeling causes me to ponder the effectiveness of a transfer case reduction to bring the revs up a bit or if it's possible to lock/hold 4th gear some other way I'd love to hear your thoughts. Tyres are stock as far as I know 275/65/17R, pressures are as per the placard. Car empty besides me and my dog and half a tank of fuel.