Going uphills in 1L Chevy Spark LS 2013 (Automatic Gearbox/Transmission)

Hi everyone,

I have a 1L Chevy Spark LS (2013, Automatic). Car drives well in most road conditions, but it really suffers when driving up steep inclines. I live in Barbados and the island is quite mountainous on the east coast, especially when driving towards or away from Bathsheba.

Even when I switch the gearbox from D to 2, the car struggles and eventually begins to slow down despite me flooring the gas pedal. If I do nothing else, the car will begin hunting between 1 and 2, and it just ends up being an unpleasant driving experience. It will switch to 1, start accelerating rapidly (forcing me to respond by lifting off the gas), then it switches to 2, then it starts slowing down (forcing me to respond by pushing on the gas), switches to 1, ad infinitum.

I end up having to allow the car to slow down enough so I can manually switch from 2 to 1 (you can imagine how loud the engine is in gear 1 at 30-35 km/h). What I am surprised by is how unresponsive the car is in gear 2 when driving moderate inclines. I can understand if I am at a complete stop, but even initially driving at 35 km/h in gear 1 while driving uphill, as soon as I move the shifter into gear 2, the car just starts slowing down again. It’s practically impossible to keep it in D unless I want the transmission hunting gears repeatedly.

I have driven a 1L Toyota Aygo (Manual) before and I’ve never had any issues going uphills in gear 2, but this is my first automatic car so I’m wondering whether it’s different in an automatic. Mind you, the Toyota Aygo did have slightly more horsepower (106hp vs. 86hp in the 2013 Chevy Spark LS), so I wonder if that is the reason.

Anyway, to my question: does anyone else have this particular Chevy Spark (1L, 2013) and notice similar performance? Is it normal for this class of vehicle, or should I get it checked?

Thank you.