I had the sportshift in manual mode several nights ago and while stopped waiting for a light to turn green, I started fiddling with the radio trying to program the channels. The light turned green and I took off still messing with the radio. I felt a sudden jerk and the car lost power momentary. I panicked and thought I hit something. I then quickly scanned the gauges and saw that I was still in 1st grear. Great, only 45 miles on the car and I'm dancing in the warning track. I not too worried about it. That's the whole purpose of the limiter. This engine is so smooth and the revs climb so effortlessly that you have to be alert if you have an automatic in manual mode. I can't wait till it's broken in so that I can tease that red area with the sweet crescendo of screaming rpms. Radio off!

 

I did, but not in my TSX. I test drove 2 other TSX's at another dealer before I bought mine. The first one I test drove was the 5AT. I was testing the acceleration, so I shifted just before the redline. But since I wasn't used to the car, I guess I went a little too late to shift to 2nd. And I bounced off the rev limiter for about 2 seconds.

The second TSX I test drove was a 6MT, and I was testing the acceleration again. Just like the 5AT, I shifted a little too late and bounced off the rev limiter for a little bit.

 

so even for the 6MT, the rev limiter kicks in?

 

Of course, if you shift too late.

 

The rev limiter actually acts kinda late in comparison to the gauge and even then it bobbles a little bit (7200 to 7500 RPM). I too put the test car through to the rev limiter (6MT).

The other thing I noticed, at least for use 6MT people. There are complaints about the 1st to 2nd "thud". I think I have an answer. The transition from 1st to 2nd gear has two main things to consider:
1. There is a near 2500 RPM difference between the two gears. Doesn't sound like much, but no other gear has this much drop.

2. This particular gear change also puts you right at the 1st VTEC lobe (2nd on the cam). If you readline the car, you pop right on the 4500 RPM and hence you are dumping right into VTEC.

In all respects, putting the car into VTEC from 1st to 2nd is the appropriate thing to do, but considering the intense difference in the RPMs, this contributes to the "thud" everytime I've tested it.

One thing I've done in quick acceleration, when in 1st gear, take the car to about 6500 RPM then shift to 2nd and you can readline the rest of the gears. This seemed to work the best for me b/c although the RPM difference of 2500 is still about the same, there isn't as much of a torque difference as there is between the 1st and 2nd gear with 1st gear going to redline.

A little off topic, I know, but still important.

 

Yep, I do bounce off the rev limiter every once in a while, especially when passing a series of vehicles.

 

ya i've bounce of the rev limiter in the tester at the dealer. it kicks in at around 7500rpms...no big deal. i've done it many of times on my previous honda's. that's what it's there for. but then again....not sure if it's good for a brand new car with 45miles on it. i'm pretty sure you have nothing to worry about.

 

I thought vtec kicked in at 6000 rpm? So how does going from 1st to 2nd put you automatically in vtec at 4500 rpms?

 

Same question here...
I have to rev match to maintain accel from 1st to 2nd shift.

 

I've hit the redline cutoff a couple of times.

moda-away, I've noticed the same thing! While in 1st, if you take the RPMs too high (around 7K) you end up right at the VTEC transition when you dump into 2nd, which causes a more drastic RPM loss once 2nd gear takes over. Some of the "thud" is averted by quicker shifting to avoid too much RPM loss, but for the most part it seems 6500RPMs works best. You're still in the heart of the torque band when you leave first and when you enter second.