Can you safely do the switch while driving? Or is it best to wait until the car is at a complete stop to switch from drive to the manual?

 

you can switch at any time. as a matter of fact, some people would most often use it while on the highway, to make a controlled pass.

 

Oh sweet!!!! That's what I thought.

However, one of my friends told me that if you switch any time other than when the car is at a complete stop that it isn't good and will eventully cause damage to the car.

 

Nope. You're fine. Shift when you want.

 

you should be fine, i think in one of the TL typeS and cl typeS commericals they show the driver upshifting and downshifting while driving.

Plus it would indicate in the manual if it wasn't safe

 

Definately safe to do. Remember...its nothing mechanical thats happening when you switch..its all in the computer.

 

Ok cool. So Drive to Sportshift and then back to Drive when doing like 40 or 50 miles doesn't do any damage?

It's not mechanical?

 

It is not, you are just overriding the computer's decision by telling it when to shift.

 

Thanks guys. I have no clue why my friend would tell me it is harmful. Oh well.

Anyone else have comments?

 

Because common sense minus a real knowledge of what's going on would absolutely make you think it could be harmful.

I have common sense (or would like to think that I do), but have no real knowledge of what's going on -- and I haven't let myself switch like that until now, because my "common sense" told me it would be bad.

 

I don't get it?

 

Ask your friend, pie! He can probably explain it better than I can!

(I have trouble explaining things that aren't based on knowledge!)

 

So I assume you switch back and forth from Drive to Sportshift while you drive?

 

I have a friend with the same feature on his MB C-class.
He does it all the time.
No damage.
In fact, considering that the gate to switch from auto to manu-matic is at drive is one big hint that that is what you're supposed to do.
(Otherwise, it would be at Neutral, no?)

 

basically he is telling you that your friend is a moron. now do you get it?

anyway, you are safe to shift at anytime between the 2 modes. no harm as everybody has stated.

 

To me, the sportshift feature is just like a regular automatic transmission, except instead of actually placing the shift lever in a specific gear (which merely sends an electric signal to the transmission anyway), you've got a momentary switch in front of and behind the shifter that sends a signal to shift, then stay there.

Automatic transmissions generally do not shift into the lowest gears if the RPMs are too high.

For example, if you're driving 40 mph, no matter how many times you pull the lever down, you can't shift into 1st gear. This is actually kind of annoying to me, because in my other vehicle, I use my standard AT to drop it into 1st gear while gradually braking, and when the speed drops low enough, the transmission shifts down "automatically". The sportshift won't do that until you're stopped.