I know one would never do this in a real manual, but I feel that 2nd does not slow me down enough in this car and I am tempted to downshift into 1st, but I dont want to screw anything up.

 

The AT won't let you downshift to first if there's any chance it'll overrev the engine. There's really no harm in doing this, but of course doing it all the time will put more continous load on the AT and might cause wear and tear to happen more quickly

 

But lets say at 3,000 rpm is it safe to downshift or not

 

boscenter pretty much told you the answer already. go try it out and youll see if its safe or not. if its not safe (ie: theres a chance that youll overrev the motor) the cars ecu wont let you put it into first, the gear indicator on ur guage cluster will blink.

 

The only time I downshift into 1st Gear is when I'm about to stop (ie a stop light, stop sign).. I'm usually around 20MPH or less.

 

Which I think is the only time the ECU allows it anyway.

 

Don't use your engine/transmission to slow down or stop (except in a dire emergency). That's why God gave you brakes.

I mean honestly, which would you rather put the wear and tear on: thousands of dollars worth of engine and transmission, or $60 worth of brake pads?

 

I wouldn't do it.... the gear ratio difference between 1st and 2nd is too big.... Try it, you'll feel a jerk when you do that (which probably means a sudden, large amount of load in the transmission).... rpm's will shoot up pretty high unless you're less than 1-2k rpm in 2nd gear...

 

If you're in SS mode and coming to a stop, just let the ECU do the downshifting for you. It does a great job of it and really makes it even easier than driving a standard transmission car.

You'll put less wear on the tran + get the fun of doing your own shifts when pulling our of the stop.

 

The only situation you would want to SS into 1st is if you wanted to crawl (~10 mph) down a snow/ice covered road..

 

I agree with those that have pointed out that brakes are cheaper to replace than a new tranny and you have a AT with a computer control system. Take the time and effort to learn how to drive it properly in SS mode and keep in mind that it's not a MT. I've found that yes you can engine brake in the higher gears but in my opinion you should learn to "up the revs" when doing so to avoid "jerking" your tranny. I think you'll see that the car will "catch" the lower gear smoothly and with more right foot control with a little practice, etc. As for DS'ing into 1st, I use the brakes. Final note, it is a AT not MT. Long term slaming of the right foot is not condusive for a long lived AT.

 

Its a pretty violent downshift. 2nd is a relatively long gear, and as much as it sucks for slowing the car down, it also sucks for coming out of low speed turns such as corners. The gearing doesn't allow for any power out of those turns.

 

i agree with this gentleman, what he said is so right. The TSX should made the gears more aggressive on the 5AT, the gearing we have is way too long for a hi-rev engine. please dont jump in and kill me, mr. 6MTs....

 

If the SS logic allows it then the tranny will downshift. If the SS logic thinks you'll overrev then the tranny will not downshift. Have I downshifted into 1st? Yes, but not very often and, like others have stated, moving rather slowly. On occasion in a very sharp corner I downshift into 1st when I'm having a little fun in the hills.

 

here, i'll sum it up for everybody:
JUST DON'T DO IT!

 

The tranny is dummy, idiot and moron proof anyway so its really a moot point. There's nothing he can do to harm the tranny.

 

Well, he can be thinking he's in SS mode when he's actually in D, shift up (actually to neutral), step on the gas finally realize he's in wrong mode and essentially doing a neutral drop...

 

Well ya,

I guess I should have specified while downshifting into first.

 

I have done it but only going slowly, like going through an EZPASS toll. 15 mph speed limit. The traffic on this particular toll splits to 3 seperate ramps so you have to get a jump coming out or you will get cut off. Otherwise I avoid it, it is a little too much difference from 1st to 2nd.

 

Yeah I downshift to 1st sometime. Only when going really slow though. The manual list the max speed that you can downshift from 2->1. I forget what it is though.

 

I've done it - but only when I'm at a near rolling stop or turning onto a road and I had to slow down but not enough to stop.

One thing I don't like about the AT is that long 2nd gear. To me, it's not enough to really take off from a near but not-quite-there stop. I want it to be in first, but the tranny just stays in second and most of the time won't downshift further even if I punch it - it just lumbers in second from 5mph - way too sluggish.

Unless I downshift it during the turn and force it to first because I am going slow enough for it to allow me - then I take off and I'll click it back over to auto to let it take over from there.

Lately however, either I've gotten used to it, or the car is learning from me now, but I now know at what point that the AT will go into first and at what point it won't even if I want it to. It seem that it will knock down to first easier than it used to.

But, after the first month I had the car, I brough it back to the dealer asking if they can adjust the sensitivity or something. But, they said they couldn't and that it's doing what it normally does - at least nothing any different than any other TSX. It just didn't seem right because I've never had an AT that wouldn't downshift easily when it needed it - not the Malibu I had before this, or the Ford Windstar van we had, or my wife's current Equinox. Same with the old '77 Bonneville or the '73 Plymouth Satellite I used to drive way back in the 80's in college.

I guess I was still used to my old '90 Integra with a manual in such a small car, and now I kind of wish I'd gotten the manual in this TSX. But then my wife wouldn't be able to drive it - and there are times she has to drive it.

I've tried just driving the TSX with SS a few times, but after living with a real stick-shift for 11 years in the Integra, it just doesn't feel right. Clicking up and down is not the same as running through a pattern. Plus, you can't just go straight to the gear you want (like during a slow-down) ahead of time and wait to let the clutch up when you're ready - that's all part of the fun of a manual that the SS can't duplicate.

 

There's an old adage in the form of one of Murphy's Laws that seems appropriate here:
It is impossible to make anything foolproof because fools are so ingenious.

 

I found that there's NO reason of doing this, because you should use your BRAKES~! I did it sometimes, but find it's worthless. Why?
1. You can only downshift from any gear to 1st gear when your speed is below 45km/h
2. If you can successfully downshift from above then you will experience the "jerkiness" of the car
3. The ECU can do a better job then you when slowing down, just pull it down to 2nd gear, slow down w/ brakes or whatever, then downshift to 1st again when you wanna rocket out. But I still think it's un-neccessary.

 

What the hell are you guys on?

 

save engine braking for the 6MT

 

Exactly. Brakes are made for stopping and automatic transmissions are made for going; neither one does the other's job very well.

 

i downshit from 6th to 1st

 

 

Amen to that . . .That was one of the first things my old man taught me over 20 yrs ago when I first learned to drive a stick . . . .brakes are a whole lot cheaper than a new tranny, etc . . . .

 

All the time in traffic jams!

 

I engine brake. The tranny would do it for you anyways. What's the difference if I do it. Keep in mind that the auto will never automatically shift down to 2nd. Just don't do it from high speeds. I use the tranny for engine braking as follows:

5 to 4 ....usually about 90-70km/h
4 to 3 ....usually about 60-55km/h
3 to 2 ....usually about 40-35km/h
2 to 1 ....almost never...unless I'm coming down a big hill and I won't do it above 15km/h.

I'm not going to use the brakes when I could easily and efficiently use the tranny. I think that doing it above these speeds cause too much shock. A good indication of shock to the vehicle from downshifting is to look at the flex pipe (exaust component) and see the wear in it. Every hard driver can be seen with a destroyed flex pipe. I don't know why the 6MT owners think they can downshift without worries...same concept; take precautions.

 

An AT can engine brake just like an MT can. It won't be quite as effective because torque converters slip, but it does slow you down and it doesn't place any stresses on the engine or transmission that acceleration doesn't also place on them.