I've noticed a slightly unusual pattern at low speeds. Let's say I am behind somebody going about 10 miles an hour and I want a surge of speed to pass. I hit the accelerator and the car hesitates for a few seconds, and then the acceleration comes in a surge and the RPM shoot up.

One theory is that this is just a question of the engine needing to wind up to get to the power in the higher RPM. But, I've wondered wether it had more to do with the drive-by-wire system. That is, I've wondered if throttle response is sometimes inhibited by the system in order to minimize emissions.

Thoughts?

 

u have a 5AT. your car is hesitating becuase your ECU is telling your car to downshift because u are hitting the gas so hard. No "hesitation/lag" in MT...

 

i have the same problem... i have an Auto too

 

that's not necessarily the whole story..could be exactly what's going on but
It could also be:

drive by wire system
torque converter unlocking
vsa if on a poor surface

Does it still happen in SS mode or only in D? I fyou leave it in D it will often be in a higher gear than you want to save on the mileage.

 

yeah when it's on 'D' it does this, well for me at least.

 

You are correct except for one. There's no way the torque converter would be locked up at 10mph. Very unlikely. Since you're coasting at 10mph, you're more than likely in 2nd gear. When you gun it, the car will more than likely cause the tranny to kickdown. I agree with this.

 

Its called transmission hesitation. (Its biased more towards comfortable shifts and fuel economy) Its a side effect of all automatic transmissions. If you don't like it, use SS. There is always a sweet 6 speed too

 

Nobody else has been thrown by the "few seconds" part, but I'm hung up on it.

You're a very precise dude, FDL, so I can't help assuming you mean it literally.

If that's REALLY what's happening, IT'S NOT NORMAL. Repeat, NOT NORMAL. I have an AT too, and it's not like that.

On the threads where we've talked about the 0-60 times, I've noted that indeed the hard part is getting started -- but it's not anywhere near a few seconds. Maybe a second, if that. (Same thing if starting from higher speed than 0.)

Is THAT what you meant?

Sorry to be so persnickety -- but maybe this'll help define what we're trying to answer for you.

 

Larch...not my post. I dont drive an AT


But while I am posting here I will add my 2 cents and say I think he may be exagerating. Otherwise that would be extremely odd behavior warrenting a visit to the dealer right away.

 

Happened to me once so far. Was in D and slowing down for a turn, but did not come to a full stop. Road was clear so I hit the gas and turned -- maybe a 0.75s hesitation. Enough to think WTF?!! for a second. I didn't pay attention, but it was probably in a higher gear..

Never happens when I'm using SS.

-r

 

Sorry, FDL! My bad! I was jumping between threads and I got confused.

Too much Gilbert & Sullivan maybe.

(And I didn't think you drove an AT.)

 

So, sorry again! -- Question goes to Darth:

Did you really mean a few seconds?

 

ahh yeah, then it's obviously kicking down multiple gears.l the car is pretty liberal with the kick downs when get on the gas
.

 

oh yeah, u can see what gear the TSX 5AT is in if u move ur shifter into the SS gate. U can shift it back into D without any problem, and vice versa.

 

No, I didn't. You are right I was being inprecise. It feels like a few seconds, but it is really milliseconds we're talking about here.

 

I have seen in happen in SS mode at all. I personally suspect the drive by wire system, but I could be wrong.

 

Whatever it is, I gotta believe it's a sacrifice that Honda/Acura felt was more than made up for during what comes right after those "milliseconds." And I agree.

As I said on a couple of the "0-60" threads, getting started is the hard part, but then you ZOOM, if you try. Really more so than I was used to from my prior cars -- which included a 320i.

 

I think it's a combination of the DBW and the auto. I read somewhere that when you are travelling at a relatively contstant speed or recent pedal movements are small, the DBW system will adjust the throttle response so that larger pedal movements required than when you're already accelerating or making rapid throttle adjustments. The reason is to smooth things out so that small pedal movements (caused by riding over bumps say) don't result in jerky changes in speed.

So it could be taking a second or so to determine that hey, you're REALLY mashing the throttle this time.
Combine that with the natural delay for an auto to kick down and it there's your explanation. I haven't driven the TSX 5AT, but I bet it doesn't react that way in SS mode. I know the hesitation in the Accord's AT drove me nuts.

 

Honda auto trannies have improved... drive an '02 Accord V6 AT vs. and '03 and the differences are shocking. The '03 is much quicker, smoother and has an extra gear, its great. Don't even get me started on what my '88 Accord was like

 

greatly improved. The TSX has what I think is the best auto I've ever expereinced, at least paired with a 4-cyl. The auto in the TSX is really smooth and responsive, in general. The autos in my last two Accords were much less responsive.

 

i had an 88 accord. it was carborated too . hesitation is due LARGELY to tranny kicking down to a lower gear

 

Interesting, Ken and Cow. I had an '88 Legend, AT, and it was very very good. There must have been big differences between the Legend and the Accord that year -- at least the Accords that you're talking about.

 

Yeah, mine was an 88 LX, meaning it wasn't fuel-injected. It had some decent low end punch when the tranny decided to kick in but it had no top end whatsoever. Inspite of that, it was a FUN car to drive. The 1st generation Legends actually had a microprocessor to smooth out the tranny. The '90 - '93 Accord was the first Accord to get this (notice those had a sport/normal button)

 

heh, my 88 accord was just the LX, not the LXi. the LXi had fuel injection. I remember i had to floor the car to start in the morning somtimes cause the carb was so cold

 

My Accord was gold, sedan. It had 37,000 miles on it when I bought it last summer (I bought it from an old man). The interior was brand new looking and the exterior looked about a year or two old, it was like going back in a time warp and purchasing it. Loved that car to death.

 

Getting back to the acceleration issue, is this something I should bring to the attention of the dealer, or is it simply an issue I need to live with?

 

Just an idea, let your dealer know about it and ask them to try the car out. It can't hurt to try. It might just be the fact its an auto, but since I/we aren't there to test it and to add a second opinion, ask your service department or the salesman who sold it.

 

If it's anything less than 1 sec, you're fine. Consider the time the computer reads your gas pedal position, downshift and then the transmission locks up the torque converter, 0.75ms is not that bad. If you can't stand the 0.75ms, then the 6MT is what you need. However, on the other hand, some transmission learns driver styles. An example is my Beetle Turbo. After I constantly flooring the gas to step on the kick down switch, the transmission learned that I want more power, thus eventually downshift much quicker. Now, I don't even have to push it all the way down for a downshift. Not so sure about TSX's slush box is a learning one or not. If it is, then after you break in your car, disconnect the battery for 15-30 min (not sure) to reset the computer, then connect it back. Drive like you normally would and it should train the transmission again. I did it on my last car and it helps a little bit.

For the DBW, there are two modes. Slow and fast. But speed is the deciding factor rather than coasting or cruising. Which means, if you're travelling at a snail pace, DBW will switch to 'slow' mode, to improve smoothness. When you're at highway speed, it will switch to 'fast' mode to improve response. The system is not absolutely linear so give some time to get use to it.

 

Maan, this is an old thread. Thank goodness for the "Search" function.

I wasn't sure if I was the only one with this hesitation problem. I'm pretty sure mine hesitates for less than a second, but at times it can be critical, like merging into tight traffic after slowing down to check for oncoming traffic when coming out of a loop off-ramp.

It can feel like forever when looking over your left-shoulder, and you see a big ass truck coming down the street, and your TSX is pausing to figure out what the hell you really mean when slamming on the pedal. It means, MOOOVE damnit.

It just seems more noticeable in the TSX than in any other slush box I've driven. Makes me miss my '99 MT Accord a little.

Using the SS does pretty much eliminate the issue, but when driving an automatic car, I kinda get used to just leaving it in 'D'.

 

I had the Ledgend L that year. I am biased because I perfer MT, but the AT on the Ledgend was not horrible or good. It did have a lag and shifted gears at weird times IMO. Can't speak about the Accord.

 

That's because the slush box is coupled with the DBW. I feel the same thing when I drove my parents' 05 Odyssey.