patek007

Latest Update... took my '01cls' once again to test the 4th to 3rd sportShift by letting go from gas - per nice buds suggest here... and.... ELATION!!... drivers beside me thought I was having some sort of an 'attack' [was screaming with happiness!!]... I.e. the speedo was @ 102mph, and tach @ 6300rpm in the 3rd.. for the very 1st time !!! vs. the very unintuitive imposed limitation of 85mph from 4th to 3rd with the gas depressed...

What actually made me scream with happiness is how much fellas here know and.... vs. the ignorant, the careless, the pathetic Acura Customer Relations & Dealer Services Folk.... whom are still on this case without any idea what to say... whose REAL jobs are to make customers go away and hide issues under the rug, while insulting our intelligence to boot...

Why would a dumb-ass Service as well as Regional Manager would NOT know how the thing was designed???? or if they do know.. why wouldn't they 'admit' it... is there something 'illegal', i.e. by suggesting the operation at such high speeds 'in writing' - are they becoming immediately liable if something happens... But then they DID already put it in writing.. in the manual.... Thoughts??

..Without brownNosing , I honestly raise a Friday's TOAST to how much frustration we save each, while how much happiness we add to each.... while sharing ALL of our experiences.. good & bad....

Has anyone published their 'frustration cases' in local papers or went on TV?? I feel so pissed at them still that I just might do it... We should do an action lawsuit [for the ones who's been wronged with Customer Service] to make Acura REMOVE the words 'Total Luxury' as in Care.. since obviously the MFs are CLUELESS and wrongfully advertising the term.

.Cheers.

darrinb

i dont understand most of ur post, r u saying u downshifted from 4th to 3rd at 102

patek007

darrinb... exactamundo, with much 'history' behind it.

edgalang

I did this test myself (even before consulting the board) and verified that you needed to be going no faster than 85 to shift to 3rd in SS. When you said let go of the gas...you mean get off the pedal completely?

For the record, when I did my own test, I set it to cruise control (90MPH @ 4th) and literrally lowered my speed by 1-2 MPH between each attempt.

EricL

This discussion came up over and over in the early days. I had a few chances to test out the "gas off" and "brake tap", and found that I could get the car back into third, from forth, at somewhere around 100+ MPH. (I was using SS.)

The flashing light is the key, and the action is highly unintuitive. I believe that the computer is interpreting or anticipating a downshift to slow the car down, and not speed the car up. The computer needs a “hint.” I know this works for my 2001 CLS.

patek007

edgalang... PRECISELY. Get it ABOVE 85 [any which way you want], then COMPLETELY let go off gas... - the downshift is ALLOWED at speeds above 85. I did not have the chance to take it to 104 [spec'd] for 2001 - I understand later manuals restricted ALL models to 93, even CL-S. Yet I did test it out at 102 and it DID allow the downshift... To be honest to the ones who didn't know about above - we've ben missing ALOT, the exhiliration at 6500rpm is undescribably, especialloy withthe windows open ..

So ENJOY now that you can ...!!

mattg

if you shift at 5000 you get to enjoy that same exhilaration, only longer.

patek007

..but the 'kick' is not as 'violent' as at 6k+ ... the thing becomes ferocious... like a bike... - reminiscent of the reasons why I got the 91 Integra, once the sales guy showed me the 'pre-SS' S3 tranny mode, for those who remember ...

mattg

is your car stock?

patek007

yes... so I better shut it.. and let the 'real folk' tell the tale

mattg

well imagine what it would be like if you had an icebox, headers, crank pulley, cat back exhaust and a 75 shot of n2o.

patek007

I am married... so 'fortunate' to've compromised the CL-S if at all ... And then with the amount of homework they give my daughter in the 3rd grade... I feel sorry for the kids nowdays, they are missing their childhoods... You add to that gymnastics, music lessons, karate and 'play dates' - and as you see my finances & schedule get filled farely quickly...

But I do not dispair... and 'vicariously' live through you guys... will take your suggest into consideration ..

Nashua_Night_Hawk

see, it was possible... BTW, it is only occasionally that I need to go anywhere pat 85 MPH. Espacially since I am on probation on one pending ticket that will disappear on May 17th 2004.

Also have Snow tires and weak brakes do not help... I am saving to spend like $1,000 for 4 new 18" summer tires and 4 brake pads 4 rotors and 4 SS brake lines and some brake fluid to finish it off!

Shawn S

I’m glad to hear everything’s running OK for you patek007.
Now we know that your loving family will be “safe” in the back seat as you’re passing trucks in traffic on 2-lane roads at 100+ MPH.

Shawn S

paulff3

"Hey kids watch this....."

"Do it again Daddy, do it again!"

Joe5.0

And you guys wonder why your trannies explode at afaster than normal rate. Its an automatic, let it do its thing. JMO

The TL-P loaner I had never felt like it didnt downshift into the correct gear.

EricL

It's actually the repeated 3->2 downshifts and 2->3 upshifts that are the killers. And, a lot of little old ladies ended-up with replacement trannies (sometimes more than two). If you get a tranny with quality control issues, you're dead anyway.

1killercls

this guy is a ToolBox.

NOVAwhiteTypeS

told ya

patek007

As an engineer... my advice to you peeps... - DON'T baby your trannies... if the thing 'must' break.. - make it SOONER not later... drive the hell out of them... - we only live once.. as we know it ... Of course, safety first... - as some good folks taught me here as well..... .
I just find it surprising that not more are enthusiastic about this switching ability... It was really 'lacking' here, on west coast... I still kid you not, while yesterday from West LA to Irvine - an average speed was in the skirts of 85-90 - when we see no traffic - this is our window of oppty to get there 'almost late' as oppose to late.. - such as LA's life ....
I will tell you one thing.. Western Region Acura, as well as Service Managers on 3 dealerships are still CLUELESS as to what to do about this so called 'problem', but enough about them...

EricL

My advise: try to leave very early...

Also, you might want to avoid "breaking" the tranny. The one you have NOW, might be better than the one you get. It's not like they give you a new tranny. They give you a rebuilt one *and* some last and some don't (mods or not).

If you like speeding over to the Acura shop in the back of a tow truck, go ahead and abuse the sucker...

patek007

EricL.. thanks for your thoughts... Going from 4th to 3rd at 102.. is still within spec... Why else buy what is deemed a 'sports' car. There is a reason why I also get 7y/100k of Geunuine Acura Hustle... I mean Care ...
I am aware of the 40-50kmiles mark, when some trannies did fail... so if they must, it's better they do in the city... then in the middle of nowhere.

I admit this tactic would NOT work in all the dealerships... but in my particular case I had to change my tranny in the new 00accordv6cpe, I theatened to NOT return their rental until mine will be fixed to my satisfaction. They reported the car stolen to the police - cops give me a call inquiring about the car - I 'pal' up with the case investigator, we talk about kids, families, and what he would do in my place, i.e. the tranny failed after only 2.7km on a new car!! He calls them back and tells them - fix his GOD damn car and not waste his time with this bs, that he had real work to do. They not only fixed it... they apologized for the runAround... Although they did put a NEW tranny in - the total bill to Honda was $13,868... for about 4.5 days of work.

darrinb

driving style has nothin to do with out shitty tranny's, c mon, other poeple with auto that drive em hard dont ecperiennce failres like us

my frind has a tl-p and drives it like a baby, on his 2nd trans...

darrinb

damn thats a good idea on not giving back the loaner, even if they did fic your trans, no one can fix it for good though, theres people with 4-5 replacements

EricL

IMO, nothing is a bit strong. Can I borrow your car and destroy its tranny in a few hours for demo purposes?

And, yes, there are some people that really baby the car and they sure got a bad run of trannies... (I think I should put up a sticky in the tranny forum that says, "Acura trannies can break at low mileage and that doesn't mean they have been abused....")

jgscott

I did'nt want to say this before because of all the drama in the previous thread. The non shift in SS mode 4th to 3rd has gotten my ass kicked by a lot of cars that my CLS should have blown away. Trans in wrong RPM range. Comming off gas or tapping brake to shift loses you 2- 6 car lengths when running another car and it sucks. In D5 straight auto it don't always down shift to peak power when you nail it either. The damm thing has a mind of it's own ? Shifting the auto for performance is more trouble that shifting the 6sp man. Auto is suppose to be automatic. The auto trans does not last, and when it is working don't work with the engine rpm's band it SUCK's period.

Chopsie

I tested this the other day, worked for me also. I have tried the brake tap also.