Here's the scoop. I have a 2002 TL-P. The acceleration from zero to 100mph is decent. However, once I hit 100mph it seems as though some sort of governor kicks it and the acceleration dramatically reduces. Is this normal? Once I hit 100mph what is the average number of seconds that should elapse before I get to 130mph?

 

It's called 4th and 5th gears. They're meant to be overdrive gears and are tall to help gas mileage, not acceleration. Hold 3rd for as long as you can.

 

Thanks for the info bud. Next time out I'll have to use "sport" mode all the way to see the difference.

 

when u use auto, its a little different cuz it does shift earlier, but when u use SS, what u'll see is that you can stay in 3rd till about 110mph, then u have to shift to 4th, and it feels like u went from accelerating to cruising mode, and will stay that way till about 125mph, at which point the ur back in ur powerband, and it'll start pulling really hard again... all the way to ~148 at which point the fuel cuts off

 

well, even if you use the ss mode, you can't pass 110 with your 3rd gear. just like the type s can't pass 116 or so.

 

...yeah and from then on it's 4th & 5th gear, which takes forever to go any faster...

 

thanks for all the detailed info. As soon as it dries up around here, I'll have to give it a try.

 

in my experience, if you are in 3rd in SS, it will let you stay in 3rd past 100mph, but if you are in 4th and going 90mph and someone tries to pick up a race with you, the damn thing does not wamt to downshift. At least that's how my TL-S is. If I try to downshift from 4th to 3rd at 90mph, "3" will flash for a second and go back to "4".

Back when I had my 300M, I could shift it from 4 to 3 at 100mph and enjoy really nice acceleration.

 

the "trick" to going from 4 to 3rd at that speed is to actually slow down a bit, once u get to about 80mph, it'll let u shift again, and even though ur slowing down, and having ur oponent gain distance on u, once ur back in 3rd, the boost u get more than compensates for the slow-down. this will get u to 110 a lot faster than if u were in 4th and tried to get there.

 

I just couldn't wait until it dried up to try things out. So I decided to go for a ride on the Interstate during lunch. I gotta admit, I like how it accelerates once you hit 100mph in sport mode. Again, thanks for all the info. It was driving me nuts that acceleration slowed down once hitting 100. I should of asked this question a long time ago.

 

Bottom line, once you hit 4th gear, even modded, you will lose to most descent V6 out there. I had I/H/E/VAFC and once I hit 4th, a stock VR6 was walking me down and passing me...I was pissed!