markhorowitz

I am a fairly new TL owner and never use my SS because I am not sure how to. Can anyone please educate me on how to use it, when to shift and so on...

Ianbiz3

ok, u go 2 the D5 or D4 and then put it in 2 SS, do it at a stop to prevent over revinng, push the gas and push it up to shift, shift at anywhere between 3500 and 6000rpms, i prefer the 4k mark to save gas and still have enough to pass cars. when racing just slip it into SS and go.

markhorowitz

How does one know when they need to downshift? Or does the car do that for you?

I have heard that SS is also recommended for stop and go traffic. Is that true?

Ianbiz3

ahh sorta of when in the city, its a little unpreditable in the city, when it gets under 2k-3500rpms u can downshift

also it automatically gets in 1st when u stop.

hzm82

Sport Shift is a like a manual trans for dummies (no clutch). Basically you can control what gear you like to be in, but you must go in order 2-3, 3-4, 4-5 etc. or reverse. However the car still has main control over your shifting, so if it sense that if you downshifting would put you in the redline, it won't allow you to downshift.

You want to use SS in the city only because the auto likes to get to 5th gear and then you hit a red light, so the trans is shifting up and down too much. You can avoid this by keeping the gear in 4th or 3th gear on the gateshift.

You downshift if you want to engine brake, when you downshift into a lower gear, you can feel the car slowing down more.....You don't however need to downshift. Just slow down and stop and it will go to 1st gear.

If you have 00-03 TL, you don't have control over first gear, if you have 99 TL you have control over all gears.

jdone

Slap it over into SS anytime you want. The computer will not allow the car to over rev..

markhorowitz

Thank you, you explained it well.

One thing that drives me nuts about this car is its tendency to downship while I am coasting at 20-30 MPH. The dealer tells me that it is normal. It always feels like the car is pulling back due to some strong wind when in essence it is the transmission. Is this really normal, and if yes, would SS help that?

Ianbiz3

.


i had a 03 Tl yesterday and it over revved, i have a 99TLand it SUMTIMES shifts automatically from 1st 2 2nd

Ianbiz3

yea u can chill in 1st and have no worries, and sumtimes use 2nd

PaulM9999

To those knowledgeable about the tranny probs; Any reason to believe that use of sport shift would increase the chances of trouble? My first tranny went at about 65k, and I used SS occasionally. Since then, I've been fearful; perhaps blaming myself for the problem. Now I'm approaching the 100k mark, (and the end of the tranny warranty). Am I being paranoid?

joseph_99tl

no.
i purchasde a 99 tl.
60.000 mi.

the trans was wack..

learned of the recal..

purchased it anyways..

got it replaced by dealer.

afraid to use SS..

you tell Me?.

Tom Blasing

That's called the Grade Logic feature and personally I can't stand it. It comes from "feathering" the throtle slightly (on-off-on-off) to keep the car at a steady speed, say at 35mph for most neighborhoods. About the only time it won't do this is either when it's in SS mode or if you've been on the gas for a few miles, let off the gas once and don't touch it again while your coasting. I would love to be able to turn this thing off and stay in Auto mode but I'm told it's part of the programing in the ECU

markhorowitz

I can't stand it either - it drives me nuts. I want the car to coast freely and it simply won't. Acura gave me a whole story how it allows the car to be better prepared for the next upshift, but my Toyota doesn't do that and upshifts just fine.