Hi all,

OK, please don't flame me for this question. I'm still a newbie when it comes to cars . I'm still at my breaking-in period with only 300 miles on the car. Should I be driving purely with the automatic? Or is it better to use the sport shift? I've been using the sport shift almost exclusively at this point. I never let it get over 3.5 RPM's before I shift higher. Any advice? Thanks

 

after u break in ur engine, use the sport shift. it really only comes in handy for keepin the car in 2nd & 3rd longer. the only other thing its good for is when ur going 55-60 u can drop it in 2nd, and when ur going 85-90 u can drop it in 3rd.. this doesnt happen when its in auto and u floor it...... here's my drag times using the sport shift with the vsa off CLICK ME

 

It makes no difference, SS and D5 are both on the same tranny, meaning the are both automatic, the only differnece is that you choose the gear instead of the ECU. Acura claims 10% faster shifting, but that just goes in one ear goes out the other one. There is nothing that claims that the car is quicker or save gas when using SS.

 

I posted this on another thread, but I think it's worth recycling:

"I say phooey to the naysayers. I drove my car hard almost from day one. I say you should at least go a couple hundred miles to make sure that nothing major is wrong from the factory, but after that, it's on.
Without a doubt, the fastest times for me have been achieved this way:
1. Turn off VSA. THIS STEP IS VITAL!
2. Put car in 1 (NOT Sportshift BS).
3. Brake torque to 2,000 RPM. (With stock rims/tires DO NOT brake torque or you will spin like a mofo)
4. Green light - stab the sh!t out of the gas pedal. I use two feet or rock from brake to gas with one foot, but that takes practice.
5. Let the tires spin, when they hook you will want to be in the upper rpm's (4-5,000) anyway so you don't bog.
6. Slam it into 2nd around 6,500, the car won't actually shift until 7,400, should chirp stock tires. This will require a little practice to get right with your car to avoid the rev limiter. NOTE: do not race on a cold engine/trans - the b!tch takes forever to shift - REDLINE!
7. Nudge it into 3rd at 7,000 - 7,100, but don't go into 4th yet.
8. Hold 3rd until 115mph, you should have been able to stay in VTEC range the whole time until now, you will drop out slightly until 120mph, then it will start to pull again all the way to 150mph, when the computer will finally decide you've had enough fun and cut your ignition until you drop below 145.

I have been able to beat the following cars:
1. Stock/Lightly modified 89, 92, and 96 Mustangs
2. Stock/Lightly modified 92-99 Eclipse Turbos
3. Boatloads of Civics, Accords, and Preludes
4. Stock 2001 BMW 330i (Automatic)
5. Stock 1999 Pontiac Grand Prix GTP
6. Lightly modified 2002 Acura RSX Type S

I have been beaten by the following cars:
1. Stock 2002 Honda S-2000 (1 month old and he was ripping off 7,000 rpm launches!)
2. Moderately tweaked 91 Mustang
3. Lightly modified 87 Buick Grand National

And no trans problems!"

 

D5 vs SS doesn't really matter. Sounds like you are doing the reasonable thing by keeping you rev's down. I decided to err on the side of being cautious so I stayed out of VTEC range until the break-in period was over. There are arguments whether it matters if you 'baby' it or not during the break-in, but I figured it certainly didn't hurt to take it easy.

I like the SS mode for downshifting (not hard), saves on some of the braking.

 

I haven't tried SS much, but could ya guys gimme some pointers on things NOT to do while in SS to prevent messing your tranny? Like common sense rule of thumbs of when not to downshift ?? hehe

 

either or...doesnt matter.

 

The trans computer won't let you downshift with SS if your speed is too high, it will let you know this by flashing the gear indicator lamp and not downshifting. You actually have MUCH more control when you manually shift it, it is not nearly as simple to control as SS, but with practice, it will give you MUCH FASTER acceleration.

One more pointer, SS kinda sucks overall, not enough control where it matters, the 1-2 shift is always automatic and at too low of an RPM and you cant go down to 1st unless you stab the gas below 30 mph or slow down to ~9 mph. Both of these are overcome by "manually" shifting from 1-2 and vice versa.

Come to think of it SS SUCKS D!CK.