I have heard that with autosticks it is unhealthy to downshift due to stress on the torque converter. I'm not talking about manual operated kickdowns, i'm talking about just straight down shifting, for example when engine breaking. I naturally do it when driving manual tranny cars but then you can control engine speed. With the sportshift you make the torque converter deal with it.

Yes or no?

 

dont know here. but i usually dont use sportshift unless moutain driving when i need the control of gears.

 

acutally, with sport shift you can actually do a small ghetto version of rev matching, i know i know it sounds stupid but hear me out:
Say you're in 3rd gear and you're at about 45mph, well downshipt into 2nd but.. give it some gas as you do it, let off at about 4500 - 5000 rpms, Instead of the drivetrain pulling the torque converter up to speed, giving it gas actually mkes the transfer a little easier on your TC. I know its sounds so retarded lol but try it, it actually works, but you have to time it right, our SS is a little slow, so you kind of have to downshift.. wait maybe a half second then give it a little gas.. now dont, mash it b/c then you go too high, its better to be too low and then get higher little by little (RPM wise). i was screwing around a bit with it the other day, and it kind of works.. instead of rev matching with a clutch. .and letting off the clutch and having both the flywheel and clutch be at the same speed, the two parts of the TC raise in speed at the same time, its hard to explain.. goof around with it you'll understand what i'm talking about

 

of coz kicking down is not healthy for the gears...

avoid hard kickdown to prevent tranny failure

 

What happens when the full auto tranny kicks down? I doubt that is bad for the tranny. In fact if it does it often it should be a normal operation and have little negative affect. I'm talking about engine braking.


IXLR8TL3.2:

I will take that into consideration and definitely try it sometimes.

 

oh well...in fully auto it won't kick down hard unless u WOT...that means u r beating ur car...beating ur car=tranny failure sooner

our transmission has enging braking system...so it's not that big problem for that...coz that's not a hard kickdown...

to prevent a tranny failure is not to be aggressive and not beating up ur car...so simple

 

canadiens

I barely understood your post but nevertheless I don't beat up on my TL. However in the manual there is nothing that speaks against downshifting when decelerating.

 

Anytime there is a dramatic shift in loads within the drive train, there are drawbacks. Usually negative changes are more harmful, but unless extreme, should not cause a failure, but premature wear.

So don't unecessarily use the tranny to brake for you. However, when engaging in race, don't worry about shifting down to that lower gear before you punch it.

I usually ease into the situation if it permits. Meaning I anticipate my need to down shift to the speed I want to be at. So if I'm doing 60 and expect to punch it at say 30, I'll downshift (shiftgate) to 3rd from 4th, then as my speed goes down even more I'll shift to 2nd around 40 and then drop into 1st at 30.

The last drop is the most dramatic, but the previous are mild. As a rule of thumb, I try not to downshift at points that would run the RPM over 4500RPM, expect for rare or race situations.

So 1st at 30 and 2nd at 50 are those rare points, but hang on, it's your best point to race someone from a punch.

Just be ready to shift, the rev-limiter come at you quickly.

AIMO

RUF