hey guys, new to form here. i am only 16 years old and got my license in Jan, where my parents got me my tsx in jan as well pretty awesome car, but i dont konw too much about cars (YET!) and has no idea how to use the paddle shifters.
i messed around with it once whlie driving, i increased it up gear up and i didnt really feel a difference, however as i lower a gear down i felt the car jerked a little, then the numbers went away. it faded away at gear 2. so my question is...should i just leave it the way it is now? or should i leave it at gear 3 or 4 or whatever and let it fade away.
sorry for the noobie quetions

 

Ummm...sounds like you're doing it completely wrong. Don't leave it in any gears or just drop it down for no reason. If you really have no idea what you're doing, then leave it in 'D' Drive and don't mess with it. Otherwise you're nice little birthday present from your parents is going to be a nice little piece of junk with transmission issues. You shouldn't be able to feel a difference, it just allows for you to have full control of when the car shifts gears rather than letting the car do it on it's own.

 

i actually shifted at D. but yes, i did have no idea wut i was doing, and i think while i was driving it shifted to D 2 and then it faded and i just left it like that. so i hsuold leave it like that and not mess with it? or is it better to be at liek D3 and faded or it doesnt matter.

 

You're new to cars so start getting used to reading the owners manual. As you grow and get other cars stick to this habit. You will learn a lot about each car and even prevent harm to them. Added advantage, you won't be asking questions that people will tell you to find the answer in the manual. You may also be surprised to find things about the car that you never knew existed. Good luck on your new TSX.

 

When you shifted up, you were probably in 5th gear and couldn't go any higher, which is why you didn't feel any difference (the difference in feeling between 4th and 5th isn't that much either).

The reason the numbers go away is because in 'D' mode, the automatic transmission takes over. You can briefly switch gears, for example, downshift to 3 to pass somebody on the highway and if you leave it alone the car will compensate.

Now if you leave it in 'S' mode (below the 'D') you have greater control over what gear your car is in. It is almost as if you were driving a stick. Now I believe the car still makes some adjustments as a last resort (like it will auto change gears if your RPM is too high or low so you won't bust your transmission).

Sometimes when I'm going down a steep long hill, I'll put it in S mode and shift to a lower gear so I won't have to wear out my brakes. But there aren't that many reasons for you to fiddle around with the paddle shifters.

Keep reading the forums, google about gears and shifting and whatnot and you'll get a better hold of how a transmission works. After you get some knowhow, I would recommend trying to simulate a stickshift car (increase the gears from 1 to 5 after you have hit the appropriate RPM).

Have fun and don't break it!

 

haha thanks guys. i actually did read the owenrs manuel, but was still a little confused thats why i looked to youguys so i guess i'll just leave it alone for now untill li get the hang of it

 

I don't really get what you mean by "faded". Can you elaborate?

 

well, it basically just went away. so intead of saying liek D 3 or D 2, its jsut normal D. and no nubmer shows in the box next to D.

 

Hey there, welcome to the forums. I think you should just stick to driving in D, and learning how to use the paddle shifters will come to you naturally with time. There's no rush. Just enjoy driving your car and don't worry about using the paddle shifters and dont break your car lol

 

yeah, i think i will probably do that. just you know, first car, kinda excited and wanna try everything haha

 

if you really want to use the paddle shifters, just put it from 'D' to 'S' which then requires you to change gears when driving. *note be careful on this one because the car does not change gears when you accelerate, you need to change gears 'manually' via the paddle shifters. i think for now i would leave it as it is until you know more of the car, like how much rpms to change gears.

congrats on the car!

 

yeah, i thoguht about it and after seeing what you guys thoguht, i decided its probably better that i leave it alone for now untill later on. haha

and thanks! its a awesome car, i used to drive the oldest car in the house, the 2002 civic lx, which to me is a huge upgrade now that i have the tsx!

 

ed_423, I know how you feel dude. I'm 17 turning 18 this April and the first vehicle I drove was a soccer mom 1997 Ford Windstar -_-

 

awesomee, im turing 17 in april as well AND im from CA. not san diego tho, but LA

 

lol def leave it in D. its really not that hard to figure out though and theres nothing you could possibly do to break the tranny unless you neutral drop it... pull on the + to shift up and the - to shift down. good luck!

 

Don't blow the car up, or mommy and daddy will be very angry with junior.

 

funny thread.
What I don't get is how come when you put the shifter in S at a stop, the car shifts into second gear automatically on acceleration. It's so annoying. You have to downshift before it shifts to second just to keep it in first.

 

As a new driver, leave the paddle shifters alone and get the hang of handling a 4000 lb. machine first. And please don't kill the rest of us on the road.

Seriously, be careful out there and don't get too over-confident with your driving skills.

 

The idea is at the stoplight, put it in S and then hit the paddle shifter before you take off and it will display M1. This lets the car know you want full control.

 

working on that

 

Im 16 Also! But I get my car in May, Or June.. I cant decide whether I want the 4 or 6 cylinder model.

Just keep in mind that when your using the paddle shifters that you shouldnt rev past 7,000 rpm. Or you could cause serious damage to your car. Let someone teach you first. Because these transmissions sure aint cheap!

 

actually thats what the ecu is there for. with the paddles you cant cause serious damage. you may shorten the life of the tranny in the long run but it will be ok. with the 6mt you can cause some serious damage if you really try.

 

Damn, whats up with all these teenagers having their first car being an 09 TSX ?! And I though i was spoiled..

 

Lol kalmario, your only 17 dude. Although I guess in high school a year was a HUGE difference. I'm 22 (in 4 days) and I still feel spoiled, in fact I feel bad sometimes driving the car in this economy but then I drive and all my worries go away. /end tangent

 

Haha i know my last post was sarcasm. And fyi, im turning 18 this month!!! Haha

 

haha im turning 17 on the 23rd happy early bday to u kalmario.
and damn, i do feel a bit spoiled. haha but i dont drive the tsx to school tho, i drive my 02 civic (cuz someone scratched my car, on the left front bumper, so i dont drive tsx to school)

 

Im only 20, but for a 3rd year university student the car seems about appropriate.