This afternoon I was sitting at a light and realized I was in the wrong lane so I prepared myself to enjoy the fruits of the propulsion this great car has to offer by putting it into sport mode, and M1. However when I went to take off, the transmission seemed to glitch and the car bucked rather awkwardly. I backed out of the throttle completely, and lightly engaged it again to move forward. It operated smoothly and perfectly for the rest of my trip home. I have never experienced that before and hope not to again, but there were no sounds associated with the bucking motion, nor any other indications of any issues. My assumption is it was a momentary snafu as there are so many computers communicating with each other in this car, that something conflicted with one of the instructions for just a second. What do you all think? I will look for responses later this weekend as I am off the grid until then. Take care.

 

 

I was able to repeat the experience this morning and has assessed that it is a combination of user error on my part and being on a slight uphill grade at the same time. So here is what I mean by user error. Since I typically don't drive in sport mode, the throttle application I typically use (especially in this particular intersection), with that unique grade of the road, I touch the gas softly at first and then apply more pressure as the ICE engine engages, so it is a step-step application. In sport mode, from a stop, on that uphill grade, the car does not like that step-step throttle application at all. I tried repeating the process this morning as was able to experience the same bucking result doing it this way. I looped around and took off from that same place/intersection in EV mode as normal, as well as in sport mode without the step-step action, and the car performed without issue. Thus it is my conclusion that the combination of circumstances and my throttle application method was to blame, not the car.

 

Perhaps still a software glitch? The light first touch of the throttle may have fooled the transmission to upshift? I have seen some weird glitches in Sport Mode in my SH-AWD, particularly at speed when the car should shift to a higher gear but stays in a lower gear after dropping out of Sport Mode. I think that they did an incredible job of software engineering this drivetrain, but it may be only 99.99% perfect.

Relted, I saw, and sat in, my first NSX yesterday at the dealer. They wouldn't let me drive it, of course, but I talked to two people at the dealership who drove the car during training at the test track. One big surprise seemed to be how totally responsive the transmission was - as in 100% direct, immediate control, with 0 lag (kind of like a Tesla with no transmission), with or without the ICE on. Hard to do in a mechanical beast. BTW, a pretty great looking car. Sticker was 206K. I definitely almost sprang for one. Just missing a third garage. And 200K of the 206K.

 

^^^ Nearly every modern transmission is software controlled with built in fuzzy logic. Prior we had the 'learning' behavior based on your driving style. Now we have layered upon that is logic that looks to shift power source and VCM into the mix making tranny 'decisions' ever more complex. Every modern auto trans car is likely to exhibit a software conflict that results in unexpected behavior from the norm.Most all reviews of 95% of higher gear, DC transmissions report an instance of tranny logic hesitation or 'confusion'. The other 5% likely have not yet found the condition where it WILL happen. And that is without the party that is going on with Sport Hybrid systems. This is a small tradeoff for the economy and added performance we realize is all modern cars.

Feathering or slightly letting up on the throttle in SPORT mode is, in itself contradictory to what SPORT mode intends to do.- Get on it, an go. And for the NSX, it has less contradiction in tranny logic. The NSX drive-train logic is not to seek opportunities to shut off a power source(s) for economy by seeking e-drive mode opportunity, but instead maximize all power sources to deliver best performance. The lower efficiency penalty of the hybrid system in this case is the lowest of priorities

 

Fsmith, you forgot one other very important item in your list of excuses why you can't purchase the NSX...... doesn't your wife need to say it is ok? Somehow when we guys get married, we seem to miss that fine print at the bottom of the marriage contract that says in plain English, "everything must be wife approved before the husband can go do something that could endanger his life". I seem to be reminded of that with a slap in the right arm when I aggressively pass someone on the highway.

Tampa, regarding your comment, that is interesting that you note that information about the software logic. Thank you very much!

I hope everyone has a safe and enjoyable Thanksgiving. Be safe out there!