Ok so when I discuss my car with alot of my car buddies and many acurazine members, I always get this... "oh you have an auto why didn't you get the 6speed..." comment...

I sometimes just wish they'd take a ride in the passenger seat

Well I live in the most traffic invested city in the east coast...

As well as 6speeds respond to mods it just isn't the smartest move, afterall my brakes are shot... all the way around, and as you can see in the video I am just over 11k miles

Now lets put the SS-Mode rumor to death
and at the same time... lets breathe life into what all type s auto drivers know all too too well... the tl-s tranny... it is a force to be reckond with and I give a to the designers who created a tranny that responds to the toes

Let me cut the chit chat and start off the discussion via a short clip of my all too modified tl-s...

WITH OUT FURTHER DISCUSSION - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XTivHbAalYA

NOTE: VSA WAS ENABLED (it alters shifts somewhat)

PS. I work nights, there was NO traffic on this stretch of road... well all too short lived as you will see at the end of the video

 

I am not quite sure what that video proves, but I do agree that the Type S Auto is not all that bad. I came out of a 6 speed 350Z, and I was so excited about the auto because frankly I was tired of sitting in traffic with the clutch. So the auto was very welcome to me and I have been having a lot of fun with the SS. I do wish it reacted a little bit faster but in the month of owning the car I have learned to anticipate the shift and I always get the right gear. I think the TL-S would be fun in the 6 Speed, but honestly if I am going to get another 6 Speed vehicle, I'd get another car like the Z. The TL being a sport sedan, I think an auto with SS is totally acceptable. Before you 6 speeders jump us auto drivers please realize it is not all about getting every little bit of power out of the engine. You guys have your points on power loss I am not trying to say that doesn't exist in the auto, but to some of us comfort and drivability are more important. 6 speed is cool, but auto drives should not be ashamed the TL-S is still one hell of a sports sedan.....

 

I use to live in NY and I owned a 6 speed while living there. I t was not fun come 5:00 pm. I know why you have the auto as traffic is the worst. The auto is sweet, but the car to have is the type-s with the 6 speed imo.

 

Why I like SS -auto trans
you cannot overrev the auto trans cars on upshift- computer limited revs
you cannot downshift into a gear that would result in $2500 of immediate repairs required,
as many 6 speed owners are learning-- its very possible to find 2nd gear when your in a hurry with your shifting~~

the SS mode will not permit the shift- it blinks the number of the requested gear, and stays in the safe gear. Slow down, or brake below the established speed max for that gear, and try again!

The auto with SS, gives the fun of shifting in the mountains-backroads, using torque to exit corners at the apex and on the gas,
while D5 handles all normal roads driving chores for me,,,that and cruise control are lifesavers. Someday you will be old or have an injury---then that auto trans is really nice to have

 

I'm trading my 6speed Z in tomorrow... TL-S

 

I dunno about the TL-S but I have SS in my base TL and I hardly ever use it...it's not even fun, doesn't even come close to comparing to a clutch. I don't worry too much about traffic though and I do enjoy driving hard so I wish I got a 6MT instead of auto. Oh well it's not terrible at least I don't have to do anything while driving so I can do other stuff with my hands if need be. I really miss the fun of manual trans though.

 

The SS on the base TL vs. the TYPE-S are very different IMO.

You can down shift at higher speeds, as long as the tranny thinks your not going to redline when you downshift...it'll let you shift....the SS on the base TL is much more conservative and is unfortunate when your trying to get more out of the engine at higher rpms. The rev matching helps as well if you can time shift properly. All in all.....type S SS and base TL SS are two very different beasts.

 

2 pedals for women
3 pedals for men

 

ive had both. first the 6speed and now the AT. of course there is no match in having fun while driving a stick compared to an automatic but the automatic is not that of a big compromise as u still have the ss mode and when u do get used to it then its fun too. I just know that i hated my 6speed many more times do to the traffic and alike then i do miss the stick while having an AUTo. The only thing that sucks in the AT is that it doesnt have the 6 gears so the gear ratio sucks really. You get pull only from three gears while in the 6 speed it was four.

 

I've noticed you and I see eye to eye in alot of our opinionated posts... this is the very thing I was trying to show... some guys might not have sat there and watched the entire vid in detail... I was merely showing how in SS mode you can pretty much take the gear near or even passed redline... I was hovering the redline to show that the feeling is very much as it is in the 6speed... and I even dropped it down from 3rd to second to show how responsive the car is, there was never a drop in revs via a downshift as some other automatics do... and as you so pointed out... it will not shift for you... the only safety mechanism the tl-s has is it will shift from 1st to 2nd for you on occasions like going uphill, but it will not shift for you if you are trying to launch, it will also not let you downshift to 1st if you are going above a certain speed... but it will let you drop it down to second if you are at or bellow 4k rpms in 3rd (2:05 in the video)... reload the vid and see why I am stating they finally got it right

 

I have both base TL and TL-S, and they are definately different. You cannot compare a base(2006) TL to the TL-S(2007).

 

=) well specifically for the TL ... i think SS is better... just think about the 3rd gear pop... 6MT owners experienced...

 

Definetly "Not Bad At All".

Realistically, it could be better though:

- Less lag (pretty short now, but could be shorter);
- 6 gears instead of 5

I did notice in the vid, that in Full Auto it held a lower gear at high RPM while you were on and off the throttle (1:10 in the vid). That's pretty nice programming. I'll also note that under the "right" load the SS shifts are VERY Smooth.


It'd also be nice if they could reduce the effeciency/WHP loss to the AT (as compared to the MT), but .... .

 

yea i use ss most of the time

 

if you have ever had to drive to NYC from Long Island between the hours of 7 and 10AM with a stick mon-sat, you will know why most of us drive an auto trans now.

that is all


too bad i'm only the base TL, cuz it sure doesnt seem as fun as your vid; love the ending of the vid

 

Or between the hours of 3:30 pm and 7:30 pm!

Auto in NY FTW!

 

My history teacher has an 05 6MT TL....he's always making fun of me because my TL-S is AUTO. He doesn't know how good the paddle shifters can be.

 

Auto was mandatory for me in a daily driver, so a MT wasn't even a consideration for my TL-S. After dealing with DC traffic for so many years it killed my desire to own a MT unless it's for a performance car I drive on the weekends. And I just don't see the TL-S as a true performance car, at least based on what I've owned in the past.

I've been pretty happy with the TL-S auto tranny. It takes some getting used to in order to find the best times to shift and anticipate like someone said above, but I also enjoy how you can shift on both the steering wheel and on the console shifter. My old IS300 had these weird buttons on the steering wheel and no console shifter ability

 

Oh f*ck you guys, lol.

Just make me want a Type-S even more.



Acura just needs to make a 6A/T or shorten the gears on that 5spd and it's golden. I'm also curious why the A/T weighs so much more than the M/T, but that's a different story.

 

Partly because of the extra gadgetry you need to turn an electrical signal into mechanical action(s). The MT is just a direct mechanical link (actaully 2 I guess: Clutch and Gear Shifter).

 

Gas milage would suffer a great deal if the same 5AT had closer ratios....might as well call them orbits....it's why 5th is like pluto and 4th is pretty much Jupiter......both really fracking far away, good luck finding earth.(pun)

I think I read on Wards auto that Honda hasn't come up with 6AT because they simply don't have the resources(manpower?) because they're growing so fast. So I guess if Civics are selling through the roof then I guess Honda can afford to not have an answer for it's Acura brand........

That being said ....the 5AT on the type-S still does remarkably well...it's like the 5AT team said fine....if we can't add gears then we'll do the best we can with what we got. I think they did a pretty good job.....and hell yeah......if 5AT TL owners have one reason to be envious of the Type S.....the tranny should be it.

 

i love this thread cuz i had the paddle shift harhar

 

I dunno being that this is my second auto car... Of 4 previous... The revs are just soooo smart

Like what tranny you know downshifts to second from 5th in drive not in ss

 

I love manual tranny, BUT, I travel 50 miles a day to work, I sit in heavy traffic everyday.

After work I'm extremely tired, and playing with a clutch (with a bad knee) is not what I wanted....but yes, I do envy you bastards with the 6MT

WDP TL-S

P.S. Paddle shifters to me are annoying and in the way...I can't drive a TL with two hands.

 

Only thing I can really mention about this tranny with the paddle shifters is this. When in SS mode and in 4th gear it will not let you downshift to 3rd gear if going 85mph or faster even though 3rd gear will reach approximately 110mph.

Well that and it won't go let you go past 134mph. But that is more the fault of the ecu than the tranny.

D

 

do you think the auto tranny in the TL-s will bolt up to a base? or is it the same tranny with just a different ECu programming?

 

^^^ It's an RL Tranny.... You cannot bolt it on to a 3.2TL

 

^ don't be so quick and jump to conclusion... it will require you to bang your head against the wall... but it will fit

 

^ and thus as you've just said, it is not an easy bolt-on.

 

Also let me add I would of rather had the Paddles on the column not the steering wheel itself. That way the paddles would of been stationary instead of moving around with the steering wheel.

D

 

What's the video prove? haha...I'd still take the 6mt

 

I agree... same goes for the buttons on the steering wheel... pretty worthless when you are turning but I guess they didnt want us to multitask too much... pretty sure if you really wanted to you could get them custom fitted on the column

I am still annoyed that to upshift it is up and to downshift it is down....supposed to be backwards... upshift down, downshift up

 

can you still shift with the gear selector on the newer type S cars? or is it just paddle shifters

 

^^

Either one/both.

 

Skilled driving-- will have yourself in the correct gear before turning down into the corner/apex- you want to do all the braking and downshifting in as straight a line as possible- that keeps the wheel contact patch at its max with the road, allows the suspension and weight transfer to go forward rather than transitional lateral forces,...

Basically- if you are downshifting for a corner- its to bring the torque band and rpm together for the speed. Brakes are for slowing the car down, gears are for being on the power coming off the apex.
Dont shift in the middle of a corner, or you may find some interesting views of the road--- as the car rotates a few times. Changing the torque to the wheels suddenly on off on with a different ratio- thats not a good thing to be doing
Thats my opinion and racer experience on the matter- take it or laugh it off and move on to the next post.

 

As an intersting tech note: The TL-S 5AT (TL too?) in full auto mode will *try* to hold the current gear through a corner so as not to upset the car mid-corner. I assume the car uses the yaw sensors (which are also tied to the VSA) to determine whether or not you're in a corner.

 

Same here, but 01tl4tl has a point there. The AUDI R8 has it's paddle shifters on the steering wheel also IIRC.

 

Still rather have them on the column.

D

 

I'm sorry for asking, but what does SS stand for?

 

SS = Sport Shift.

The "manual" operation of the 5-speed Automatic transmission.