I love Low gear (5AT)
 

Thanks to this forum, I now use the Low gear frequently to downshift/accelerate.

At first I was annoyed that Acura got rid of the "D4" and "D3" settings that were in the 5AT gearbox of my '01 CL. I liked using those to hold a gear. But now I know why they did it - so that Low is right next to Drive.

I always thought Low used gears 1-2 only, but through this forum I learned that shifting to Low at any speed automatically puts the car in the lowest safe gear. So it might be 2, or it might be 3. I guess you'd have to be on the Autobahn for it to be 4. Anyway, a quick flip to Low and you can accelerate with authority, or downshift maximally, without worrying what gear you're in. When you're done, another quick flip puts you back in Drive.

It's almost better than a manual because the car picks the gear for you. I love using it and highly recommend it.

Thanks to those on this forum (rets and Ron A come to mind) who made me aware of how the Low gear works on the '04 TL. A great design, IMO.

Thanks for the heads up. I'll have to try that once I get through my break-in period. Can't wait to open it up! :D

hmmm....any gear and if you shift down to low it will downshift to the safest & lowest gear possible? sounds really cool...got to try this..been scared to use L....

Does it stay in the same gear or allow upshifting with acceleration at a higher RPM?

That doesnt sound very safe for the tranny, I wouldnt do it!! I just switch to Sport shift and lower a gear or two...much safer and works better...

It won't upshift unless you move the lever.

If it wasn't safe then the tranny wouldn't shift. As TLGator said, it will only downshift to the lowest safe gear. That is what the computer is there for, and it works very well.

I used L the other day because I saw a cop coming from the rear and didn't want to hit the brake lights so I dropped it into L and it slowed down nicely. If you do this on an old car you turn loose a cloud of exhaust fumes and the cop knows what you did, but on a new car there is no visible sign.

Well whats so hard about moving the lever to sport shift and just moving it where you want???

pulling the hand brake slowly can help you slow down as well without brake lights.

Now that definetly is not safe!! :eek:

Not Safe?
 

And why not?

What is unsafe?

It is a brake, isn't it?

So you are using it for braking, right?

So, again, what is unsafe?

Well that is not a brake used when the car is moving really. In essence why its called a "parking brake". Try using that thing at high speeds, you'll find urself facing on coming traffic!! :eek:

yeah why is it unsafe? its not like you lock the wheels? you are applying the brakes like you would normally. just a little friction to the brake rotors. i dun see any difference with using the e-brake. isn't the "e" in e-brake for emergency? i know we call it parking brake as well because MT cars use it to park the car. but i see no way in which it is unsafe.

really? i've heard thsi 'trick' from many people

if you pull the parking brake at high speeds slowly the car will slow down slowly, just like when you hit the brakes regularly. i've done this at 80mph and have not had the car do anything funny. mostly used when i see a cop on the side of the road and don't want him to know i am hitting the brakes to slow down.

Well I would call an emergency more like when I'm about to hit someone from the back and dont have enough room to come to a stop, maybe than I would use it...otherwise to slow down downshifting and regular braking would be sufficient. I dont want to ruin anything in my car, but if you guys think its ok, go for it....Just dont go crying to Acura when you get problems!!


Now I'm thinking all Acura drivers are like you guys, putting the gear in low at high speeds for no reason...NO WONDER ACURA HAS TRANNY PROBLEMS!! :doh:

Only time I messed with ebrakes is when u want to mess around doing turns. Doing a highspeed run and then using the ebrake...can't that lock up your wheels (ie: render abs useless)?

Yes you can do great fish-tailing with e-brakes!! Now thats a different story!

It's great for doing U-turns at 80 mph.

SO L will drop it to the lowest safe gear, what is the difference between this and SS? Unfortunately this is the first auto I've owned and am clueless about anything except for D4, D3, D2 -=)

Like is it possible to over rev your car via SS while L just drops it down to the lowest safest gear? It'd be pretty neat to have SS allow you to go through any gear like a manual even though it can obviously damage your engine. I'd like to have full control of which gear the car goes in on SS ..

AFAIK, SS will not allow you to go into an unsafe gear. You also cannot downshift into 1st via SS. I hate to say this, but if you really want that much control out of the car, you should have gotten the 6MT. Personally, the SS as much as I need and usually as much as I want.

As for the e-brake, as long as you don't pull it hard like you would when you are parked, it should be plenty safe.
You have been watching The Transporter or Bond movies recently, haven't you? ;)

The difference between SS and L is that one pull of the lever will drop you to the lowestsafe gear by going to L, but in SS you would have to pull the lever up to 3 times to get to 2nd (if that was the lowest safe gear.

You cannot overrev your car using either method. The computer will not let you overrev.

SS gives you more control over what gear you are in, and also has the number of the gear on the tach, but L will drop you down in a hurry, which is good in an emergency, especially if you are in M.

this is what the manual says? that is not what i remember...

Yeah, it really works, especially if they've hosed down the streets beforehand. It's for increased lighting for night scenes, but also gives the stunt drivers a little more slickness to work with. :thumbsup:

Neither safer nor works better. This comment and most of your followup comments are baseless opinions not supported by reality.

Nobody said there was anything hard about using SS. Feel free to continue doing so.

More baseless comments. You don't want to use your emergency brake when you're in motion, that's fine. Doesn't change the reality that it works well for everyone who's ever used it as people are describing in this thread.

As for "tranny problems" that has nothing to do with putting the car into a (safe, non redlining) lower gear at higher speed. This may shock you, but the engine is designed to handle that. So is the tranny. You want to drive like a granny, fine. We'll call you Mr. Granny-Tranny. But using Low gear does not cause "tranny problems" or any other kind of "problems."

The service manual won't give you so much info about this. But, I'd say their info is quite right.

It's just one of the common features of 04TL. TLGator is trying to utilizing this feature and facilitating the ride.

I'm afraid to try this even though I trust Ron_A and TLGator. How can I overcome this? Can someone with an AT 04 TL let me try it on theirs? Preferably a white one with a black interior?

TIA

I hear what you're saying, my friend. But, I DON'T want that much control. I'm a guy who's perfectly happy in Drive 80% of the time. Another 19% of the time I'm in SS, mostly to hold a gear, such as in rainy weather or heavy freeway traffic. But 1% of the time I want to accelerate very quickly, to pass someone, or decelerate very quickly using engine braking, maybe because the guy in front of me has slammed on his brakes.

For those purposes I find Low a much faster and more efficient way to get to a safe low gear at a higher speed.

For me personally, the alternative of switching to SS (one move of the shifter) and then downshifting (1-3 more moves) plus the brain power required to think about how many gears to downshift, plus maybe having to glance at the dash to see which gear the SS is in, is all just a lot more than I want to do in those quick situations.

If others don't like Low, fine. I was just trying to point out that it's there. It's not unsafe. In fact, used as I use it, it may be one of the best safety features on the 5AT TL.

Cheers!

TLGator.....let's say I'm going 80 mph in the fast lane and want to pass someone. You're saying that I just notch over to the left into the SS area and pull the shifter down 1 time to go into a lower gear? And doing this will a) give me more power and b) not hurt the tranny?

Assuming that's correct, do I then just notch back over to the right and put the car back in drive to get back to automatic?

TIA

I believe what you are saying and don't see a problem driving the way you do. I probably spend more time in SS than I should,. but traffic hear is horrible and I like having that control. I am, however, in the same boat and Boltjames and am affraid to drop into low when going 80. What is the fastest you were going and dropped the car into low? Anything below 60 MPH shouldn't be a problem. Anything higher than that, I'd be cautious. Any more details you could provide would be welcomed.

BJ, moeronn - I too was cautious the first few times. My first attempt was laughable, I was doing like 40. Then I tried 50, then 60. And yes, I've now done it at 80. The bottom line is that the computer simply will not let you go to a gear that is unsafe. Not in Low, not in SS. And the use of Low in this manner IS in the manual although as I recall the language is not as crystal clear as it should be.

My advice is don't take anyone else's word for it. Try it at a relatively low speed and work your way up to whatever speed you are comfortable using it at. Keep in mind, if you're going 80 and need to accelerate QUICKLY, you're possibly driving too fast. :D

But you certainly might need to brake quickly at that speed. Pushing the brake pedal and dropping to Low at the same time is very effective, at least in my limited testing.

Well, I'm not actually talking about SS at all. But since you asked, my friend:

a) Yes
b) Yes
And, finally, yes.

That should work out just fine. If you are in Drive and cruising at 80, you are probably in 5th gear. When you slide over to SS, you will stay in 5th. One notch down will drop you to 4th, which is plenty safe and should give you the power you are looking for.

I haven't really pushed the car that hard, but from my (albeit limited) experiences when accelerating in SS, 1st shifts on its own, 2nd gear is good upto 60 MPH and 3rd will get you going faster than you usually need to go. When downshifting, I'll drop into 3rd at no faster than 60 MPH and into 2nd around 40. I could push this a bit more, but that usually produces harder/harsher downshifts. If anyone else has input on this, I'm open to suggestions and your experiences.

Hmm....so if I forget the SS track and just stay in the normal auto track, I can go 80 and shift down one notch to get the speed/power boost and then kick it back up a notch to "D" and achieve the same thing?

If so, why the SS feature to begin with? I'm kung-fused.

BJ

Maybe you can ask the navi to shift for you. :D

It's a function that's beneath him. Navi wasn't meant to do the heavy lifting. Just the consierge service.

BJ

TLGator is correct. I've actually switched to SS and notched it down two gears to 3rd. For the most part, you can get to about 100 before your redline. You can then shift into 4th and slide it back in drive (which'll just put it back in 5th).

Is the purpose of this simply to get thrown back in your seat and hear the muffler howl?

I'm all for it, but just trying to understand why anyone would really want to rev that high...

BJ

ok so i kinda get the point of ss and L in regards to down shifting. Next, say i'm in L and I go near redline. Will it auto shift to the next gear for you? Also same with the SS, can the SS mode hold a gear for you?

In the snow I always keep my rev's high. Keep it high on the lowest possible gear (not first) to avoid traction problem once you get moving. Also keeping your rev's high going into a corner puts you into a better position coming out of the corner in terms of control and speed. Honestly you normally don't pick this stuff up until you have to drive with a manual car. Driving with kumho 712's when it was over 12 inches outside (trust me not a good idea) also teaches you all about rev matching and controlling your rev's.