alright, this may sound like the noobiest question. So I know how to drive both a manual and an automatic but when It came to this 2008 tl I am stuck. You know how the 3rd gen TL has the tiptronic shifter where you can just manually downshift and upshift the car with the shift knob of course. So here is the question. You know how when you drive a manual car you will let go of the gas and engage the clutch and then shift into the next gear and then you hit the gas again right? so what I am wondering is when I put it into the "tiptronic" shiftmode and lets say I go from 1st to second, do I just keep my feet on the gas the whole time shifting from gear to gear, or do I have to let go of the gas, shift to the next gear and then hit the gas again? what I have been doing is hitting 1st gear all the way to 7k rpm and then letting go of the gas and then shifting to second and then hit the gas again. I want to know the proper way of driving this thing and any advice would be helpful. Thanks...

also I would like to ask if I have been letting go of the gas when I shift up and then hitting the gas again once i upshifted, did I do any damage doing this?

 

i'm no expert, but i can tell you from having had my transmission replaced, the automatic tl's triptonics like to be driven like an automatic. it seems to be that it's best to simply not let go of the gas in between shifts. personally, i let go of it and catch it right as it goes into the next gear, but then again, i also rev match from 3rd to 2nd when i run people

wait for someone more experienced to come along... i have my money on people saying to just drive it "normally"

 

Let the onboard controls do the work. I usually put it in SS from a dig to hold 2nd longer but shift to the appropriate gear before going back to auto, otherwise you could get a quick up & down shift.. just level it out first. Basically SS is spec controlled so it "shouldn't" allow you to do anything that would cause major damage.. Acura isn't 100% when it comes to design though so drive nice.

 

You do not have to let off the gas. You may keep your foot to the floor at all times during upshifting or downshifting. On the automatics the ECU cuts fuel during upshifts I believe.

 

When I'm in manuel I just keep my foot on the gas. No need to drive it like its a stick shift. Just go, go, go. hahaha... But yeah make sure its in the proper gear before you shift it back over to auto. But either way I'm sure its not going to hurt it.

PEACE!

 

lol good question, I have actually thought about this while driving.

 

the manual says shift to 2nd when hit 19 mph and 3rd @ 40mph I believe. I mess with mine from time to time.

 

That's probably for economy mode, or for the manual trans.
OP is interested in upshifting of the SS @ redline.

I haven't done it at high revs (and don't find the SS manual mode particularly useful generally), but I'd keep the accelerator buried using the SS under those circumstances.

 

Oops! There goes my tranny.

 

I know the E class you can just hold down the gas and it shifts automatically. All im saying is stay on the gas its electronic. Dont do it all the time just for beating on the cars sake.

 

Stay in the gas and upshift with the gear selector or paddles. If you're trying to shift right at the redline, you need to initiate the shift a few hundred RPM early; the shift delay will take you to the redline - experiment to find the right spot.






In an auto, in SportShift Mode? How do you do that exactly? To rev match you'd have to "blip" the throttle in neutral, but you don't go through neutral in an auto.

 

how do you figure that if the upshift is 1st > 2nd @19 mph then 2nd > 3rd @approx 40 mph as it says in the manual.

 

This is no DSG car..just leave it in D.

 

I think its faster to leave it in SS mode for the full throttle races. The TL's upshift early when just left in drive and fall out of VTEC in the next gear.

 

hmmm...i always let off the gas everytime i upshift.

 

I blip the gas pedal constantly, it helps in controlling the hesitation by forcing it to jump in the grear... but I rarely use ss mode, only to hold a gear... cause the slow reaction drives me nnnnuuuutttts.

 

I have been driving in SS for a while, I prefer it over D because I can stay in second and feel the car really accelerate. Keep in mind though I am in NYC so I never go past 65 or so.

From my experience, theres a lag when upshifting, maybe about a half second, downshifting is almost instant. You can rev match in 3rd, if you switch from D to SS, the car will prob be in 5th gear at 70 or so, I take that down to 3rd without letting go of the gas letting the electronics do the work.

The car will refuse to downshift to the gear if say, you want to downshift to 2nd at 80mph, not that I've tried it, anyway, you can stay in third and drop to like 55 and i think you're at 5000 rpm in 3rd, downshift to second and you'll have a nice purr from the vtech as it initiates, fun! I don't think it is doing harm since you can clearly see the electronics doing the work.

Driving in SS mode is fun and really shows off the "sportyness" of the car. Automatic is excellent for those long trips where you just want to set the CC and cruuuuise on down the highway, all windows up listing to some music.

 

I find SS irritating... too slow to respond IMHO. Seems quicker when I let the trans do its own thing. But then again, I don't screw with it much anyway....

I bought an AT to NOT shift myself - All my cars have been M/T till the TL.

 

why? Only in a manual do you need to do this.