da_bien1390

I've been driving automatic cars since i first got my DL. I've never driven a stick before in my life. I am wondering how I can benefit from sports shift in the TL (or any other cars w/ this feature) When is a good time to use Sports Shift (on the freeway/at a complete stop/race another car/etc?) If i use the sports shift to race another stick TL, would it be a tie race?

I drive a E320 and it also has this feature, but I almost never use it (probably because I don't know how and when to use it) Can anyone offer some explaination? thx!

NFLblitze1

when i first got my TL i always knew OF sportshifting but i never really knew how to use it....its basically an electronic manual, im not sure how things work in the E320 but the TL it automatically downshifts for you which is a good feature for idiots like me :-p...but basically if you are driving 50-60 mph most likely the car will have put u in 5th gear or 4th gear...automatically...thus the difference between...6 SPEED MANUAL...and 5 SPEED AUTOMATIC...you have 2 ways to shift...shifting up..and shifting down....if your in 5th gear...you will want to shift down to 3rd gear and if you are going slow enough and ur engine isn't putting out too much power you can switch down to 2nd gear which will work your gears for you manually and you will be able to go faster and switch gears faster as opposed to automatic which will slowly switch gears....

da_bien1390

thank you for your explanation that helped me understand the concept of it a bit.

Does anyone know of a more detailed tutorial on how to use sportshift? I could goto driving school and ask for help but i think that's a little overboard :p Perhaps there are threads about this already that I was not able to find.

dramsey

The SportShift is mainly for use in "spirited" driving where the car's automatic may not make the best gear choices for you. For example, you can use it to hold a low gear as you power through a corner, without worrying about an unanticipated upshift.

You can also use it to provide better acceleration without having to nail the throttle to force a downshift.

Play with it and see. The SportShift has two "auto" things it will do anyway:

1. It will upshift at or near redline.

2. It will shift from 1st to 2nd for you regardless, arg.

EZZ

Its a better use during hard cornering. Usually, you don't want to shift during hard cornering because it can upset the balance of the car, therefore, manually having it in a certain gear becomes very beneficial for at-the-limit driving. The trouble with the sportshift is that it still has a torque converter so you will never feel a direct connection between the engine and the tranny. With direct lock up, it gets close but a true clutchless manual is a much better application of what a sportshift is supposed to do. Basically, for most people, its a toy.

BaLLzZz

i find it to be slower the 2 times i played with it and also heard it ruins the tranny so ill buy myself a automatic and be automatic or buy myself a manual and shift everyday

youngTL

That's misinformation. Sport shift does not ruin the transmission. All you are doing is telling the car WHEN to change gears, instead of letting it decide for itself. The mechanics of the shift are the same. So unless you're doing something stupid like going 3rd-4th-3rd-4th-3rd or something like that (putting excessive wear on the transmission because you're making it shift more times than it has to) then it will last the same amount of time as a transmission which has not been sportshifted.

skullman

One thing I've been doing lately is using the SS to get to 5th gear around 45mph. I've found for cruising at 45 mph, my auto stays in 4th gear. To get better gas mileage, I shift to 5th gear using the SS. Whether I actually get better mileage is a question but I got to imagine lower RPM = better mileage.

GrayFox

Well today, a large slow truck entered the highway just a head of me.

I used the SS to drop down to second gear and when the coast was
clear I went WFO ( a vulgarism for WOT ) and blasted around the
truck ( straight stretches are not very long on KY backroads ).

Jerry

kabota

Just play with it. At first i was no very smooth but now i have found a sweet rpm spot to shift to make it really smooth, and save gas.

crazymjb

It won't always shift at redline, just between 1 and 2. I also think it downshifts for you. As for wrecking the tranny, that is unlikly. I did not design the TLs tranny but I wouldnt recomend using it for your primary form of stopping, or running in second gear on the highway at 60+ for accesive amounts of time, but that is more a hazard to the engine.

EZZ

All manumatics downshift for you if the revs get too low. I don't understand why some would want smooth shifts in manumatic mode. I personally love the fact that some manumatics have noticeably firmer upshifts and downshifts in manual mode for sport driving

rets

Not sure what you meant about "ruins the tranny"... If it's the exact same tranny like 2GTL's, you will see tons of 3GTL 5ATs are failed in its 18th months now.

Didn't we talk/discuss many times how ECU prevent over-revving?

BaLLzZz

Ok and the 2nd gen tranny was horrible. That made the tl the like 17th most problamatic car. I might be a little skeptical here but i dont care because i have a 04 tl never fuck with the ss and my boys got a 03 fuked wut and it blew his tranny also another firend got an 05 tl loved playing wut his ss and blew it 5000 miles into it so whatever you may think my mind is set no ss

Repecat

Sounds like you have friends that like to trash their cars. Maybe you shouldn't let them drive yours very much.

rets

What you meant!? His 05TL tranny blew out? and got it replaced!?

JRC3904

It will be interesting to see what kind of experience you have after getting a feel for the sports shifter.

I learned to use a clutch when I was eight! The TL is the first automatic car I have ever owned. I had some difficulty making the adjustment from a clutch to SS mode. At just under 10,000 miles and about six month of ownership, I have to say I really enjoy sport shifting! Echo’s from the above posts, holding a lower gear to keep the RPMs up is very nice. Downshifting is also very effective. The real fun, going from the drive position, to the low position and allowing the ECU to decide the lowest gear possible for the current speed/RPM’s! Go from normal driving to V-Tec in an instant, massive acceleration, great exhaust note…

Because you don’t have to un-learn the clutch, I bet you have a lot of fun with the SS and will be able to offer a lot of pointers to some of us with the larger than normal left calf muscles!

Good Luck!

da_bien1390

Thanks for your thought i will definitely give SS a try!

go_blue

For a different purpose, if I use downshift to slow the TL down, gradually or quickly, will this be bad for the tranny?

rets

This is what Acura says:

SS mode:
A variety of safety features help protect the engine and drivetrain from damage. The transmission will upshift from first to second automatically if the driver doesn't command an upshift in time. In second, third and fourth, the transmission won't upshift without a command from the driver; the ECU cuts off fuel flow to the engine if there is danger of over-revving the engine. The transmission will upshift itself to prevent engine damage in the rare situation where the fuel cutoff alone is unable to prevent further engine over revving (as could happen on a steep downhill). When downshifting, the transmission won't execute a driver-commanded downshift that would send the engine beyond redline in the lower gear. To prevent lugging away from a stop in a high gear, the Sequential SportShift transmission will automatically downshift to first gear as it comes to a stop, even in manual mode.



L mode:
When moved to the Low position, the transmission downshifts to the lowest possible ratio for the current road speed to provide maximum engine braking. If the vehicle continues to slow, the transmission progressively downshifts to maintain engine braking effect. When it has shifted all the way down to first gear, an upshift back to second gear is automatically available if speed increases, but the transmission won't upshift further unless the driver moves the selector back to the D (Drive) position where normal transmission operation resumes.

Brewmaster

Rets (inadvertantly) brought up a good point .. I find the SS useful in winter driving as it gives me better control for engine breaking etc .. maybe unnecessary with VSA and ABS but it helps me feel more control in the car when slowing down on snow and ice.

(yeah yeah I know it's Spring now ... timeliness is everything)

JRC3904

Not to steal the thread...The Auto needs a lock out button! My son dropped the car in low while I was on the phone! Scared the sh_t out of me.

EZZ

This has been debated many times in other forums that have a sportshift like feature. For the most part, engine braking wears out both the tranny and engine faster than if you didn't do it. What's cheaper....new brakes or a new tranny. Your choice.

svtmike

I'd draw a different conclusion -

If your son is so young he doesn't know not to touch the driver's controls, he should be buckled into the back seat where he can't reach them.

- or -

If your son is old enough to know better he needs a beating .

Neither involves modifications to everyone else's car!


Back on topic, I find sportshift useful for three things - starting out in second gear during especially slippery winter weather, and holding the engine in the power band for a quick blast out of a situation, and for fun driving through curves (not much of that around here, unfortunately) to downshift when entering curves.

I don't think it's designed to be a drag racer's friend. If that's your thing, just keep it in D and floor it.

Mike