Anyone noticed that the 04 TL AT can take off in 2nd? Previous models automatically start off in 1st gear? Or did I miss a thread on this ?

 

paddiwakk -

You may be getting misleading information from the display. One of my friends has a Toyota IS300 with a Steptronic transmission similar to the TLs.

He told me he read an article in one of the auto magazines that the displayed "gear" number on the dash doesn't necessarily indicate the gear that you are driving in. The displayed number shows the highest number gear that you can be in, so that if your display shows a "3", you have gears 1, 2, and 3 available - and the car can decide which gear it needs to be in. So, you have some control over the gear selection, but it isn't total. Thus, if you are at a stop, and your display shows a "2", the car may put you in 1st gear, and the 2nd next.

I haven't substantiated whether this is true on the TL yet (or on his Toyota for that matter), so I could be totally off-base on this.

Has anyone else heard this?

 

You could be right that its just the display - I'll check it out again but I changed to 1st as I took off and I could feel it change to 1st.

Also its for sure not the case that my my previous TLs could start in second.

 

Got Jazz - He's right. The TL actually TRYS to put itself into 2nd anytime the car is rolling more than 3MPH (it seems). This is actually pretty irritating to me as I am trying to keep the car in 1st without having to slam the pedal to the floor and the car changes it to 2nd. You can tell it's in 2nd because the gearing is so high. It will ONLY shift back down to 1st if you REALLY get aggressive with the pedal (80% or more down) otherwise it "sits" in 2nd.

 

paddiwakk,

Yes, two things in SS mode.

It can take off from 2nd gear... snow mode.

And, TL will auto shift from 1st to 2nd... but the shift point will be varied based on how you kick your pedal. I can have quick 1 to 2 under 2000 RPM, as well as longer 1 to 2 above 3000 RPM.

If you like to enjoy the 1st gear's acceleration, please try "L". You will enjoy it, but be careful it will still automatically shift to 2nd gear in very high RPM, much better than SS mode.

 

Yep, rolling stops in SS will leave it in 2nd...not bad outcome since that's what some of us would do w/a manual.

 

At 30MPH, shifting into "L" will engage 1st gear. It takes a little wrist action but works well. I've used this technique in the mountains.

I wasn't aware that "L" will upshift. Can someone confirm this? Thanks.

 

SF, it will upshift. I had alot of fun on a test drive doing this!

 

it will upshift to 2nd and stay in 2nd.

 

I remember reading in the owners manual that placing it in L will put it in the lowest possible gear, so if you are doing 60, it will not be 1st.

Also, in SS mode, you can not downshift to 1st at all, never, not until the car is under about 8mph, at that point, what is the use?

Also, it restricts how far up you can go, as indicated in a differnt post, this is not what the TSX does, it is more like manual and allows the driver to decide.

 

If you really want control, buy a 6sp Manual. The autoshift is a nice feature for the occaisional "gee I miss driving stickshift" moments, but that is all.

 

This what Acura says,

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.

 

Interestingly, my Porsche 911 with tiptronic would start in 2nd gear when in regular "drive" mode. You had to force it to start in 1st by selecting it with the tiptronic. Porsche apparently did this to help lower the corporate gas mileage numbers. Every 1990 through 1995 911 tiptronic did this. I hated that. I'm not thrilled that the TL won't let you stay in 1st more than .0001 nanoseconds, but I still like the transmission better than the Porsche's tiptronic (which I would never buy again).