Problem with harsh down shift on type-s mainly on freeway traffic, dealer says normal but seem irratic to me, please help

 

Welcome to AZ BumBum. Is your TL a 5AT or 6MT?

 

For manual, at the very least you need to rev match with the clutch in when downshifting. At best, you should double-clutch and rev-match at the same time. When blipping the throttle above the 3k mark, the TL will hold the rpms for you for the next lower gear. Makes downshifting even easier...

If your downshifting an Automatic, you simply should not do it. Pretty much only use the "-" selector mid corner to grab the right gear before pulling out of the turn. Other than that, let the computer take control...

 

I haven't posted in forever, but recently i crashed my 04 TL and totaled it. I am in the market for a 07 TL Type S. I borrowed one from a dealership for an extended test drive. After i was done playing around and got back to normal driving, i noticed that the down shift is very harsh. when i let off the gas coming up to a stop light there is a very noticeable downshift at about 40 and 20. I should add it isn't terrible...but you can definitely feel it. This is in an Automatic car. Is this normal, is the auto tranny tuned to be more aggressive or something? I'm coming from an 04 Auto and this is my first experience with the Type S.

 

That's how it is in mine and figured it to be normal with the way the auto tranny rev matches when downshifting whether in auto or manual mode.

 

Derk, thanks for the reply. Did you get the car new?

Do you know anyone else that has Type S that has had the same experience?

 

Yeah I fell the same thing....its noe harsh but you can definetely feel it....I just figured that's how the type s tranny is configured....

 

No I just bought it back in October. I know a few local people from the forum with type s's but at the time didn't discuss it with them because at the time I had a Accord. But I've read a couple similar threads that all state the same thing.

 

Great, i was about to pass up on one because i though it might have transmission problems.

Thanks!

 

My '07 TLS auto downshifts at about the same shift points and I had read that it is designed to do just that. Somewhere in this forum this was discussed and there was a comment that Honda did this to save on front brake pad wear. Don't know if that is true or not but in my case I wouldn't say it is a "harsh" shift but it is noticeable depending how you are slowing down and the distance you have to slow down before coming to a full stop.

 

Its supposed to downshift as mentioned but if its getting too harsh you might look into replacing the pressure switches and go with a type f fluid.

The most likely reason for the downshifting is to keep it in fuel cut while decelerating which improves fuel economy.

 

Im currently running Redline D4 and I still feel downshifts but its not as bad as when I ran Z1. Maybe, I should look into the pressure switches at my 50K maintenance. I didn't think the pressure switches were much of a problem in the type S.

 

BUMBUM1016,
I just purchased an 07' TL-S AT a week ago and I thought the same thing about the downshifts mainly when easing to a stop. I am betting that it is in fact "normal" and that it probably was an effort to reduce brake wear by using engine braking instead. It definitely does take some getting used to though.

 

I have a 2007 non-S type and it does this same thing. No matter what speed, you feel a noticeable deceleration as soon as you take your foot off the gas.

 

The non-S rev matches on down shifts in drive but not auto-manual like Type-S. I called the dealer worried when I noticed rev rose just b4 downshifts...haha.