kneedragger87

Does using the sport shift feature on the 5AT cause harm to the transmission? Is it bad to shift from D to M while driving at say, 60mph? Any thoughts?

msala524

iTrader: (3)

Nope its fine. IMO its funner to drive with it on, cause you are in control of the shift points but it makes me want a MT more!

kneedragger87

^Me too!

Bearcat94

No.

You can slap it back and forth between D and M any time you want, as much as you want.

Engine Mangement protects you from doing anything really stupid with the SS - won't downshift into an over-rev situation, etc. Owners Manual has the limits on shift points.

Grade Logic will still shift for you in certain situations while in SS mode.

Worst thing you can do is habitually downshift into high rev range in a lower gear to slow down/stop - creates un-necessary stress on the tranny; brakes are cheaper.

Will Y.

No, no and it's fine.

The transmission does not switch gears when you move from D to M, but stays in the same gear in M as you were in while the shifter was in D.
If you shift from D to M while going 30 mph, the gear number will say "3," but if you are on light throttle at 60 mph and move from D to M, the gear number will say "5" until you manually downshift. If the throttle is floored and the car is doing 60 mph when you move from D to M, the TL may be in 3d gear-- just shift up just before the tach hits the red.

MichaelBenz

iTrader: (2)

Doesnt hurt it a bit. I drive about 99.5% of the time in SS mode or somewhere in between...lol. And you CANT mis-shift the car...Honda nanny has your back on that one and wont let you.

vinnier6

iTrader: (1)

some of you guys are pretty funny about the ss mode....its not magic, its not going to make you go faster or give the car extra bumps in hp or speed...its just a feature to hold a gear and enhance your driving experience....

Bearcat94

My car is noticably faster in SS - on the Highway in Auto mode it goes ~65 - 70 mph; but in SS mode it goes ~75 - 80 mph. Zoom, Zoom.







Good God, I *hope* I don't need Red Text for that.

msala524

iTrader: (3)

Shifting points I have tested depending on how hard you want to run your car is at every 20 mph. You could push it harder but this works for me. So 1st gear 0-20mph, 2 20-40mph, 3, 40-60mph etc....

MichaelBenz

iTrader: (2)

Oh really? Cause I have been trying to hold first gear forever and it wont. Doesnt matter what you do....it will force second at some point. Then to get back to first on the fly in any sort of reasonable time is also totally impossible. It will hold second indefinately....but first it will not and does not seem to want to return to first in any speedy fashion either!

In other words....I basically start an autocross in LOW (right hand gate...all the way down) and LEAVE IT THERE! It will force second gear automatically just prior to red line usually....and stay there the rest of the time unless you slow up enough momentum and speed to force it back to first automatically. Its a sucky situation at best under race conditions. Therefore...I opted to work on viable turning traction (by using r-compound slicks basically) in order to be able to carry more speed into a corner and be able to use the optimum RPM range throughout that corner. Otherwise...your screwed as you cant effectively get back to first gear and remain in the race whatsoever.

Bearcat94

^^

vinnier6 has a TL-S, so does not have to deal with that - SS 1 --> 2 or 2 --> 1 at will.

vinnier6

iTrader: (1)

thanks bearcat....

benz, if you really wanted to effectively autocross, you would have gotten a differnt car....hell, a manual civic si would be better at autocrossing then your tl...

MichaelBenz

iTrader: (2)

I would agree....but then it wouldnt really be a challenge then would it? ANYBODY can take an advantaged car and win...but only the best drivers can attain the same in a lesser handling and heavyweight car! Its a whole different world! Fact is....if I wanted the advantage....I would have gotten a Subie or EVO....but then again....anybody and everybody is doing that. I find it more of a challenge winning in the TL.

And you say "effectively autocross" as if you know what you are talking about. Would you not consider winning the class in the annual points series (street mod) in an Acura TL "effectively autocrossing"? lol Especially street mod...for gods sake...thats a no holds barred class for the most part.

vinnier6

iTrader: (1)

yea, thats because i used to autocross in the parking lot of candle stick park on saturdays in san fran.....

NedShneebly

i did stumble upon a cool auto tranny feature during mind numbing traffic one day. Normally the AT will shift back to first when your speed goes under 10 mph, unless you SS select 2nd while putting in bumper to bumper. If you manually select 2nd while crawling around, it will hold 2nd even if you come to a complete stop. Smoother in traffic instead of bumping back and forth between 1st and 2nd.

Others may know this but I never read it in the owners manual and it's just another one of those moments where I thought to myself, "damn, those asians are smart!".

MichaelBenz

iTrader: (2)

Sweet!

Majofo

I autocross into and out of my parking space .. lol..

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3Tkhn9RuOMw

I hate cars

I'm always surprised at how well you did with so few suspension upgrades. Would it be fair to say you're one of the few running factory (optional) springs and shocks?

Bearcat94

:barksupwrongtree:


The unwashed masses *cannot* be swayed from the desire to look good before being good.

I hate cars

Yes, you MUST have a 4" drop to handle good lol.

MichaelBenz

iTrader: (2)

Yep...pretty much the ONLY one running OEM option suspension components. lol At least in Street Mod class.

vinnier6

iTrader: (1)

benze, dont you think you would have more fun running a civic or vw gti or something along thoes lines....

I hate cars

I think taking first place would be fun. Why would he switch cars when the TL took home the win?

MichaelBenz

iTrader: (2)

Meh. Me likes me whale of a car! Its a true challenge.

PeterUbers

iTrader: (1)

I don't think using sport shift (in an aggressive way) is immediately damaging .. but it will cause more wear and tear on your transmission compared to just allowing the tranny cpu to shift on its own. Using SS usually implies keeping the tranny running at higher engine rpm speeds for more spirited driving .. more engine braking during cornering, etc.

If you can't understand that logic, you're just not hearing me.

vinnier6

iTrader: (1)

i guess i am just not hearing you....the computer isnt going to let you do damage to the car...its an idiot proof transmission....

I hate cars

Do 2nd-3rd-2nd 100 times in a row and get back to us.

Majofo

Kinda want to shy away from this discussion but I think the truth lies in the middle. Sure the shift logic is in place to prevent out-of-spec operation which could lead to failure.. and everyone knows that the shifting is electronically controlled not user controlled..

On the other hand.. I don't think the quality engineers were viewing things in a reliability perspective. It seems like they said "hey it works.. should be no problems," but when theory got put to practice I don't think they greatly considered the repetitive shifting quickly causing increased thermal wear over time.

On that note.. I was thinking IHC.. what about the external ATF cooler that is implemented as part of the recall fix with the MDX and 2G TL's. I didn't investigate the system (although I noticed my X has one).. but I was wondering if it was applicable to the 3G TL, or is an aftermarket cooler like yours better..

I have been planning on doing the ext. ATF cooler like yours after doing some other repair / maintenance work in the next few months and the Acura cooler came to mind.

Bearcat94

I thought I read that the 3G TL-S had one (external trans cooler).

Yep, sure enough:

http://www.hondanews.com/categories/735/releases/3747

vinnier6

iTrader: (1)

have we had alot of automatic transmission failures??

Majofo

had mine fail.. previous owner must have been a douche so I can't say it was poor design but I've owned a handful of cars and all of the A/T's I've owned have been very robust. IHC has attested to how fast the ATF heats up.

I hate cars

It's getting scary. Looks like a lot of 04s and some 05s are starting to fail.