Kumar-TL

So i recently purchased a 2012 Acura TL FWD and I will say this I love this car. I am coming from a Lexus IS350 both of these cars have the same size engine; just the Acura has a bigger body and seems a tab bit more luxurious. Now when I had my IS I would always drive with the acces power mode on which gave slight bit quicker throttle response, a quicker get up, more sensitive braking as well as changing the timing on the gear changing.

I have been playing around with the "S" mode in the TL but not sure what is exactly does. I do notice my rpms are getting way higher then changing gears. Is that all it really does?

acupower

In S you get gear shifts at higher RPM. The tranny becomes a bit more responsive and I actually think that gear switching becomes a little bit faster.

As soon as you touch the paddle shifters it automatically switches to manual mode. In manual more you could redline the engine and the tanny will not change the gear for you even if you hit the rev limiter. That's about it. No suspension changes. No braking changes.

On a side note, you could also use the paddle shifters in D which is nice in case you want to downshift to overtake someone.

wreak

I looked at Acura's media release for the 2012 TL to see if they clarify exactly what S mode does but they don't. My experience is it holds gears longer and the shifts are faster and more abrupt, I assume it activates a more aggressive shift map.

lift3d_

aside from gear changes, I don't believe there are any differences in how the cars performs.

andrewcjduong

What about for 2009-2011 model...?

SoftwareDrone

Yes, what about those models?
I've had my 2010 for months now and have yet to figure out how sport mode works. If I'm going down a hill (for example) in third gear, then put the shifter into sport mode, then depress the left paddle, the car downshifts into second. But after that, both paddles are absolutely unresponsive. No gear changes can be made with the paddles. No gear changes can be made, period, until I take the transmission out of sport mode and back into drive. Is something wrong with my car?

SoftwareDrone

I have since researched this issue, followed by some behind the wheel tests. Something is definitely wrong with my car. I started a new thread.

losiglow

iTrader: (1)

Yeah, that's not normal. Once you use the paddles in sport mode, you're locked in controlling the transmission with the paddles. The exception is if the RPM's get too low at which point it will downshift. And it will automatically upshift from 1st to 2nd without paddles. When exactly it shifts into 2nd depends on RPM and load. If you gun it, it will go to redline. If not, it will shift as early as 2500.

In your scenario, the downshift to 2nd isn't out of the ordinary. Even if you're just cruising along in D, then put it in S, it may downshift simply because the shifting map indicates that at a certain speed and load, the transmission should be in a different gear for sport mode. No matter the speed, if you go into S mode from D, and don't use the paddles, it will always go from 6th to 5th. It will never go into 6th in sport mode unless you force it using the paddles. However, once you're in sport mode you should be able to use the paddles to up and downshift to any gear you want as long as the gear your shifting in is within the appropriate RPM range (e.g. can't downshift from 3rd to 2nd if you're already at 6K RPM or upshift from 5th to 6th when you're only at 1.5K RPM). In your scenario, you should have been able to shift into 3rd once you were at even 2K RPM in 2nd.

If it's acting normal in D, it could just be a software thing rather than a mechanical defect. I'd probably have the dealer look at it (as much as a fear taking my car into dealers.....).

SoftwareDrone

Having researched this of late as well as extensive behind the wheel tests, the "sport mode" reminds me of "D3" in my 1998 Acura CL 3.0. Basically "drive" without overdrive.

SoftwareDrone

I guess my tests have not been as extensive as they should be. First of all, I discovered that I can indeed shift into "overdrive" (fifth gear) in sport mode. Additionally, the profiles are definitely different between normal and sport modes, especially on non level surfaces.
Actually, this is pretty cool! :-)

losiglow

iTrader: (1)

So it's working normal after all? Also, I forgot, you have a 5-speed. The observations I've had with the 6-speed may not all apply to you. Obviously they would have a different map altogether for transmission with different gears.

LNJ

With Sports mode, if left to automatic shifting, it won't go to 6th gear unless you paddle shit it up to 6th. Or maybe you have to hit a certain speed before it goes up on its own but I haven't had it upshift to 6th automatically even at 140 kmh.

Blaze9

So I've noticed:

If I shift to sport and not touch paddles: It will shift when it reaches very high RPMs, almost redline, Both up/down will still be automatic but VERY agressive shifting.
If I shift to sport AND up/down shift: It will stay in that gear UNLESS it is 1st, which will auto shift to 2nd aat around 20-30MPH. But 2nd-5th will stay until redline and not shift at all.

SoftwareDrone

The other thread that I started regarding this issue - I posted the fix in there. The Cliff Notes version is that the mechanic removed the paddle, then reinstalled it, and it worked perfectly after that. Most likely a bad connection.

Andy Cheng

Not sure if it's the same for the 3.5's but my 3.7 you can totally notice a difference in performance. The gears are of course held in a higher RPM but the biggest thing I notice is way sharper throttle response. Try pressing down on the throttle when you're cruising a few times in normal and then do it in sport. You can feel your head snap back a little bit each time.