Something I've wondered about while looking at cars and deciding if I want manual or auto with sprts shift is how often would I or the average person decide they want to take over shifting when the car is capable of doing this on its own? I understand that there are technical benefits to using sports shift but in reality how often does a driver decide that they want to go the extra mile to take advantage of those benefits? Is sports shift like the bike I bought to lose a few pounds and haven't ridden in over a year or do you actualy use it? If so, under what circumstances?

 

Well, one difference between the two is you loose a bit of HP (10-20%) with a slushbox vs. a manual (due to the torque converter and other tranny losses). That being said, you gain some torque, as you have a mechanical and hydraulic mechanism transferring the power.

The newest auto "sport shift" trannys are very quick to shift, and some offer throttle pairing (raising throttle response, or rev matching) so the shifts are smooth and you do not loose much in the way of forward progress (speed). My Subaru does rev matching upon downshifting, and upshifts are nearly instantaneous. Ferrari and Mercedes make the best sport shift automatics.

It comes down to those that want the satisfaction of rowing their own gears, or the ability to have that kind of control only when they desire. It's personal preference at this stage......

I actually use it quite a bit.....

 

most of the time it's drive and go

 

I always just put it in drive...if it's not manual, I'm not going to drive it like one.

 

75% of the time

 

Rarely ever but I do keep it in DS mode when i need to do some passing.

 

Probably 80% of the time

 

Never.

 

rarely.

when i just got my car, i did often on the highways.

but now, very rarely.

 

Your Bimmer is an auto? Wouldn't have guessed that.

 

When I had my Infiniti, it was an auto., and I used Sport shift mode very rarely. More often I would use the manual shift mode to ensure I was in the gear I wanted to be in, with the new 7 speed that sounds like even more fun. I think it really depends on the car itself, the sport shift mode and what you are looking for. Even though the auto. in the Infiniti was a good auto., arguably better then the manual, I still found I get really bored with out a manual and sport shift mode is not enough to sway my mind.

 

I use Sportshift in my TSX approximately 0.1% of my total driving time.

 

I use SS on the highway at times when I want to do a little spirited driving... never TOO much over the speed limit though

 

Yep and so was the mazda3.

I like being lazy in my daily driver.

 

For the two cars I've had with "sport shift," the number is statistically insignificant. So basically, never.

 

When I had my Acura a rarely used sport-shift, because I hated it...the horrible delay and lack of control was a downer. Sport-shift is a gimmick that is really a waste.

My last two cars have been a manual tranny...and now DSG....and yes, I use the DSG alot!

 

Every so often

 

Damn you Moog, damn you!

 

maybe 30 percent now. I only use it when I'm doing spirited driving

 

x 2.
I use the accelerator pedal to manage downshifts for passing.

 

When I had my RL, i'd use the sportshift whenever I went up a mountain road or whenever I needed to pass on the freeway. The car seemed to have a hard time finding the right gear on the mountain. Other than that, I hardly ever touched the shift paddles.

 

SS is worthless for city driving, but I use it on the highway most of the time.

 

Probably only about 20-25% of the time.
I probably use it to help me slow down more than I do to get going.

 

What I'm getting is that once you hit the age of 25 sports mode seems to longer exist in people's minds, if it ever did to begin with.

This is very informative. I think Acura and other car makers consider sports shift something that looks good on the car lot, that the buyer thinks in his mind that the car "can" be should he or she ever want it to be, but that in reality they are unlikely to exercise the option. Much like half of the protection plans and warranties they offer which seem like a good idea when you are concentrating on your new car but which you forget about a few days later and never think about again.

I never want to buy an auto sedan but I'm worried that with the new DSG and the rarety of manual transmissions in luxury makes that I'll have no choice, and that when the car I get has both auto and manual modes I won't be able to bring myself to use the manual mode because I'll know in my mind that the car can do the same work without my help.

 

Makes sense to me....put strain on a $3,500 tranny vs. $120 brake pads.

 

 

Manual Transmissions are getting harder and harder to find. It's now getting to the point that you have to special order the car just to get it in a MT. When I got my A4, they had 20 others on the lot, but mine was the only one within a 30 mile radius with a 6spd MT. Anyhow, it's my daily driver, but sometimes when I'm sitting in heavy traffic going 0 to 10 mph, I often wish it was an automatic.

I don't really hate the concept of sport shifts, DSG, steptronic, etc... transmissions. I figure if it's good enough for F1 racing and companies like Lamborghini, Ferrari, etc., it's good enough for me.

 

Race cars have DSG and paddle shifters for performance reasons. I like working the stick and the clutch but I worry they will no longer be available in a few years once DSG becomes cheaper and more practical.

 

 

I only use it when I need to be in the lower gear to pass a car or make a light.

 

in the CL-S, all the time, But not for fun- for slowing down that piece of shit.

Thanks for under-engineering the CL-S Honda...

 

It's guaranteed that the break pad material will vanish over time; is it guarenteed that the transmission will fail?

 

i dont think i have every used the car without sportsshift.

 

I have the 6 speed

 

I checked out this forum for car enthusiasts in the UK.... a huge majority of them drove manual transmission cars, even big sedans. Damn us lazy Americans making stickshift a niche "option" now instead of making it "standard" like its supposed to be.



wtf? that makes no sense..... why put wear on a $120 set of brake pads when you can put unneeded extra wear on something that costs 30 times as much? Yeah, that makes sense. If you want to engine brake, get a manual. I feel perfectly fine with downshifting into 1st at 25mph, it gives me an eargasm. But I'd never try that in a car with SS. Speaking of which, will newer cars even let you do that? My 2G TL-S didn't let me.

My not-so-smart-not-so-much-a-friend broke his automatic Prelude's transmission when he was racing.... he saw a cop and got on the brakes and downshifted with SS a bunch of times. Subsequently he had to get it towed to a shop for repairs.

 

You don't really know how hard it is or isn't on the transmission do you? Besides that, is anyone here really planning on having their car that long? I don't see a lot of Aziners talking up their Acura Vigors.

 

I'm selling it as soon as I can afford an S2k or 996

 

 

I really don't care, because I don't plan on getting an automatic transmission, ever. I prefer clutches to clutchpacks, whether it be good ole fashioned rowing the gears or even a lightning-fast DSG. That guy I know with the Prelude dropped around $2,500 to fix his tranny because of his downshifting. Its your transmission, do as you want.

And no, I don't know exactly how hard it is because I don't take apart Honda automatic transmissions every few ten thousand miles and check for wear after using SS. I assume you know how much strain it causes then, by the way you asked.

 

The sportshift in the TSX is pretty good - don't think its gimmicky at all. It's handy when you need to hold a lower gear for merging on the highway or just whenever you feel the need. Prob use it 10% of the time. If it wasn't a DD, would have bought the 6MT though.