Hello. I'm a new Acura owner, 2018 ILX. I bought the car for my son. I've been driving it the last day or so and I have to say it's rather annoying. I live where there is a lot of traffic, stop signs and low speeds to deal with. When I'm going at very low speeds, the car wants to keep shifting gears, and it'll get to 4th gear before I can even hit 25mph. It's very odd and it seems very unusual that a car would do this. I had Acura look at it and their tech said this was normal and a way that Acura wants to deliver the best gas mileage. But holy cow, going less than 20mph and this car wants to keep shifting gears. It's so annoying that I really don't want to drive it anymore. If it were my personal car, I would drive it right into another dealer and get rid of it asap. Since this is my first Acura, I wanted to reach out to see if this is standard for this type of car with this small engine or if this is a sign of an issue. I just can't understand why it would be normal for any car to shift so frequently at very low speeds. I've never felt something like this in my over 35 years of driving. Would appreciate any feedback. Thank you!

 

Your 8 Speed DCT is behaving exactly as intended when driving in standard D mode.

At light acceleration, it will easily shift into 4th gear by the time you clear an intersection, as it tries to keep the RPM below 2000 or so.

This shift logic is primarily based on the Accelerator Pedal Position detected during acceleration.

If you accelerate to 40mph but only have your foot down, say, 15% of the way, then the ECU will shift very early to maintain a smooth automatic-esque shifting feel.
If you press harder down to say 40%, RPMs will rise higher before each shift, reaching closer to 3000.

Also, the torque converter locks up @ ~25mph in 2nd gear, so depending on how fast you're moving and what gear the vehicle is in at the moment, you can also feel the momentary pause when the converter locks up into a more direct feel between the 2nd and 3rd gear shift.

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Now, as I said, this is expected behavior so as not to surprise anyone who expects a standard slush-box-automatic feel when driving the vehicle.

Two ways to get around this are,

1) Drive the vehicle in Sequential (S) mode. Doing this will change the shift logic to maintain a 3000-4000rpm shift point, and it will hold gears until at least 4000rpm before an upshift, or 3000 for a downshift (or higher when driving spiritedly).
This mode effectively turns the car into a 6-speed box and feels more like one you'd drive a Civic Si around down by comparison. The 7th and 8th gear are not used in (S) mode by default; those gears are mainly reserved for highway cruising anyway.
You could also grab a gear any time in (S) mode and drive full manual if you'd like. Just make sure the engine is up to temp before any spirited driving, as the transmission shifts at a slower speed when the engine coolant is below 145°.

2) You can install a throttle controller at the pedal. This would allow you to raise the ratio between what your foot physically does at the pedal and what the ECU sees on the other end. Increasing the torque demanded from the ECU by raising the APP signal can also alleviate the shift-happy (D) mode since you will be requesting a higher torque demand from the ECU with your given pedal input
It's a lot of psychological, but most people driving really don't like the feeling of depressing the pedal say more than 1/2 way down just to get around town. But that will tell the ECU you really want a lower gear and keep the engine less eco-shift happy.

Banks Power has their PedalMonster, which is compatible with the 8-speed ILX, and it's something I've used for the last year or so to really smack the standard (D) mode into a more enjoyable shifting experience.

Their system plugs into the OBD-II port and pulls basic real-time vehicle data as it's being used. That way it doesn't make the engine feel twitchy with the added sensitivity. Their system knows when you're at a stoplight or going slowly in a parking lot, so the extra sensitivity in the pedal rolls in smoothly off the line instead of making the tires chirp at the slightest touch.



Their box also uses multi-point curves for each of their torque response levels, which provides a smooth feel as you modulate the pedal. The other units on the market rely on a single point on each of their modes, effectively feeling like a harsh cliff in the middle of the pedal feel and freaking the transmission out.


Then you can activate their low-speed "Launch Trim" which dampens the added torque response below 10mph. This keeps driving through a parking lot, or starting at a stop light feel smooth and predictable as it rolls in the added torque response with vehicle speed.





Once you're at speed, the added APP torque demand from PedalMonster effectively tells the transmission "hey, shift, I'd like to accelerate a bit more" without you having to really lean into the pedal to get the same effect.
It also knows when you've shifted into Reverse and sets the pedal back to stock; that way you don't end up flying backward out of your driveway when someone else drives the car the next day lol.




TLDR:
What you're experiencing is 100% by Acura's design;
(D) Mode is meant to be smooth, eco, and friendly to those accustomed to conventional automatics.
(S) Mode will give your ILX a 6-speed "Civic Si-esque" manual transmission feel, as it will hold gears longer and only downshift when actually needed.

Or, get yourself a Banks PedalMonster and dial in your torque response while maintaining smooth low speed and off-the-line feel.
I say PedalMonster since they are the only one that knows vehicle speed and gear position, which allows for that low speed smoothness and reverse safety.
Without those two features, every other throttle controller just feels too twitchy on the daily, and would make normal driving feel like a chore



I've got my PedalMonster tied into their iDash Pro gauge, but that's just because I enjoy the extra PIDs on the screen for temperature. But the device also works as a standalone unit, and you can set everything up on your phone and get things dialed in that way too.

 

Thank you for your thorough and detailed reply. I never would've guessed Acura (or anyone really) would do something like that intentionally and creating a miserable/annoying driving experience. In my over 35+ years of driving many vehicles, and as someone who loves driving, this is the most annoying I have ever been. It really makes for a lousy experience. But this is my son's car so I will let him deal with it, but since he was away and I drove it, it was really bizarre to me. Like I said before, it's so annoying, I would get rid of it. But at least it seems like it's expected behavior so I really appreciate you taking the time to break it down for me. And I'll consider the PedalMonster if this is something that drives my son as nuts as me.

Thanks again and all the best!

 

Yeah it helps when you understand the shift logic behind what two drive modes do.

D is really for those who don’t even really know or care what a transmission is, and just want a smooth quiet driving experience.

S feels like it swaps drivers for an enthusiast who is rowing their own 6 speed manual. Even if you drive it hard in a canyon, it’ll rev hold all the way to red line, auto blip downshifts, and keep the car in gear during a turn.

… giving it the bump with a PedalMonster, gives D mode just a bit more character. It allows me to still have a smooth drive when I’m in the carpool lane, but forces the car down shift through gears faster with more authority when I want to pass someone, or just get up to speed a bit.

 

Your information is very helpful, so I appreciate you taking the time to reply. I'll have to look into some options to try to make the drive more tolerable. I understand the gas mileage, but it's already a small engine so I'd prefer if they didn't "dumb" it down for me and allow me to drive it in a way to maximize my gas or not. But as they say, it is what it is. So thanks again!

 

Yeah the secret to how the car gets its advertised 35mpg is the ultra low revs around town and on the highway.

You drive her soft in the city with 80% highway driving and cruise control, and you’ll get 33-35 every time.

but if you stick to S mode and drive with some fun, ~25’s is where you’ll end up.

yes it’s a direct injection ‘little’ 2.4L, but that’s it for it’s bag of eco tricks.

It doesn’t have any lean burn mode, cyl deactivation like the V6s, or one of those tiny 1.5L engines with a turbo. It’s all rpm that keep it efficient, but still a slap happy Si killer when you want lol.