pumper

The paddle shifters are interesting. I've been driving manual tranny's for the last 25 years, (except for a short stint in a Cadillac STS), and so I need to learn to use a "manu-matic" . It's a little confusing because the car still does shift for you, even in S mode. I guess I expected it to hold the gear I selected, no matter the speed or throttle inputs.

Let me explain what is happening and you guys tell me if this is normal. If I shift from AI-mode to S-mode while moving, the tranny shifts to 4th gear. It won't go above that gear unless I select an upshift, and then it won't go above 5th unless I select another upshift. It may downshift automatically depending on the speed and throttle inputs, and it will go all the way to 1st if I come to a complete stop. Then, upon starting again, it will act like a regular automatic until it hits the highest gear I had previously selected.

If I have it in S-mode and 4th is the highest gear I've selected, and it's currently in 4th, I can just tromp the gas peddle and it will automatically downshift to the gear with the best torque. It will then upshift at redline until it reaches 4th again.

Is this correct, or am I misunderstanding something. How do I optimize it? IOW, if I'm crusing along and decide to pass another car, do I just tromp it and go, or should I downshift to the gear I want and then tromp it?

Thanks for any and all help.

pumper

mcfly

You've pretty much already figured it out. You select the highest gear you want the auto to decide to use. It'll downshift on it's own, but it shouldn't upshift unless you tell it to (so you should be able to bounce it off the rev limiter all day long).

If you put the trans in ECT-Power, it'll hold gears longer as well.

As for your question about either downshifting and then hammering it, or letting the auto do it, it really doesn't matter... do whichever makes you happiest because it amounts to the same thing.

The real point of the paddle shifters is to allow you to enjoy the twisties... the trans will hold the highest gear you select through a corner, so you don't have that annoying upshift-in-mid-corner horror to deal with. So in other words, you approach a corner, downshift to the appropriate gear, hit the apex, accelerate out, and upshift when appropriate after exiting the corner. THAT's where the paddles are fun

pumper

Thanks. I'm going to have to play around some more to make the process intuitive. I'm coming out of an E46 M3 (6-spd) and an E36 M3 (5-spd). I was so familiar with the manuals in those cars I could shift without thinking, just by listening to the engine. It'll take a little while before it's like that in this car.

But, it'll be a fun process learning.

pumper

mcfly

Actually, I'm curious...

I've always driven manuals as well... in fact, I haven't owned an automatic car for a good 15 years. How are you finding the IS?

rominl

iTrader: (4)

yes if youread the manual, it will say that the number doesn't mean what gear you are in, but the highest gear you can possibly in

mcfly

You can of course just use the "DISPLAY" button to change the readout and get the current gear display... much more useful.

pumper

Well, it's too early to say. I've just reached the break-in miles and I haven'y really driven it hard yet. Today was the first time I tried the ECT/Power button. Plus, I'm just learning the intricacies of the shifter, and I have snow tires on it. Still, in my limited experience, the car feels just about as fast as my E46 M3 and faster than the E36, at least in a straight line. It has a more insulated or disconnected feel which doesn't really "inspire" the driver to find it's potential like the M3's, but I think it's potential may be very close to the E46 M3. I'll need more seat time with a broken-in car before I can verify that, (and I'll need to get the summer tires back on it).

The one thing I've noticed is that when you stand on the go pedal, the car hesitates a little before downshifting. This is very different than the torque delivery in the M3 which would just take off as soon as you touched the gas. Of course, because it was a manual, I would always be in the prefered gear *before* getting on the gas, so it's not a good comparison. I'll have to try manually downshifting the IS before hitting the gas and see what that's like.

pumper

gshb

The auto tranny will rev match before changing gears; the M3 (with SMG) is a manual tranny.

jlin101

the S-Mode does not select the 4th gear per se--it just so happened that you were in 4th gear when you moved the gear lever over. You can use the multi-fuction display between the speedo and tach to show the current gear. When you put the lever in S, the transmission goes into manual mode, then you use the paddle shifter to select the highest gear possible (you can downshift manually, or the computer will do it for you when the car comes to a stop).

mcfly

Let me know what you think as you put more miles on. I'm having a minor panic attack about having to live with an automatic....

Payam

No, actually it does select 4th gear. It doesn't matter if your are stopped or doing 60, when you flip it over to "S" it shows a big 4 right there on the screen.

Dr C

Not really, If you are driving along at say 15 mph and you put the shifter into S, it will probably have a top gear of 3. Similarly, if you are driving along at 75 and you put the shifter into S, it will probably have a top gear of 5.

I leave my 250 in the Power mode and, when I first start off, I shift to S and click the right paddle twice to get it up to 6, then leave it there. That way, any time I want to use the paddles I can and, if I leave the paddles alone, it goes right up to 6 on its own. I like it. Almost like having your cake and eating it too. And, the mileage with it is power mode and S isn't really much less than with it in D.

Payam

No, I've tried that. As soon as you tap the shifter left into "S" mode. The screen goes right to "4". true, you might be in third, second, or first gear, but the top gear selection is still 4th gear. I've also gone 80 and kicked it over to sport mode, and sure as heck the car downshifted to fourth gear.

rominl

iTrader: (4)

yeah it's always default to some gear. in this case 4 i guess

on our gs400, if you put it in M, it's always 5

Rockville

when you move over to manual mode. It is trying to save you an extra step. From there you can bump up or down. On the GS it moves into 5th when you go into the sequential slot. The innovation on the IS is the little display above that can be set to tell you which gear is in use as you slow down. I grew up on stick shifts and it feels more natural for me to use the shifter slot even though it takes away your right hand. I guess it just takes practice to paddle shift while turning the wheel back and forth. 5th and 6th are both overdrive ratios so 4th should give you a torque boost when passing....

Rock