jpb5151

Do other people notice an unusually long downshift lag with the 230 auto sedan (2003) when trying to accelerate? The engine revs up, but then stays revved for up to 4 seconds (I counted yesterday) before dropping into gear and moving forward. The engine itself is very alive, but the transmission seems to be brain-dead.

Yesterday we were side-by-side with a Toyota Tercel with the engine roaring, but both cars moving at about 30 mph and barely accelerating. The driver gave us a rather puzzled look. Then after another couple seconds, our car actually started to move forward. I wasn't racing, just wanted to get to the light before it turned red (missed it, obviously...).

It's driving me nuts, and I've lost confidence in any ability to pass other people or pull out into traffic. After 1 month of driving this car, I haven't found a way around this other than to keep the car downshifted so that rpms are always at about 2500 minimum; this way the car doesn't have to think about how (or whether) to downshift. That gets really old, and the mileage drops to about 17 per gallon.

Is this normal for the 230 auto? Is there a better way around it? Was I spoiled by my 1988 Olds 98 3.8L? But heck, even our former Corolla didn't do this.

Please forgive me if this has been covered already (but maybe point me to that thread?).

R4ND0M_AX3

I've also noticed long delays. It's usually when I make a left at an intersection then accelerate coming out of the turn.

I start to give it throttle but there isn't any go. So I give it more and more then, *bang*, it downshifts and then I have to back off becasue it now has too much throttle. It's a lot of drama.

Benzer

My 2.3L coupe is slow to react, too. The auto has adaptive progam so may be if you keep driving more agressively for a week it would learn your style and shift quicker.

pokerFACE

its supposed to be driver-adaptive.. so try giving the gas a swifter kick next time

champa

just hit the gas and hold the stick to the left for a sec or two. It will select the best gear for you...
I image it works the same as my C240

bagwell

any type of sporty car I would get the manual trans...
(with the exception of the C32).

I had a Civic EX coupe with auto tranny that sucked, very slow....with a 5 spd its a peppy little car...

darkfact

I believe thats the problem...
now I'm driving it like the devil and I don't have any problems in acceleration anymore.

well.. .its not as fast as the bmws... but still, better than before.

C class < suck. LOL, sorry :p

jpb5151

Thanks. I tried this on the way back today. The engine wound for only a second or two before downshifting; improvement.

It looks like there's a consensus on more aggressive driving too. I'll give it a whirl.

R4ND0M_AX3

I don't know. I drive the **** out of my car. I think that's the problem.

It'd be nice if you could adjust the way the throttle reacts to the pedal input. I think it's clever that it looks at the rate of pedal travel to determine the desired throttle opening but sometimes I wish it would just be like an old fashiond cable operated unit with a nice smooth input/ouput slope. 0-100% pedal equals 0-100% throttle.

If it did this (or had the option to do it) and the transmission was able to hold a gear like every other "tiptronic" equiped car (SAAB 9.3 Vector, VW Passat, etc.) then I would not have much to complain about.

bora

Car and Driver totally lambasted MB for the non-linear user interface in the new generation cars including the C32. This includes the moronic brake-assist and the electro-nanny ESP which is not off even when it is off, unless you do the trick.

After owning my car for over 4 months now, I have nothing positive to say about the car being a driver's car other than the chassis (not the suspension) is very good, the steering feel is acceptable, but the pedals, including the clutch are awful.

The car does not want to play when I want it to, it is made to be driven straight on a freeway.

I have also noticed the lag you mention on the automatic loaners that I get when I bring my car in, the best way to get rid of it is to drive the car very sportingly (spool it toward the redline often) so that it learns your style.
I wish MB would include a sport mode in addition to winter. But I guess not in this car.

Dinan makes miracles with the BMW auto boxes, but I haven't heard anything great about any of the MB tuners tuning the auto transmission.