cntlaw

My only experience with driving a manual clutchless shift gear car was on the Toyota MR-S. My other experience is I have been the passenger of a M3 with SMG. Can anyone point out the technical design and handling differences between above with the C55's/E55's AMG Speedshift ?

Thanks
cnt

430

The AMG unit is a standard Auto Tranny with a manual option. Speedshift simply shifts quicker when in manual mode.

cntlaw

Thanks. So can I say SMG is a true manual and the AMG Speedshift is still an Auto Transmission ?

cnt

MrBonus

That is correct. The AMG uses a torque converter while the SMG uses hydraulic and electronic devices to control the actual clutch.

Kar don

speedshift is very quick, it is much smoother than SMG.

cntlaw

Wonderful. That was what I am expecting the C55 to be a MORE day-to-day use than the M3

cntlaw

Thanks. Okay , whatever these technically means, can I say :-

1. A manual shift ( like my good old MR-S ) will go to neutral when still

2. The AMG Speedshift will not go to neutral but second gear ( like my Z3 Sport Shift Transmission )

3. Thirdly, I read about AMG Speedshift will kick down when enter a bend with 0.5g force - why and how it does that?


cnt

BlackC230Coupe

Its more like night and day.

derAMG

when you exceed # of Gs, it will auto kick down using the engine breaking to help stopping and Speedshift holds the gear during corning when it exceed certain amount of G force too. That only applies to Speedshift Mercedes. It takes some time to use to this tranny, but once you use to it, you will be faster than 90% of the M3 as BMW_Instructor insist

cntlaw

derAMG
Thanks. I am curious in what ways the AMG Speedshift differs from the +/- control of the auto transmission on my 2001 made facelift E320 ?
cnt

FrankW

it only differs by the SOFTWARE developed by AMG that tells the transmission when and how to shift.

BlackC230Coupe

Dont expect anything a whole lot dofferent from that with the speedshift, there pretty similar.

MrBonus

Would you say that Speedshift is more of a gimmick rather than a functional addition?

A C55-on-order person would like to know.

FrankW

NO...go read an article on the C55 and you'll get it.

BlackC230Coupe

Well the speedshift is not a gimmick. Its really just the touchshift which is just like any tiptronic tranny only speedshift says the shifts are 35% quicker, and it also holds gears around turns. Besides that, its no different then any other Mercedes auto tranny.

FrankW

add: the new manual mode for the C55 and 05 55s will not change gear at redline unless the driver tells it to. In other words, you time your own shift. So if you shift in the wrong spot in the manual mode, don't expect to win against some respectable cars.

BlackC230Coupe

Oh yeah, i forgot about that. Thats only if you press the "M" button on the shiftgate. If someone is to worried they wont shift intime, they can still use it like the regular speedshift i believe.

FrankW

does the button now says "C, W, and M" on it? that's what I remember when peeking at a C55 at dealership.

430

Unless you are in manual mode then it is slow as Christmas.

MrBonus

I think I've read every review available on the C55 but I'm really trying to gather direct input from AMG owners.

BlackC230Coupe

It actually says "C" "S" and "M". comfort, sport and manual.

430

Unless you are in manual mode then it is slow as Christmas.

FrankW

oops...that's what I meant.

cntlaw

So many responses. Thanks. I am getting the C55 this Friday. My only driving experiences with '+/- shift' were my MR-S ( true manual sport shift ) and the one on my 01'E320AV (facelift). I probably won't be able to tell whether the Speed Shift is better or worse as all above were different power engines.

Last week, when I was on my friend's M3 SMG in Tokyo, he demonstrated that the SMG went well up to 120 kmh on 2nd gear at ~7000rpm before he needs to shift. I wish the C55 Speedshift could do that too , of course at much lower revs

cnt