Hi all,

I have just received my c43 coupe, as this is my first AMG/sports car i do not know much about changing gears manually. Any tips or a run down on what to do and not to do & when is the best time to change the gears. Also love the drive in Sports + mode - is it OK to have the car in this mode at all times?

Would love everyones opinion

Thanks

 

It's not an AMG

 

I drove in Sports+ since the first mile. Any other mode, i would rather drive my V6 Accord

 

If you are asking this question, I doubt there is much point in shifting yourself. The 9-speed auto will probably do a better job, especially if you leave it in sport +.

But since you asked, the benefit of manual shifting is when you know something is about to happen, but the car does not (approaching a corner or about to come out of it, about to pass a car, about to merge), you can downshift to get the engine in the meat of the powerband, to accelerate more quickly, without any lag. Or if you want to engine-brake on slippery roads. On the other side of the equation, you can probably eake out higher mileage by upshifting early. But if you cared about mileage, this was the wrong car to buy.

Some might be able to get slightly faster acceleration by manually shifting at optimal points, but it's honestly splitting hairs. It is more fun to do this, on occasion. It's just not actually any faster, in reality, than letting the transmission shift itself.

As far as when not to shift, they pretty much idiot-proof these things. It's not like a true manual where you can screw it up by downshifting to 1st at 75 mph, or hit 5th at 20 mph. The tranny will keep itself between about 1200 rpm and 6500 rpm. It won't let you shift outside that range.

But going back to my original point, I wouldn't bother shifting manually, if I were you. Just leave the thing in sport + and let it do its own thing. If you want to really learn about manual shifting, find a friend to teach you how to drive a manual transmission car. MB doesn't make them anymore, and they are less than 5% of all cars these days, but they do still exist, and I feel they are ultimately more rewarding to drive than any automatic. Honda, Mazda, Porsche and BMW probably make the best manual transmissions, and also still offer them in at least some of their models.

 

If you have never driven a stick shift before you should read up on manual transmissions first. Learn how gear changes work and understand the theory. The auto/manual transmission on the Merc is pretty forgiving and doesn't allow you to over rev, but pointless gear changes will upset the balance of the car during normal driving.
once you understand the theory of driving a manual, start driving around town in M and use the paddles going up and down 1-2-3. The most difficult part about driving a manual is anticipating the next gear change, e.g. driving driving at 50 on a highway in top gear and downshifting into a better passing gear. How briskly do you need to get there? The new car has a 9 speed, which means if you want to pass hard, you must downshift all the way to 4th if not 3rd. Sometimes 5th is fine.
Bottom line is, read up first. Don't be that guy in traffic with his car rocking back and forth and revving. Until then, keep it in drive.

 

One thing to be aware, if you hit the manual button on the console you can hold a gear and continually bump it off the rev limiter, (or so I've been told) not something you really want to do.

 

Yes, the C43 and the C450 does not upshift automatically for the driver.

 

The fun thing to use the manual paddle shifting for are the pops and bangs on the overrun and finding the RPM sweet spot of the burbles when going off throttle. Even when you drive slowly you'll get a lot of nice sound.

And it's just more fun, more focussed driving. We don't have the enjoyable gear shifter, so this is the next best thing.

 

I so looked forward to driving a DCT, but frankly, even with only seven speeds I came to the conclusion manual shifting is more of a hassle than it's worth. With nine, you'll be constantly pulling the paddles. As mentioned above, the best use of manual shifting is anticipatory downshifts, but even then, with so many gears, you'll be pulling the down paddle 4-5 times to get the power. About the only time I've found manual mode useful is climbing hills. It allows you to lock the trans in gear. Otherwise, it will be constantly hunting up and down through the gears. Auto modes don't really understand that you're climbing a hill.

No harm in playing though, and with automatic rev matching, you can't hurt anything.

 

This is not a DCT --It is a MCT which differs greatly as this is really just a Automatic trans with a wet multi plate clutch in place of the fluid coupling.
It works well but is a different animal.
You can also use the paddles without going to manual as I do many times to give better engine braking as you might do coming up to a stop light or going into a corner where I think I want a lower gear.
In S+ the trans does seem to know what you want most of the time and learns as you drive.