RawBenz

Drive it till it blows then have Weistec rebuild you a bullet proof transmission

Only annoying thing about M mode is taking off.

Bardman

Out of curiosity, how do people mostly drive? I use C mode when parking, and M mode everywhere else. In S, or S+ I can't get the satisfaction of hearing the engine build up a few revs without exceeding the speed limit by ridiculous amounts. Driving in M lets me have fun on roundabouts and punting between 60-90km/hr around town. S, S+ just don't feel aggressive enough.

HuyN

I'm the same. As soon as the car is up to operating temperature, I put it straight into manual mode. You get to rev it higher (under light load), and enjoy the sound.

kimeran

I permanently drive in M mode, from the get go.
Only time I leave it in C, is if I'm sitting in traffic. Purely because the 1st gear take off gets annoying in traffic

alexmtl

I drive it in M and use engine breaking all the time. Too enjoyable to miss out on this.

Starky_

Depends where I'm going. If theres lots of highway or stop and go traffic I'll just keep it in C.

Some decent stretches of roads and its in M right away

-Marlin-

Guess I am the odd one out. I drive the car for longevity. For the most part. I keep it in C. For more spirited driving, S does it for me. I've played with M a bit, but honestly, the car sucks gas like nothing I've ever seen. In M mode, I can go through a half tank of gas in no time and I'd rather not wear out this ridiculously expensive tranny. The engine is a monster and everything it relies on (tires, brakes, transmission) gets dominated.

Mitch111

Ah, not really Marlin.............suffice to say, we'll just have to be the odd two out, so far at least.

Having had mine for a few years now, I'd done my fair share of occasional S & M driving (no pun intended), but several months back settled on leaving it C-mode the vast majority of the time.

Once in a blue moon I might go to S, as it's quite intuitively nice.....but encourages hooliganism; still a recovering addict.

M is nice as well, but the rapid downshifts that we don't get kinda annoys me. You know, how the auto trannys will downshift from 7th to 4th in - for instance, in what seems like a split second.......in a highway passing scenario?

I'll get to tappin-tappin-tappin and the #%^ing thing won't downshift!! Ahhh!! Well, a decent automatic it may be considering the torque converter, but not perfect. (I know, duhh!!??)

Oh, and forget about getting a downshift when simultaeously braking. Don't know 'bout you guys, but it's never happened with me.

But all that said, the engine's still a monster in C. It just drives us around like it's a Mercedes, not an AMG. Of course, until we need it to be.

Adios, my people.

D7reU

I have the old 7G Tronic gearbox and I only drive in manual. I drive the car very hard and no problems at all.

kimeran

You can always just hold the downshift paddle and it will go to the correct gear for that speed? Works nicely for me

Bardman

Do you have the pre-MCT gearbox? Under brakes is when I get the most consistent quick downshifts.

To be honest though, I generally find it shifts when it wants to shift, and I am adopting my manual shift timing to when I know it will shift rather than it being entirely in my command...

Mitch111

Correct, Bardman...........2009 model with the original torque converter tranny.

First off the upshifts are okay; no issue there.

But to your point, which is well taken, my regular shift timing or commands are not ignored. It's just quick and unanticipated downshifts that seem to go unanswered - downshifts more for quicker deceleration (out of necessity). Which is to ask, do I infer correctly that you have the better-functioning MCT?

Either way, will continue trying to refine my technique when I do go manual, as it could be user error. The sad truth is "practice makes permanent" - not perfect, and if I've been practicing incorrectly the result will certainly not be perfection.

(Assuming the torque converted auto can do any better.)

So Kimeran, as I try to improve my timing, will try your special technique. Thanks for the advice.

alexmtl

Yeah the downshift thing is a pain. Double-tap for dropping two gears should work on a 85k$ car. Since it's really just a software issue, I'm surprised no one already fixed it.
Holding the downshift paddle is a workaround that works though.

roadtalontsi

You guys act like the mct is so superior. I'd say its about 20% improvement at most. Sport plus mode is pretty annoying to drive around it since it is always just pointlessly hanging gears. Ya it shifts faster an snappier but still the same limitations as with any true automatic transmission.

whoover

It's not a software issue. Any shift in this transmission requires one friction pack element (brake or clutch) to disengage and one other one to engage. Skipping a gear invalidates this rule of one-off-one-on, possibly in fairly complicated ways. It's possible to do for some shifts but, in general, it's a very thorny problem.

Bardman

There are significant software issues with the tranny, however, that I am surprised have not been fixed.

Of all the problems, my biggest gripe is this one. Manual mode drops down to 1st when slowing or coming to a stop, causing significant lurch, even though in C mode, it is happy to stay in 2nd gear even if you stop. This can actually be dangerous when slowing down for a tight corner or turn as the car will lurch forwards unpredictably just when you need smooth acceleration to match speeds with other traffic.

Apart from being dangerous, the lurching just feels cheap.

whoover

Agree completely. Not being able to start in 2 in M is just stupid. Lugging at 1,200 RPM in S+ is just stupid. There are definitely programming problems. I was only saying that double down- or up- shifts are not just programming.

alexmtl

Well it should be fixable by just programming. I mean all you have to do is store in a variable the requested gear, and let the gearbox do its thing until it gets to that gear. Double tap down and decrease the requested gear by two, trans would shift down, and once re-engaged, shift down again. Real basic stuff.

Besides that, I'm pretty sure that my MCT is able to drop two gears at once in S or S+ modes, but I need to double check because I always drive in M

And yeah, engaging in 2nd gear in M is also a software issue, most likely. I also want to be able to shift up earlier, instead of the 1600rpm minimum, there's far enough torque for that. It should also, like my old dual clutch, store the shift up request for 2-3 seconds until it can actually shift so you can short shift much easier in traffic.

Really most trans issues are software related to me. M works just fine in spirited driving or on the track, but not in daily driving. I want to get the source code and fix it !!

whoover

Yes, the computer could do what you have to do -- downshift one gear at a time, waiting for the proper elements to disengage and engage, before doing it again. But it would not be very satisfying. The shift would be slow and clunky, really the same speed that you accomplish with the paddle. People would really complain about such shifts. The answer is a DCT, where a two-gear jump is a simple downshift for one of the half-transmissions.

-Marlin-

Speaking of trannies, I have a question!

If I could change one thing, other than the gas mileage, it would be the retarded lurching forward on downshifts to come to a stop....and in C. It's annoying as hell. Anything I can do here? .......I have a feeling someone is going to recommend a flash with throttle blips. It lugs you forward HARD usually going from 4 to 3 and 3 to 2.

I really just like to cruise, but this beast reminds me at every opportunity that it is ready for a Cup Touring Car Challenge. Kind of ridiculous when I drop my kids off at school.

whoover

No lurch for me in C. Only lurch is from 1 to 2 if you don't either go wide open or feather it into 2, usually in M. Maybe have the dealer check it?

Starky_

Are you braking really hard coming to a stop? For me coming to a stop sign downshifts are pretty smooth, I can barely feel them. Then again I let the engine do most of the braking, only braking hard when I need to.

-Marlin-

Nope. Not braking hard at all. Especially with the cost of a brake job, I take my time and come to a smooth stop. Or atleast try, because the downshifts from 10mph to 0 pull me forward. I guess it's just my car and not a common issue

alexmtl

Could be just your car, since C mode usually starts in 2nd. Sometimes it starts in 1st when it's uphill or when it feels like. Maybe you can try a trans reset ? I believe the procedure was explained somewhere in this thread.