Does anyone actually use One Touch Gearshifting?
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2005 CLK 320
Does anyone actually use One Touch Gearshifting?
Does anyone actually use the One Touch Gearshifting feature – i.e. the (D-) and (D+) functions on the transmission for regular driving?
I mean obviously I know that one would shift into 2 or 3 for poor weather or slippy surfaces, but what does this +/- gain you over a traditional PRND321 or PRND21 unit
I tried moving through the gears with it one time, just out of curiosity, but it seemed weird, compared to a traditional stick shift.
I mean obviously I know that one would shift into 2 or 3 for poor weather or slippy surfaces, but what does this +/- gain you over a traditional PRND321 or PRND21 unit
I tried moving through the gears with it one time, just out of curiosity, but it seemed weird, compared to a traditional stick shift.
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2008 CLK550 Cab
Most every auto car has that feature these days, and my sense is the same as yours - it get's used by most people about as often as that exercise bike in your basement. I think you need to get good at it to use it to much advantage. One place it can come in handy is to keep the revs up so you can tap into the power more quickly for a quick pass or acceleration at lower speeds. One thing that bugs me about my 550 is the flat spot/lag if I punch it while cruising at at say 30-40 mph. I have had little turbos with way less of a flat spot.
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I don't use it often on the CLK550, but I did quite a bit on my other cars - ML320, BMW X3 and C240. Mainly, it helped give me better performance on those V6's. The 5.5 V8 really has enough power in normal driving that I don't need it. And my adaptive transmission usually stays in "drive-it-like-you-stole-it" mode. I have found that on the 722.9, a simultaneous accelerator stomp + left-tap on the TouchShift = Absolute maximum torque downshift = "passing with authority".
On the other side of that, sometimes while cruising at 40-50mph, I see the RPM's close to 2K, so I tap right to force an upshift and save a few teaspoons of fuel on the daily commute.
On the other side of that, sometimes while cruising at 40-50mph, I see the RPM's close to 2K, so I tap right to force an upshift and save a few teaspoons of fuel on the daily commute.
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2008 CLK550 Cab
I don't use it often on the CLK550, but I did quite a bit on my other cars - ML320, BMW X3 and C240. Mainly, it helped give me better performance on those V6's. The 5.5 V8 really has enough power in normal driving that I don't need it. And my adaptive transmission usually stays in "drive-it-like-you-stole-it" mode. I have found that on the 722.9, a simultaneous accelerator stomp + left-tap on the TouchShift = Absolute maximum torque downshift = "passing with authority".
On the other side of that, sometimes while cruising at 40-50mph, I see the RPM's close to 2K, so I tap right to force an upshift and save a few teaspoons of fuel on the daily commute.
On the other side of that, sometimes while cruising at 40-50mph, I see the RPM's close to 2K, so I tap right to force an upshift and save a few teaspoons of fuel on the daily commute.
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From: A Canadian in Dubai, United Arab Emirates
'05 C200K SS, '05 Kleemann CLK500K, '08 Hummer H3 & '92 Z34 5sp (track car in Canada)
I do all the time to keep me in practice, it just becomes automatic to always be in the optimum torque curve. Funny that when I don't, the car feels sluggish and unresponsive.
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CLK & GL
Most every auto car has that feature these days, and my sense is the same as yours - it get's used by most people about as often as that exercise bike in your basement. I think you need to get good at it to use it to much advantage. One place it can come in handy is to keep the revs up so you can tap into the power more quickly for a quick pass or acceleration at lower speeds. One thing that bugs me about my 550 is the flat spot/lag if I punch it while cruising at at say 30-40 mph. I have had little turbos with way less of a flat spot.
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Mercedes CLK280 2007
Persoanlly never used them on the CLK or E, never liked that they're more for putting an upper limit on the gear number rather than actually use them to stay specifically in the gear you want to be, also their sluggishness never helps either. 
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Yep, mine actually makes kind of a rumbling noise/feeling, but I had the TCU reflashed with the latest software yesterday, and I haven't had time to see if that helped yet. They did this after the timing gear work when I complained of some transmission slippage/slamming. I think they had to disconnect a transmission fluid cooling line during the job and it lost some fluid. I took it in Monday and they had to add some fluid, and did the reflash just as a matter of course during the service. The slipping/slamming is gone, but with the rain, and just one trip to work and back, I haven't had time to "play" to see what the real differences are. Mainly it seems to hold RPM's higher during shifts, which makes things much smoother.
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From: Beacon NY
'03 CLK 320 Coupe
I think its just a gimmick. It doesnt really do anything the old style Lo-1, Lo-2...etc...used to do. Since its really just software, its easy (cheap) to manufacture, and likely contributes to more auto-trans. sales, which means less manual sales, where applicable (again, saving the manufacturers $$).
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From: A Canadian in Dubai, United Arab Emirates
'05 C200K SS, '05 Kleemann CLK500K, '08 Hummer H3 & '92 Z34 5sp (track car in Canada)
I think its just a gimmick. It doesnt really do anything the old style Lo-1, Lo-2...etc...used to do. Since its really just software, its easy (cheap) to manufacture, and likely contributes to more auto-trans. sales, which means less manual sales, where applicable (again, saving the manufacturers $$).
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From: Beacon NY
'03 CLK 320 Coupe
I would agree if we were talking about an automated manual ("manu-matic") or a DSG, but I'm having trouble wrapping my mind around the idea of anyone being able to manipulate a traditional automatic better than it can manipulate itself.
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From: A Canadian in Dubai, United Arab Emirates
'05 C200K SS, '05 Kleemann CLK500K, '08 Hummer H3 & '92 Z34 5sp (track car in Canada)
Very simple, imagine this, your diving into a corner and brake hard, coming through the apex you floor it, the car revs up, catches the gear, spins the inside tire, traction control kicks in and you eventually go on your way...
Or,
Speeding into a corner, downshifting as you brake keeping the revs in the 3500 range, through the apex you feather the accelerator through full throttle and leave the newb that drives his car on the track in automatic way behind...
Like I said, trust me on this one, I've got a bit of seat time in a few different cars with a few different trans setups. By no means is the trans touch shift a sports trans setup but then again, these aren't sport cars from the factory - they are touring cars.
Touch shift gives the driver some additional control, that's pretty important when your running time attack trials.
Or,
Speeding into a corner, downshifting as you brake keeping the revs in the 3500 range, through the apex you feather the accelerator through full throttle and leave the newb that drives his car on the track in automatic way behind...
Like I said, trust me on this one, I've got a bit of seat time in a few different cars with a few different trans setups. By no means is the trans touch shift a sports trans setup but then again, these aren't sport cars from the factory - they are touring cars.
Touch shift gives the driver some additional control, that's pretty important when your running time attack trials.
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One thing to note is that there are differences in the operation of the TouchShift based on software versions and transmissions. The TouchShift up to MY2001 simply shifted up and down one gear at a time, just like running the old-style "zig-zag" shifter through it's gears. Also, it would hold the gear and do a fuel-cutoff at redline. In MY2002, they changed the software so that it would auto-upshift at redline.
The 722.9 transmission is different. First of all, it mechanically can shift across gears. I believe it can actually skip up to two gears in a single shift, i.e. it can go from 6th to 3rd without having to go through 5th and 4th. Because of this, and the number of gears, the TouchShift is programmed to select the "optimal gear" when first downshifting from "D". If you are coasting, it will go to a lower gear to gently assist with engine braking. If you are accelerating, it might downshift one gear below whatever physical gear it's in, or if aggressively driving, it will shift to the lowest possible gear given the road speed.
While the mechanical process of changing gears is no faster or slower with the TouchShift, using it can result in apparently faster shifts since the driver's gear decision might be faster than the vehicle's electronics.
I will say that I used the TouchShift more in my V6 engines as I felt like I got better performance with me making the decisions. On the CLK550's V8, I rarely use it as the engine has plenty of performance just letting the car make the decisions.
The 722.9 transmission is different. First of all, it mechanically can shift across gears. I believe it can actually skip up to two gears in a single shift, i.e. it can go from 6th to 3rd without having to go through 5th and 4th. Because of this, and the number of gears, the TouchShift is programmed to select the "optimal gear" when first downshifting from "D". If you are coasting, it will go to a lower gear to gently assist with engine braking. If you are accelerating, it might downshift one gear below whatever physical gear it's in, or if aggressively driving, it will shift to the lowest possible gear given the road speed.
While the mechanical process of changing gears is no faster or slower with the TouchShift, using it can result in apparently faster shifts since the driver's gear decision might be faster than the vehicle's electronics.
I will say that I used the TouchShift more in my V6 engines as I felt like I got better performance with me making the decisions. On the CLK550's V8, I rarely use it as the engine has plenty of performance just letting the car make the decisions.
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From: A Canadian in Dubai, United Arab Emirates
'05 C200K SS, '05 Kleemann CLK500K, '08 Hummer H3 & '92 Z34 5sp (track car in Canada)
Good point Rod, something that I totally forgot to mention - while braking if you hold the down shift for someone like a second it will but the car in the optimum torque gear (3500ish rpm). Very handy feature indeed.
