I posted the attached below regarding Touchshift @redline on the W203 board earlier this evening. But my dad has a 97 E320 (gated shifter), so I'm wondering about how this applies for the old style gated shifters as well.

And yeah, I realize perhaps the best way to accelerate is to mash the pedal..


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I've never dared try, but for those with Touchshift here.. if you're in any gear other than D, will the transmission upshift automatically when you hit redline? (Question 2 would be: Will Touchshift let you downshift if you're too fast? The probable answer would be no.)
I'm just curious, as I've been trying to find the best way to accelerate on the hwy (as in, chase somebody ). Like if I am cruising at 100km/h and I need to accelerate quickly, I'd tap to 4, then to 3.. and then WHOA: engine roars and I start pulling. But with 3rd gear @ 100kmh I'd have like 1000rpm before redline, which I find somewhat risky. What if I'm actually doing 125, misjudge my speed, shift down to 3rd gear, and only have 300rpm left to use?

BTW, I find that holding the shifter to the left until the transmission selects teh lowest possible gear takes too long.

Same questions go for those with gated shifters. But I would assume the answer for Q1 would be that the rev limiter would just kick in, since the shifter is "mechanical" compared to the Touchshift.

 

I've never tried with the Touchshift, but I do know that with the VAG/Porcsche Tiptronic (which I have), it will NOT let you downshift if it will cause the engine to go past the redline.

I let a racing instructor drive my car at Lime Rock Park, and he left it in the Tip mode; it would upshift at redline and downshift at about 3000 RPM's -- apparently, it realized that it was being driven HARD and adjusted its shift pattern accordingly.

I'd imagine the Touchshift would act similarly. IIRC, on the shift-gate style tranny, it was the same -- you could move the gear-shift lever, but it wouldn't actually shift unless it was safe to do so.

 

The Touchshift does NOT shift for you. It lets you make up your mind when to upshift. I can not speak for downshifting because I don't want to risk having to pay for a new transmission, so I'd suggest using your best judgement. Kinda like you would when driving a manual shift... don't do anything stupid.

The E-Shift on the Lexus does not shift for you either. I really like this feature.

The SportShift on the Acura will shift for you at a certain point. I believe that the same is true for Audi, but I'm not sure. I don't understand why you would have SelfShift on a car that will ultimately override your decision. That's plain dumb.

The BMW owners can probably tell you more about the operation of it's SportShift (even though that is not what you asked).

I do hope that this helps.

 

Thanks for your responses.

Well, I posted this question in the W203 board, and the guys there have put some input.

E4.3., yep.. obviously I gotta use my head , but I'm just curious. btw, BMW sportshift will upshift automatically at redline.

Well since I have a Touchshift, I asked the question, which was answered. My dad has the gated shifter, so I was curious what would happen too. I wouldn't think that it would upshift automatically at redline (since it's a 'mechanical' gear selection) but a revlimiter would kick in. HOPEFULLY.

Anyway, here's the W203 thread, if you guys wanna read what the other people have said. Thanks.

https://mbworld.org/forums/showthread.php?s=&threadid=2009&perpage=10&pagenum ber=1