E550 Owners - driving style?
MBWorld Fanatic!
Joined: Mar 2014
Posts: 3,107
Likes: 394
From: West Central Florida
2011 E550 P2 4M Sedan
I drive the NA 550 and when I want to make it go fast I hold the left paddle for two seconds and the car will shift directly to the gear giving the best acceleration.
The problem I have with this is that I forget to shift up as I'm used to drive in AUTO mode and the car is too quiet to hear the engine. But it surely takes off with this procedure...
The problem I have with this is that I forget to shift up as I'm used to drive in AUTO mode and the car is too quiet to hear the engine. But it surely takes off with this procedure...
Senior Member
Joined: May 2013
Posts: 297
Likes: 51
'17 C63S Estate (S205) / '14 CLS 550 SB (X218) / '17 E220d (S213)
This is one of the two main differences to the 7g-TronicPlus that comes with the 4.7 TT! The PLUS can also do the following patterns:
7->5
6->2
5->3
4->1
The other main difference from a drivers perspective: The PLUS has an additional torsion damper in the torque converter, which allows lower RPM without resonances or vibrations. So the M278 can use higher gears at the same speed...
MBWorld Fanatic!
Joined: Dec 2011
Posts: 1,273
Likes: 129
From: Orlando, FL
2015 GL550 4matic
No, it does not. By pressing and holding the left paddle the car shifts into gear for best acceleration indeed. However, it does not do this directly. It still follows the shift pattern of the 7g-Tronic, which is one gear at once, except for the direct multible downshift from 7th to 5th!
This is one of the two main differences to the 7g-TronicPlus that comes with the 4.7 TT! The PLUS can also do the following patterns:
7->5
6->2
5->3
4->1
The other main difference from a drivers perspective: The PLUS has an additional torsion damper in the torque converter, which allows lower RPM without resonances or vibrations. So the M278 can use higher gears at the same speed...
This is one of the two main differences to the 7g-TronicPlus that comes with the 4.7 TT! The PLUS can also do the following patterns:
7->5
6->2
5->3
4->1
The other main difference from a drivers perspective: The PLUS has an additional torsion damper in the torque converter, which allows lower RPM without resonances or vibrations. So the M278 can use higher gears at the same speed...
I rarely use the paddles, but I didn't know about the holding down the button thing. I'll try it for sure. I noticed that my 2012 does tend to use very high gearing for city driving.
On my old W208, I would leave it in 3 or 4 (of 5) around town to prevent it from going too high and loosing the power to accelerate on demand. The manual shifting on MB is more of a "maximum gear" setting, as it will down-shift automatically when you stop; not fully manual like a Ferrari or something.
MBWorld Fanatic!
Joined: Oct 2010
Posts: 5,141
Likes: 1,293
From: Southern US
2010 E550, 273 Engine: 2012 S550, 278 Engine
No, it does not. By pressing and holding the left paddle the car shifts into gear for best acceleration indeed. However, it does not do this directly. It still follows the shift pattern of the 7g-Tronic, which is one gear at once, except for the direct multible downshift from 7th to 5th!
This is one of the two main differences to the 7g-TronicPlus that comes with the 4.7 TT! The PLUS can also do the following patterns:
7->5
6->2
5->3
4->1
The other main difference from a drivers perspective: The PLUS has an additional torsion damper in the torque converter, which allows lower RPM without resonances or vibrations. So the M278 can use higher gears at the same speed...
This is one of the two main differences to the 7g-TronicPlus that comes with the 4.7 TT! The PLUS can also do the following patterns:
7->5
6->2
5->3
4->1
The other main difference from a drivers perspective: The PLUS has an additional torsion damper in the torque converter, which allows lower RPM without resonances or vibrations. So the M278 can use higher gears at the same speed...
Well,
I don't know exact details of what happens inside the gear box but I know that the transmission shifts to the optimum gear just as fast as it shifts between just two gears when I use the paddles. Because the baddle use is very slow for gear shifts I don't use it other than when on rare occasion I'm behind someone on a 2-lane road and want to pass fast. Holding the left paddle puts the car on the correct gear fast and the car really takes off fast too. And it does not matter how many gears it changes. It always happens equally quick.
