Semi automatic/performance question(euro)

[Faiz]

Hello all, i have an automatic accord euro. Most of you probably know. I know how to do drive the car on automatic. I was wondering how do i drive with the triptronic semi auto where you change your gears yourself. I fiddle around wth it every time i go on a drive but i cant seem to get the hang of when to change the gears. As soon as i change a gear down, the car engine pulls the car back. I have no idea how to work it with the semi auto. Can someone please explain me how to work it. Ad my last question would be, ive heard from you guys the engine in the accord euro gets faster the more you drive. I havent noticed in change except the engine feels looser when i first got it. What kind of change are we talking about here in terms of 0-100 acceleration from stop?

thanks in advance

Genesis

[Faiz]

any help guys, atleast tell me how to use the semi auto.

[Psyklops]

when you say the engine pulls the car back, is this happening off throttle? If so, that will happen in a manual too...balance the acc/deceleration with the loud pedal when in a lower gear when pulling more revs..at the correct/appropriate position, the throttle will maintain the speed at which you want the car to go...then push the bugger down to drive out of a corner...is this what you are refering to?

[Faiz]

yes, sort of. I dont know when to change gears up. all i know is when needle is all the red area near the 8 rpm? And i dont know how to change gears when turning corners and slowing down. There is obvioly no clutch here so all i need to know when to shift up and down. When i change the hear 3 to 2 when i am eg on 80km/hour and want to slow down to 40. When i change the gear to 2 the car will pull back on me automaticly without pushing the brakes. And when i am stopping at a light or something. I dont know when to shift gears down.

[viperx]

Sorry to say, but in most cases of semi-automatic it actually is faster to leave it in 'drive' than to fiddle with it. This is because a well designed gear change program will change at the right times anyway. This holds true in most cars up to ZF boxes in mercedes and jaguars.

[Faiz]

didnt quite understand you viper mate. I thought the semi auto shifter would be faster. 5 speed manual mazda does0-100 in 8 seconds. The euros 5 speed semi automatic should be around the same mark if gears were changed manually on it.Still dont know how to use it though.

[Chris_F]

gears still take longer to change in semi-automatic mode than they do in a "real" manual transmission so it would probably make a marginal difference. don't forget the car is significantly heavier than the mazda and the autobox is less efficient in transferring power to the wheels (even if the euro is more powerful). I agree with viper on the most part that it's better to leave it in drive but i have noticed that autos take way too long sometimes to downshift... maybe downshift using semi-auto mode then once you've got the engine turning over a bit harder flick it back over to auto-mode. good excuse to do a few 0-100 tests while your experimenting with the semi-auto mode me thinks

[viperx]

Mate the semi-automatic is slower because its mechanism is still an auto... read up about the mechanical differences between auto and manual- automatic transmissions are slower by nature. Autos aren't called 'slushboxes' for nothing. Even if you shifted at exactly the same rpms between with an auto and a real manual box you will always go faster in the manual.

Like I said, most gearchange programs are already optimised. You cannot make the car go faster from 0-100km/h by manual changing; if anything you will make the car go slower. The only exception is if you are going for rolling acceleration (eg. 80-120km/h); here it may make a difference.

Additionally most automatic boxes are heavier than the manual equivalent. More weight = less acceleration

[EuroSip]

pulling it down lowers the gear and pushing it forward takes it up a gear

if you have a long way to stop you could slowly lower your gear and the car will slowly decelerate. that way it'll save your brakes and you'll get to know the feel of the car.

Furthermore, if you start from first gear, you could push the car up to higher revs until you change to a higher gear

You should normally be able to lower from 2nd to 1st when the cars at around 55km/hr...

[coladuna]

I don't really get what Faiz is trying to ask here? What's there to know about shifting semi-automatic transmission? You just shift up and down depending on what you want to do. I assume that you are talking about engine braking when you say that the car pulls back even without stepping on the brake.

[viperx]

No think he's just under the impression that a 'semi-automatic' is the same thing as a 'clutchless manual (ie. BMW SMG)'; common mistake.

[baboo]

Faiz,

To drive fast in a straight line is to leave it in "D" and let the auto do the work. Like Viperx said the gear change program is optimized so doing it manually would not be quicker.

Tiptronic is good for up and down the mountain roads where there's alot of corners and
engine brake for going downhills.

When you cornering fast, you'll need to stay in the same gear (eg. 2nd gear) from entering to exiting the corner without upsetting the balance of the car. Sudden kickdown during cornering could be dangerous.
It's always good to use a bit of engine brake downhill to help slow down the car.