Posted on 05/26/2025 6:45:29 AM PDT by dennisw
My problem with automatics is most accute with my gutless Scion iA. With cruise control on, it’s wanting to drop into 4th or even 3rd while going up hills at high speed. I have to manually keep it in fifth or fourth, depending on the hill. It’s a six speed, btw.
In my old Chrysler 300m it annoyed me when I floored it to pass. With a stick I time it and it accelerates away exactly when I want it to. All automatics I’ve ever had have had a bit of lag. Or they downshift when I don’t want them to. I have neither problem with a manual.
Yeah, I know that issue. I got to where, rather than have to stomp on the gas and wonder when it was going to diwnshift, I’d shift it manually to force the issue.
My double clutch unit jumps to higher gears prematurely unless I put it on Sport mode. Then it’s actually really good with the shift points under load.
The first time I experienced this “feature” was in a rental car in Florida. I honestly thought there was something wrong with the car. Why was it stalling out at every stop? I pulled out the owner’s manual and then was able to figure out what was going on. Very annoying. I bought a certified used 2019 CR-V last year because it was the last year that Hondas did not have this.
Our Scion iA has a feature I found out by accident. And nobody at the dealership knew about it. There is a button under that gas pedal that feels a bit like those old floor dimmer switches. When you floor it, whatever higher gear your in, it drops to third gear.
Yeah, that’s the ages old “kick-down” switch.
And prior to that there had been a “kick-down cable” that ran from the carb or throttle housing directly into the auto transmission. It would indicate to the tranny that you had just “floored” it, and for it to then kick-down to the next lowest gear. Either way (switch under gas pedal, or cable into trans) the driver would definitely feel when they pushed the pedal beyond that point. Ironically, as we now, for the most part, have “gas pedals” that are actually only fancy fly-by-wire potentiometers (switches), manufacturers have left in the “feel” of passing the kick-down point in its travel. Many of us have been fooled by that artificial resistance to think we are feeling the old time experience of putting the trans into “kick-down”. That is, where as kick-down had one time been induced mechanically, it is now programmed in.
I was always under the impression that stopping and starting an engine for a short time uses more gasoline than letting it run for the same short period of time.🤔
Fair enough.
Having read a couple of horror stories on this thread getting to your reply, here’s another thought. Suppose a renter gets into an accident because of the car’s unpredictable behavior. Some ambulance chasing lawyer is going to convince the family to sue. Knowing American juries, the plaintiffs will prevail. Rental prices will go up, shutoff cars won’t be used, prices will stay up.
Around about 2005, BMW’s answer to this “problem by committee”, was to secretly drop the auto transmission into neutral whenever the vehicle came to a stop. The very discerning customer would notice the very subtle “bump” shortly after bringing the vehicle to a full stop. That was all they might notice. The vehicle did not shut off and restart at every stop! And once back on the pedal that trans was back in 1st before you knew it wasn’t! So no detection except for a very discerning few (actually only one guy that I recall).To compound the issue, BMW did not inform Sales or Service of this new “feature”; so for a while there was misinformation and confusion over the matter.
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