Sportshift AT Driving Tips Thread

I wonder if there is some kind of shift kit for the auto that could give the shifter more response????

If not, somebody should come out with one
 
TomAss_Z said:
I wonder if there is some kind of shift kit for the auto that could give the shifter more response????

If not, somebody should come out with one

This would be a great product, I am hoping that there is one, but I don't think there is. Is there????
 
Not to my knowledge. I think that a good production company should look into this. Sometimes it's hard to get these things rolling because our cars are not taken seriously all of the time
 
Guys there is some mis information in here.

First..it's ok to bring the car upto redline when racing. But don't do it all the time.

2nd..car does launch faster in manu mode...I drive my girls protege es all the time..and have beaten civics..with loud exhuasts(of course they were non v-tec).

3rd. Drag race a protege5 is not moronic. I drag my p5's and there have been couple p5's that were kickin some ass. I myself am pushing over 200hp! And lookin to be in the low 14's..maybe 13's with some more exhaust work.

Chas
 
AT and autox

Hii,
I run a sport AT with my MP5 in autocross, no mods, save wider street tires, yoko av es100's, and I have done autox with full auto and the shift auto, full auto is more responsive in this car, no idea why, given the torque converter and the fact that I immediately shift into second anyways and keep it there when in sport AT mode, it feels much more responsive in full auto and picks up quicker after a tight turn. I'm still learning autox, but I'm quite competitive so far, (generally in the top 40th percentile for PAX) except for those damn mini's (curses) I probably loose a little under a second to a fully manual car of the same class, but the MP5 handles so amazingly well for a stock car that I really have no excuses. People who ride along with me say nothing about the AT but are disbelieving about the handling, if this thing came with a slightly more powerful engine, it would be perfect, AT or manual. I suppose the new Mazada 3 takes care of this, although I haven't seen any running autocross yet.
 
by the way, downshifting into first???

why would anyone try to do this, even if they could, if your a mechanic and/or like fixing tranny's no problem, or you have a great race team and are sponsored, but for mere mortals, its pretty silly, one miata guy at an autocross with a tight turn, completley fried his tranny so he could maybe get a few tenths on course.
 
Probably another dumb question, but is it safe to shift in neutral when you are moving? I know it is dumb to do it the other way around (i.e.e peeling out neutral into drive) but is this safe for the tranny or is it not? I was thinking that dropping into neutral coming up to a stop light might save on gas a bit.
 
i shift it into neutral whenever i head down the huge hill on my street...the car just simply rolls down the hill...
 
i really don't think that the benefits of shifting into neutral approaching or even sitting at a light or anywhere else in traffic save that much gas to notice.

I don't see how it could possibly hurt the tranny but neutral dropping it to burn out **** s*** up hella bad!!!
 
neutral drops in auto = death

as far as coating to a light in neutral, i dont think it would make much of a difference on gas consumption.
 
Okay, here is another good question/idea.

This one concerns getting good gas mileage. Do you get better mileage with normal auto or with driving the sportshift?

When driving the sportshift, do you try to shift into the highest gear as fast as you can to save on gas? Or do you keep it in 3rd until you reach the speed limit (or cruising speed) and then shift into 4th gear? I notice that the AT tends to shift into 4th only when you stop accelerating. I sometimes try to get better mileage by going from 40 to 50 mph in a 50 mph zone in 4th gear, not third.

I guess another way of phrasing this question is this. Would you get better mileage by having short, high revs, or long medium revs?

I don't kow if that makes sense so I'll try saying it this way: Is the amount of gas going into the engine dictated by the RPMs or by how far you are stepping down on the gas? Therefore, my REAL question is this: are you injecting the same amount of fuel into the cylinders in a given time interval in any given gear? Essentially, flooring it in 4th while you are going 40 mph may not accelerate you that fast. So is this fuel simply wasted? Would it be better to shift into 3rd and floor it (theoretically, I don't drive like this all the time) to accelrate quicker for less time (and less fuel used?) so as to attain better gas mileage?

I don't know if that makes sense or not. I am just wondering if gas mileage is determined by where you shift or how far you are stepping down on the pedal. Another good example. I was in sportshift the other day on the highway using cruise control. The unit floored the accelerator to get up a steep hill, but the car could not accelerate because it was "stuck" in 4th (it would have downshifted into 3rd had it not been in sportshift). So do I get better mileage with the pedal depressed to the floor in 3rd going up the hill, or with the pedal depressed to the floor in 4th going up the hill? Or with the pedal at half throttle in 3rd at higher RPMs than the 4th gear scenario?

I really hope this makes sense, it is always something that I have wondered about.
 
Here's my suggestion. Don't know if it's bad to do but I found it to give good launching results when using the sportshift. At complete stop with foot on the brake and in sportshift mode, shift down to 2nd. When you are ready to launch, hit the gas hard and at about the same time downshift into 1st. The object is to shift into first at about 1500-2000rpm. This should give you a good launch. Try it out.
 
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interesting, never thought about that. So what you are saying is start in 2nd, give it some gas and downshift to 1st? Is this any faster seeing as how it would be slower to start in second until you drop into first.

Protege_Speed said:
Here's my suggestion. Don't know if it's bad to do but I found it to give good launching results when using the sportshift. At complete stop with foot on the brake and in sportshift mode, shift down to 2nd. When you are ready to launch, hit the gas hard and at about the same time downshift into 1st. The object is to shift into first at about 1500-2000rpm. This should give you a good launch. Try it out.
 
yay!! wrecked trannies for everyone. i bet it does launch fairly well, but the question is, is it good to do that?
 
You are actually downshifting almost at the same time you hit the gas. You are doing it about a fraction of a second apart. When you hit the gas, you are not trying to slowly accelerate. You are mashing the pedal and you are pretty much timing the downshift when your rpms are up around 1500rpm. There is a point in the rpms when you cannot downshift into 1st anymore that's why I say 1500 but that might even be too high. I have to do it again to test it.
ProtegeES03 said:
interesting, never thought about that. So what you are saying is start in 2nd, give it some gas and downshift to 1st? Is this any faster seeing as how it would be slower to start in second until you drop into first.
 
I ask that same question but there have been times where I am getting onto the highway and if hit the gas hard enough, it will downshift into first. That feels harsher than what I described above but you never know. Doing from a complete stop might be different than a rolling start.
protejay5 said:
yay!! wrecked trannies for everyone. i bet it does launch fairly well, but the question is, is it good to do that?
 
I wish they made upgrades for Tiptronic. I dont know exactly what it would do, maybe help out our shifts, quicker, and smoother. Sometimes when I pull back to shift the tiptronic doesnt engage and I continue to redline. Too much of that led to blowing my motor a 20k miles.
 
YelloMP5 said:
I wish they made upgrades for Tiptronic. I dont know exactly what it would do, maybe help out our shifts, quicker, and smoother. Sometimes when I pull back to shift the tiptronic doesnt engage and I continue to redline. Too much of that led to blowing my motor a 20k miles.
you blew your engine? did the dealership cover it under warranty or did they try to say you were racing it? did they also replace the tranny?
 
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