shifting gears?

[Bagheera]

Just wondering if any of you actually shift gears or just start out in "drive". Is it better to start in say, 2nd or 3rd and shift up or does it matter? I do alot of highway driving (70 mph) anyways so it's generally always in "D".

This is my first automatic transmission.....

[Daver]

I never start out in D. I hate the gears the computer selects for me most of the time. The computer is too hyper when I want to relax, and too relaxed when I want to move. Using the shifter you don't have to argue with the computer every time. It's not a marriage, it's a car.

It's not any worse than a manual choosing the gear yourself.

-Daver

[AnalogVX]

It all depends on how I'm feeling. I tool around shifting through 1st 2nd and 3rd to keep RPMs in the powerband. Other times I just tool.
Power button is always on though when in "D".

[Bagheera]

Hey Daver,

So you start in low 2nd or 3rd? If you have it in either of those gears then the transmission actually waits for you to shift?

This is too weird having no clutch Am still learing new things after getting mine 10 days ago.....I LOVE it!

[Daver]

When I first got the VX three years ago I started in 2nd most of the time. First (Low) seemed pretty obnoxious.

Since then I've just gotten used to first and start there.

As for the transmission "wanting" to shift, I was only saying that I leave the tranny in first gear a lot longer than it will if I start in 'D'. I generally treat it like a 4-speed.

I hate automatics. Not because I like being attached to my car, pulling levers and mashing pedals, but mostly because of the automatic computers making bad gear choices for the way I like to drive.

In my car I have BMW's SMG transmission...the best of both worlds, IMHO. Neutral at a stop (it has a clutch, just not a clutch pedal...not like a tiptronic slushbox), and a very smart computer. In automatic or sequential mode it's a lot smarter about gear selection than any automatic or tiptronic I've ever driven.

-Daver

[SPAZZ]

Hmmmmm....back to Elementary boys!!!;Dp; ;Dp; ;Dp;