So the trick is to learn when it wants to shift and be ready to lift up my gas foot as it shifts, then depress it again when I feel it has completed its shift; which is only a second or two?
So the trick is to learn when it wants to shift and be ready to lift up my gas foot as it shifts, then depress it again when I feel it has completed its shift; which is only a second or two?
It is something you learn very quickly, and the car learns your driving habits, I drive my smart in D most of the time and while the shifting is not perfect it is darn good.
So the trick is to learn when it wants to shift and be ready to lift up my gas foot as it shifts, then depress it again when I feel it has completed its shift; which is only a second or two?
Not necessarily. You can also accept the car as it is instead of trying to change it, step on the gas liberally, ignore or live with the 'bog' and enjoy the computer doing the shifting work instead of you trying to figure it out!
It is something you learn very quickly, and the car learns your driving habits, I drive my smart in D most of the time and while the shifting is not perfect it is darn good.
Agreed, except I use the paddles to shift; the "D" drive just shifts way too soon for me. Maybe that's why I'm only getting like 41 mpg.
Not necessarily. You can also accept the car as it is instead of trying to change it, step on the gas liberally, ignore or live with the 'bog' and enjoy the computer doing the shifting work instead of you trying to figure it out!
After 1100 miles that's about how I drive... if I'm too tired to manually shift, I just go easy with the pedal after gear 1 and the computer shifts smoothly. If I have to move fast, I punch it and the computer handles it for me. If I try to time it and ease up on the pedal, the computer waits another 0.5-1.0 seconds while it re-matches RPMs to gear speed. The computer is the fastest at shifting. Certain RPM ranges will shift faster than others because the computer is trying to stay near 2,000 RPMs. If it has to come down from 6,000 RPMs to do it, you'll wait an extra second. That's why a shift point between 3,000 - 3,500 RPMs appears so smooth for me. I don't time the shift... if anything I try to accelerate so the RPMs are in that range. It'll shift when it's ready.
for your very cryptic replies. However, On page 13 or so under "Do you like that tranny", I found that this is apparently normal. And one has to work the gas pedal as one would do if shifting through a manual transmission.
No you don't. Just push the gas for how fast you want to go the "smart"transaxle will take care of the rest.
karl
Not necessarily. You can also accept the car as it is instead of trying to change it, step on the gas liberally, ignore or live with the 'bog' and enjoy the computer doing the shifting work instead of you trying to figure it out!
I simply pressed the gas pedal as I would in my other automatics. A steady downward pressure one would normally do in a normal acceleration from a stop. However, the Smart would lag between shifts and I felt being thrust forward between the shifts. In my other automatics there is no lag or slowing.
Hmmmmmm.....so it appears that it bogs down between shifts and it is just the nature of the beast when it does that. But, reading your responses makes me feel that some are bogging down more that others. Perhaps some of you just accept it more than others??
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