Do you think the Transmission "learns" from you?

[jediknight36]

There has been some debate as to the intelegence of the transmission. Let us know what you think.

[rawlus®]

i voted yes, because in our experience, the transmission seemed to smooth and get better over time and yet, a drive in a demo well after taking ownership of our own, still produced that dumb transmission experience.

granted, i think the driver also learns to better control the vehicle and adapts to the tranny, but i still think there's *something* going on with the tranny over time - i don't know if it's "learning" in the artificial intelligence sense however.

[Dave Van]

Car and driver BOTH learn....the trans is not bad...just different!

[dbarrans]

Originally Posted by jediknight36

There has been some debate as to the intelegence of the transmission. Let us know what you think.

What's the point of taking a poll of customers' guesses when the question could be answered easily by asking a tech who knows the answer? That's just silly.

- dan

[MB DNA]

Originally Posted by Dave Van

Car and driver BOTH learn....the trans is not bad...just different!

I would agree with your opinion and thus voted NO!

Yes, the rudementary transmission does seem to shift more smoothly after the first few miles perhaps through some break-in or owner imagination?

No, the computer does not learn your driving habits nor is there any artificial intelligence being employed. Disconnecting the battery will only cause the loss of your radio pre-sets.

Yes, there is a marriage between car and driver that comes with the driver anticipating the transmission action as it shifts and that is where we sense the smoothing.

Nothing technical to support my opinion just seat of the pants experience.

Have a smart day!

[burtandnancy]

I thot I read somewhere that it is adaptive. Mine seemed to learn from me (but forgot once in a while too)

[John_H]

As an engineer versed in control systems, I could see how the learning process helps tune an adaptive control system for switching the gears to reduce the time of gear change. I don't see how my "driving style" would be apropos to the learning process.

That said, I may have changed the annoyingly low transmission shift points from 1st to 2nd by going back to manual for a little while. It seemed to help. But that learning is short term if at all.

[MB DNA]

John H,

So have we (collectively) bought into the myth (and voted yes) that smart does have a learning process that tunes an adaptive control system? As a non-engineer I too can conceive a learning tool that would then modify the tranny behavior but . . .

Do you know for a fact that there is indeed a learning computer on board our smart that then modifies the shift points to match our individual driving styles?

IMHO if such a system did exist, smart would advertise it as a high tech feature that is standard equipment on their affordable world car. For lack of technical proof from smart world that such a system is on board my vote remains NO.

[JPaul]

A while back, I've asked "does the car's transmission learns" to the smart Media & PR Representative for Daimler France, and his answer still resonates in my mind. He was shocked, then laughed, and said a big "NO".
Since he's given me some very serious insights (including the new colors for 09 way back in the Spring) I have no reason to doubt his words.

[Bum-bling-B]

I think the driver just get used to it.

Those that are married can understand ----- haven't you gotten used to your spouse's very few little annoying character flaws? (I know the textbook answer if he/she is standing over your shoulder right now reading this would be WHAT FLAWS?!)