"adeft" (adeft)
09/05/2013 at 11:12 • Filed to: None
0
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"adeft" (adeft)
09/05/2013 at 11:12 • Filed to: None | 0
| 6 |
Doug's CTS-V wagon article had me thinking how safe it is to let the car do the shifting for you when you have a bunch of power under your right foot.
I've never driven an automatic shifted car with more than 250whp, but I have owned plenty of slushboxes, but they've been relatively low on hp. You step on the pedal hard and it drops 1 or 2 gears and goes—not really too dramatic or anything, might get a chirp if you're lucky. That said, all the autos I've had have been in less than exemplary cars
One of my cars is a new mustang optioned with a manual 6 speed that makes about 360 or so at the wheels. Not amazing, but not bad. I have been able to get it pretty squirrely if I drop it in too low of a gear and punch it—traction control be damned. Over time I've learned which gear is appropriate for which speed I intend to go (for the most part). I don't need to trust the car to guess what I'll be doing.
This is especially crucial around a corner...If the car chooses the gear for you, is it smart enough to know what is too low of a gear for your throttle position to avoid undesired wheel spin? Say you have no flappy paddles, just the car reading that you've tromped the peddle.
My only experience around a track in anything like this was a v10 R8, and you can bet I was shifting myself.
dogisbadob
> adeft
09/05/2013 at 11:18 |
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Wow that's awesome that you got to drive an R8!
Casper
> adeft
09/05/2013 at 11:19 |
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This is why it's very unlikely that you can fully kill both the TCS and ASV system on a high power automatic car. If all the features were disabled and the transmission did an aggressive shift on corner exit, there would be a lot of elderly Cadillac owners in bushes. There are a lot of cars that are unweildly even with TCS/ASV in place (the new GT500 comes to mind).
The trick is that most people who buy automatics don't know what a car feels like without it or are not in touch with the car enough to notice. This makes the engineers job easier because they also don't notice when systems are doing work for them. If they ease off the rear control for the TCS a bit, but let the ASV keep the front in check and limit slip angle, they think they are doing some serious show boating while the engineers know the car is still very much within the computers control.
Brewman15
> adeft
09/05/2013 at 11:43 |
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If you know how to drive, then no.
My fear with automatics is the same with most of the new gadgets on cars today. They disconnect the driver from driving. So, you lose that sense of what the car is doing, which is about the time you floor it mid-corner and the auto kicks down 2 gears to put you into a comfy ditch.
However, if you know how to drive then you can somewhat anticipate what the auto will do and how far to depress the gas to get 1 or 2 gear kickdowns.
Victorious Secret
> adeft
09/05/2013 at 11:55 |
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I've been in a lot of high powered machinery.
The latest comes to mind is a F12 with a DCT that has an auto mode.
You can drive in any combination you want. Auto mode with assists off, manual mode with assists on, or somewhere in between.
In the F12, putting it on CST is stupid outside of a track. It's stupid outside of professional driver who knows what he is doing. Even 430s with the gated manual had the same system, it was still stupid to turn it off outsidea track.
Cars that pass 300hp have crossed into the too much power to get into trouble with category, the assists are irrelevant.
CobraJoe
> adeft
09/05/2013 at 12:03 |
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I would say it's about the same level of dangerous.
Just be careful with the throttle control, just like you would in a manual.
dmtactical
> Brewman15
09/05/2013 at 23:32 |
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I do this in my Crown Vic. As I slow to approach a corner, I punch the gas to force kickdown early.