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I was just curious about who uses the Autostick and how often it's used.
Me, I use it about 90% of the time!
Me, I use it about 90% of the time!
Poll - Do you....Autostick?
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I am an autostick junkie, gotta use it constantly....then again I used to shift my SHO too and that was just a plain old automatic, no autostick
my one complaint is that the autostick will still shift up at 6200RPM instead of just hitting the rev limiter and forcing you to shift
my one complaint is that the autostick will still shift up at 6200RPM instead of just hitting the rev limiter and forcing you to shift
I always use autostick, but my wife uses it without the autostick . BTW, my friends father in law gets to have a big choice in the direction of choosing company cars. It was down to the Toyota Avalon and the Nissan Altima, He asked if he could drive my R/T so I gave him the keys. He came back 10 min. later and called the boss. He came over and they went out "hot roddin'" for about 1/2 hour. They came back and decided to buy Intrepid R/T's as company cars (I think they are only buying 10) The Autostick is what sold them on the car, and the fact that hal of the guy's who will be driving these used to drive hemis growing up. Just some more work for Otto!
. BTW, my friends father in law gets to have a big choice in the direction of choosing company cars. It was down to the Toyota Avalon and the Nissan Altima, He asked if he could drive my R/T so I gave him the keys. He came back 10 min. later and called the boss. He came over and they went out "hot roddin'" for about 1/2 hour. They came back and decided to buy Intrepid R/T's as company cars (I think they are only buying 10) The Autostick is what sold them on the car, and the fact that hal of the guy's who will be driving these used to drive hemis growing up. Just some more work for Otto!
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Bigdaddy..... that is a sweet story! Glad to hear they are going with the R/T!
Texas R/T..... you don't have to know how to drive a stick to use the Autostick as there is no clutch involved. The Autostick is really simple to use. Basically shift when ever you want to shift. There is no worry about redlining it since the computer won't let you. I highly suggest playing around with it. You'll get used to it and find out where the best shift points are for you. :biggrin:
Dougman..... I hear you! There's nothing like droping into first at about 35mph and hearing that engine rev up! It's also nice to put her in second or third from a stop in the snow to prevent spinning.
Glad to hear they are going with the R/T!Texas R/T..... you don't have to know how to drive a stick to use the Autostick as there is no clutch involved. The Autostick is really simple to use. Basically shift when ever you want to shift. There is no worry about redlining it since the computer won't let you. I highly suggest playing around with it. You'll get used to it and find out where the best shift points are for you. :biggrin:
Dougman..... I hear you! There's nothing like droping into first at about 35mph and hearing that engine rev up! It's also nice to put her in second or third from a stop in the snow to prevent spinning.
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LHSer said:
I have no illusions that the Autostick is compariable to a manual. There just isn't no comparisons. But I have noticed that sometimes when I'm driving without the Autostick, it won't kick down into first if I want it, or some times when I just want to kick down into second, the computer thinks I wanted to kick down into first. I really like using the Autostick! :biggrin:
That better have been the 4cyl Altima, cause the v6 will dust any car on this board (5spd). The auto is at least as fast as R/T's, if not faster.bigdaddy said:I always use autostick, but my wife uses it without the autostick
I hate to correct you LHSer, but very few "regular" automatics allow you to choose the gear for you to start off in. For example, with the LHS, if you select the 2 on your shifter, your car will not start rolling in 2nd. It will start in first, then shift to second.
However, with the AutoStick, if you select 2nd gear while stopped, you start rolling in 2nd. We can get our cars rolling in as low as 3rd.
Very handy in these Cdn winters.
If this statement regarding "regular" automatics is incorrect, please let me know.
That is incorrect. In any automatic transmission if you start in a higher gear (2 or 3 instead of D) the car will start in those gears, otherwise what would be the point of having the choice to select them. I start out in a higher gear all the time on ice and snow. Works wonders.Smithery said:
Regular automatics are not any slower shifting at all. Don't believe me? Take an LH car with a regular automatic, leave it in L or 3 and drive. It will do the exact same thing you meantion, shift at or close to redline. I know this from experience.
Ok. How about a quick driving lesson. This is what I don't understand: When do you shift to the 1 or the 2 or the 3? I remember the salesman telling me autostick would be useful to pass a Mustang, but what number do you go into? And for going slower or down a hill, what number do you use? Does downshift mean number 1? What does redlining mean? This is not in the owners manual.
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When do you shift?Texas R/T said:
Ok. How about a quick driving lesson. This is what I don't understand: When do you shift to the 1 or the 2 or the 3? I remember the salesman telling me autostick would be useful to pass a Mustang, but what number do you go into? And for going slower or down a hill, what number do you use? Does downshift mean number 1? What does redlining mean? This is not in the owners manual.
That depends on what you are doing with your car. Let me tell you what I do and hopefully this makes some sense. If I'm stuck in traffic, I'll usually shift at around 2000rpms (in heavy bumper to bumper traffic a lot of the times I'll try to stay in second). During "normal" exceleration, I usually shift around 2500-3000rpms. Now, if I'm flooring (either because I'm racing or just having fun), I'll usually shift around 6000rpms.
Try this (not in a high traffic situation). With your car in full automatic, excelerate normally and see at what rmps your car shifts at. If you are comfortable with that, than there is your shift point. If you feel that your car shifts too soon, than with Autostick shift at a higher rmp. There really is a lot of "playing around" with the Autostick. I experimented with different shift points and found the ones that I like best.
Downshifting:
It means just that. That is when you shift into a lower gear (such as from 4 to 3, from 3 to 2, and from 2 to 1).
Slowing down and hills:
That really is an open ended question. If you want to slow down while going down the hill, use the brakes (in other words, don't use your tranny to brake). If the engine falls to a certain low rpm (like 1000rpm or so), than you can downshift. But, the computer will downshift for you if your engine is at a low rpm (not sure when). For example: if your cruising in fourth gear and you come to a red light, the computer will automatically downshift to first when you stop. Experiment and you will see what I'm talking about.
Redlining:
This engine has a redline of 6500rpms. The redline is the point where the engine can't safely operate at the given rpms. In other words, this engine can safely operate at 6500rpms and below (granted there is a safety margin so at 6600rpms you won't fry the engine). The computer will shift automatically before it hits the redline to protect the engine.
What gear to go into when passing a Mustang?
That depends on how fast you are going? If you are going less than 40mph, than shift into first. If you are going between 40-80mph, than shift into second. Because at around 40mph, you'd hit redline. Thus, if you are going faster than 40mph, the computer won't let you shift into first because you'd be above redline. I believe redline in second gear is around 80mph.
Hopefully, I have helped. But why do I have the feeling that I just created more confusion and more questions?
:crazy:LHSer said:
on all 3 of the vehicles i've ever driven with a shifting arrangement such as this (01 camry, 81 chevy truck, 97 dodge truck) if you select a gear such as 2, the vehicle starts in 1st and won't shift higher than 2nd.
just adding fuel to the debate
I don't know about the Dodge cars but on both my SHO and the Explorer if you start in 2nd it is 2nd gear
these are the only two automatics I have owned that have done this though, even the Trans Ams and Z28's I owned would always go 1st and then 2nd gear...
these are the only two automatics I have owned that have done this though, even the Trans Ams and Z28's I owned would always go 1st and then 2nd gear...
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