anonymous

I'm not too familiar with this and would like to use it, but I'm afraid I may damage the engine. It sounds fun! Can someone explain to me how it works? Like when should I upshift/downshift? If I remember correctly, the last time I put it into S, the gear started at 5th gear? Don't exactly remember, but any help would be great.

JRB

I've had the "Tiptronic" transmission on my two Audi's, and we just got a Infiniti FX45 with the sequential shifter too - this is a great feature. I test drove the RX330 with the Performance Package (and then ordered one which we are waiting for), and the transmission works the same as in the other two cars. Basically, you just slide it over into manual mode whenever you're in the mood, either before you take off or when you're driving. It will automatically be in the same gear as it was when it was in automatic mode (so if you do this from a dead stop, it will be in 1st gear). At a constant highway speed it would most likely be in 5th gear, etc. Then it works just like a manual transmission, without the clutch pedal. This allows you to control the RPM's, and in particular hold lower gears at higher RPM's for more responsiveness. This is especially useful in passing situations or if you are on a winding road and you want to accelerate out of the turns. I've also used it when towing my boat as it's actually easier on the transmission to not have it go into overdrive too soon - I wait until I've reached highway speed and have a flat road before shifting into 5th.

You can also downshift the sequential transmission, but normally this isn't advised as a way to slow you down (use the brake pedal for that) but rather when you want to select a lower gear for faster acceleration (i.e. when you are done braking and just when you want to go faster). Of course, in auto mode you can do the same thing by stepping on the gas pedal with some authority, but it's often more fun (and more precise) to control the gear and RPM's manually. You can experiment as to when to upshift/downshift without fear of hurting anything - but obviously you don't want to downshift all the way into first or second gear when you are still moving at a high rate of speed. Generally if you keep the rev's up in the 2000-2500 range the engine will respond better than if it's below 2000, so this is a good place to select the next highest gear for more leisurely driving. If you feel like driving more aggressively you can wait until 3000-4500 before upshifting, but of course this will be at some loss of fuel economy (and increased engine wear if you make a habit out of it!). For all-out acceleration, you can wait until the redline, which is what would (should) happen if you floored it and held it there if you were driving in pure auto mode (obviously you definitely don't want to make this a habit!).

At any rate I've always found it to be a nice option to have when you are in more of a sporting mood. In heavy traffic I've always reverted back to auto mode which, as opposed to a manual transmission, is nice to have available too.

anonymous

If you suddenly need to come to a stop, can you just slam on the brakes or would you need to downshift at the same time? Even in regular driving, is it possible to just step on the brakes to come to a stop or do you manually have to downshift?

JRB

In a sudden stop situation you should just slam on the brakes and forget about downshifting. When you come to a stop the car will automatically be in first gear (unlike in a manual transmission car, where in order to get going again you would have to put it into first gear).

In regular braking situations you can always use the brake without having to touch the gearshift lever. But after slowing down you may find yourself in too high of a gear for the speed you are now going. You can monitor this easily by looking at the tachometer. If it's turning fewer RPM's than you want it too, you would then downshift into the next lowest gear. If the RPM's are still to low for the acceleration you are looking for at that particular moment, you would downshift again. After a while, looking at the tachometer and selecting the gear you want becomes instinctive, just like in a manual transmission car but with no clutch. Just keep an eye on the RPM's and the gear indicator light on the dash, which tells you which gear the car is in at that particular moment, and gradually get a feel for each gear's comfort range for various speeds.

anonymous

Great. Thanks for the help!

anonymous

One more question. So can I upshift back to 5 or another higher gear anytime I want, but just can't downshift if I'm going to fast?

lexuslover

if you downshift at too high of a speed for that gear, your rpm's will jump very high and your engine will be revving very loudly and probably close to redlining if you are going way too fast for that gear. so you'll know when that's happening.

it'll take a few drives for you to get comfortable with the speed levels that you like at which gears. after that, you'll be fine. it's pretty safe to experiment, the sequential trans is not really a manual stick shift, so it is unlikely that you'll stall or anything like that.

there was some discussion on e-shift in the GS forum, and the sequential shift on the RX330 works the same way. basically, in "5", the gears the car will do are 1-2-3-4-5. so if you are at a stop in "5", it's not like the car actually is going to start in 5th gear. you'll still feel it shifting 1-2-3-4-5. when you're in "4", the transmission covers gears 1 thru 4, same deal. the idea of the sequential shift is that it allows you to hold 4th gear for longer than it normally would, allowing you more time and flexibility in passing, towing, etc. (just as JRB described) and so on . . .

give it a shot - it's fun to play around with. i used to have e-shift on my '98 GS400, and it was fun to smoke people off the line.

anonymous

Does anyone know whether using the sequential cuts into the fuel consumption? If so, by how much?

JRB

It would depend upon how you use it. Whenever you purposely keep the RPM's higher than necessary (higher than the auto mode would otherwise) the greater the fuel penalty. You could also potentially shift too early, such as quickly getting into 5th while still going slow up a hill, and have to step further on the gas pedal (while lugging the engine) than if you were say in third or fourth gear and the engine was operating more efficiently. But most of the time a person would use the manual mode to extract more performance, which means delayed shifting and higher RPM's. Although this can be more fun it would also typically use more gas. That said, a heavy-footed driver using the auto mode would use more gas than a more conservative driver who was judiciously shifting in manual mode. But chances are you will use at least slightly more fuel shifting on your own vs what the electronic transmission would achieve, especially in city driving which requires lots of shifting. I don't know how much more on average but you could experiment, trying it both ways on successive tankfuls, assuming the routes and average traffic levels would be similar. If you do try it be sure to report back with the results!