Throttle and down shift response

[AWD Chaser]

I had a rather dangerous scenario this morn.

Canberra: Roads are damp this morning - looks like they are dry, but a little slippery.

Going around a very sharp corner at about 20k's an hour when the car starts to drift, so I give it some boot.... and for about 1-2 secs... NOTHING. This was bad as the opposite lane was banked up and had come to a crawl.
Finally, it decided to kick back to 1st gear and give me some grip, and I was away... but any later and I would have taken out 2 cars and a motorbike.
PLEASE NOTE: The drift was completly un-intentional.

So my question is, how can I improve the throttle response or whatever so it will kick back quicker? Will turning off "econ" do this, or only just about an extra .2 of a second quicker?

I would like it to be able to start to change gears straight away when I put the boot in....

[JC]

Firstly, if you are drifting, and the back end is kicking out, applying the accelerator is not the way to get out of it. By hitting the throttle, you are only increasing the power oversteer effect, and are more likely to turn the drift into a spin. You would be better gently applying the brakes and steering out of the drift/slide. You were just plain lucky that when it did kick down it didn't make the situation worse. The lesson here is to drive to the conditions, and recognise that the first rain always makes the roads slippery as it brings all the oil etc to the surface.

If you really want instant kickdown - move the gear selector manually.

Two other options, one good but not cheap, one not so good but cheap:
1. Get the S5 solenoid adjusted for faster shifts. Cost around $300
2. Buy and install electronic shift kit - cost between $50 and $120 to buy, or you can make one for around $15 or so. If you go this route, get the fully adjustable one (with potentiometer) so that you can adjust to the shift firmness & speed you want.

[smally289]

Im not real happy with the shift logic on my AUII either. It seems as tho you have to really plant your foot to get it to kickdown at low engine speeds. I have heard that reflashing the PCM can help this. Anyone got any more info??

[duaned]

Originally Posted by smally351

Im not real happy with the shift logic on my AUII either. It seems as tho you have to really plant your foot to get it to kickdown at low engine speeds. I have heard that reflashing the PCM can help this. Anyone got any more info??

Yes in fact it is true. Although I have the edit, the tuner contacted me and my car is entering the workshop next thursday for a gearbox shift pattern, speed etc. change via this software. What I am having done is the following:-
1/ When trans is in performance mode, shifts will be smooth on normal driving patterns, hard accelaration will result in firm, tight fast shifts and hopefully, accompanied with a chirp from the tyres as we all love.
2/ Economy mode will result in standard to soft shift patterns.
Naturally, the flash tuning device will have factory default and standard gearbox shifts programmed also for Ford service etc.

[XRtowcar]

I found the economy mode can leave the trani in the wrong gear when you have to go in a hurry. I leave it in normal now, just in case i need to move.

[XR6-VCT-2000]

I originally used to drive mine in adaptive shift mode #3 mode because thats what it was set to anyways when i got it , and i didnt find out until about 2 weeks later how to change the tranny settings ( talking about the xr6 here with 3 modes ) .. Originally when i first tried the Power #1 setting , i found i didn't like it because the kickback was as you mentioned , very slow to respond or you had to plant your foot totally - allthough i liked the firmer/higher rev range gear change better. I went back to #3 adaptive shift for a while the decided to try power mode again for a while.. since last changing it to power mode about a month ago, the gears now seem to kick back fine ?? , dunno why but they do , now i have a nice firm shift and good responsive instant kickback, the only thing different i recall doing since changing it back to power mode is giving it a gutfull for the first week or 2 / driving it like it was stolen ..lol , I've had it on #1 power mode ever since and all has been fine since then, even now when cruising .

[mik]

the main gripe i have is if i pull it back too second and boot it, thats where i want it too stay until im ready to select the next gear ......or until i put it back into drive,..... i supect if you selected 3rd and stuck the boot in the computer would chuck it back another cog if the kph were acceptable, back to the thread .......maybe they could alter shifts with an edit???? need the gurus to answer that one

[JC]

Originally Posted by mik

the main gripe i have is if i pull it back too second and boot it, thats where i want it too stay until im ready to select the next gear ......or until i put it back into drive

Are you saying that when you bump it back to second it doesn't stay there? It should, and if it doesn't, you have an issue with one of the solenoids (luckily it's the external one, so not too exy to replace).

Originally Posted by mik

.......maybe they could alter shifts with an edit???? need the gurus to answer that one

Yes, the AU edit can alter both shift points, and shift speeds. So can a Unichip J2(?) chip, I believe.

[private9]

Originally Posted by JC

Firstly, if you are drifting, and the back end is kicking out, applying the accelerator is not the way to get out of it. By hitting the throttle, you are only increasing the power oversteer effect, and are more likely to turn the drift into a spin. You would be better gently applying the brakes and steering out of the drift/slide. You were just plain lucky that when it did kick down it didn't make the situation worse. The lesson here is to drive to the conditions, and recognise that the first rain always makes the roads slippery as it brings all the oil etc to the surface.

If you really want instant kickdown - move the gear selector manually.

Two other options, one good but not cheap, one not so good but cheap:
1. Get the S5 solenoid adjusted for faster shifts. Cost around $300
2. Buy and install electronic shift kit - cost between $50 and $120 to buy, or you can make one for around $15 or so. If you go this route, get the fully adjustable one (with potentiometer) so that you can adjust to the shift firmness & speed you want.

What's not so good about the electronic shift kit, was thinking of getting one of these?

[JC]

Originally Posted by private9

What's not so good about the electronic shift kit, was thinking of getting one of these?

I have the dual stage one, and both the "soft" and hard are very harsh. If they were a bit less harsh, then I would actually use mine. The infinitely adjustable one (using potentiometer) would be ideal, as you can dial up the harshness, or softness, that you want.

But as they can be switched off, buy one and see what you think - you may like it. If you asre buying one to save time on the 1/4 mile, they are worth less than 0.1 second, so not really worth it IMO.

[AWD Chaser]

It wasn't so much a drift where the back was sliding out, but more where I went from a wet patch of road to a dry patch, but managed to get the car sliding to the right with all 4 wheels, hence, now being on dry road and wanting to get grip...

Anyway, I don't car about shift speeds, it's just the fact it took almost a whole 2 secs to decide to change gears.... thats what I want to improve on....

[XR6-VCT-2000]

JC ... if you have a duel stage then why not install your own pot to make the shift kit more usable to your liking. If you get a multimeter and measure the resistance on the 2 different stages , then replace the switch with a pot with a max rating of the maximum resistance reading you get, the lesser resistance is not to bother as you can can set the resistance from 0 ohms to whatever needed with a pot.. If you find a certian setting you like ( at a certian resistance ) , you could even add a resistor of that required resistance before the pot so you would have a firm shift point for the shift to start when the pot is dialed all the way down ...ie ..like a 1k pot ranges from 0ohms to 1000 ohms / you can set it to range from like 250ohms to 1000ohms/1k, then dialing up from there will change the firmness of the shift.

[mik]

Originally Posted by JC

Are you saying that when you bump it back to second it doesn't stay there? It should, and if it doesn't, you have an issue with one of the solenoids (luckily it's the external one, so not too exy to replace).


Yes, the AU edit can alter both shift points, and shift speeds. So can a Unichip J2(?) chip, I believe.

ok thanks jc i will look into the solenoid thing.

[JC]

Originally Posted by XR6-VCT-2000

JC ... if you have a duel stage then why not install your own pot to make the shift kit more usable to your liking. If you get a multimeter and measure the resistance on the 2 different stages , then replace the switch with a pot with a max rating of the maximum resistance reading you get, the lesser resistance is not to bother as you can can set the resistance from 0 ohms to whatever needed with a pot.. If you find a certian setting you like ( at a certian resistance ) , you could even add a resistor of that required resistance before the pot so you would have a firm shift point for the shift to start when the pot is dialed all the way down ...ie ..like a 1k pot ranges from 0ohms to 1000 ohms / you can set it to range from like 250ohms to 1000ohms/1k, then dialing up from there will change the firmness of the shift.

I have PM'd useless to enlist his help in doing just that.

[XR6-VCT-2000]

Originally Posted by JC

I have PM'd useless to enlist his help in doing just that.

cool , way to go ;) . If you guys run into any problems or anything and need some help just yell . :

[OzJavelin]

Originally Posted by JC

Two other options, one good but not cheap, one not so good but cheap:
1. Get the S5 solenoid adjusted for faster shifts. Cost around $300
2. Buy and install electronic shift kit - cost between $50 and $120 to buy, or you can make one for around $15 or so. If you go this route, get the fully adjustable one (with potentiometer) so that you can adjust to the shift firmness & speed you want.

Where would I find these magical items??? I don't like the soft shifts from my AUII auto, even in normal mode. I'm used the the "bang-screech" of the A4 in my SV8, so nothing anyone can do to my Falcon auto will seem harsh ..
Thanks,
Rod.

[Mark351]

Go get a flash tune, and 'fix' your shifts, whilst improving power, etc.