I thought that I would post this for the new forum members that wern't aware of this Auto-Stick function. The owners manual isn't very descriptive about it either.

I was having some fun yesterday on some back twisty back roads in NE Indiana and wondered if all of our members with Auto-Stick transmissions were aware of the "Sport Mode" function. It sure makes driving a twisty road more fun.

When you approach a curve, push the shift lever over to the left and hold it there. After about 1 second the computer will downshift into a lower gear that is just right for maximum power at that speed (mph). When you go into the corner and power out of it, you will be in the best possible gear. At this point you have 3 choices, continue holding over to the left and when you accelerate, the transmission will upshift at the tach redline. You can also tap the shifter to the right when you want to shift up one gear, or you can hold the shifter briefly to the right and you will be back in normal mode.

The fun part is that if your going through a series of curves, holding the shifter over to the left lets you enter and exit the curves at just the right power curve.

Mercedes did a great job with this transmission engine combination. The computer won't let the engine over rev.

Try it and let us know what you think.

 

This feature was demonstrated back in 2004 on the Speed Channel feature of the Crossfire, but I'm sure there are many new owners here who don't know about it, so nice post.

This isn't a "Sports Mode" per se since the transmission does feature a standard and winter "modes" already.

This is also not unique to the Crossfire, the 300C has the same system as they're both based on the same 5 speed Mercedes system.

Another thing that some new owners may not know is that the Crossfire's ignition system will continue starting the car without the driver holding the key in the "Start" position.

It is almost like a "push button" system, turn the key to "Start", release and the car will continue running the starter motor until the car starts.

If you've owned a Mercedes you may be aware of this or if you have an '08 Chrysler with the new bladeless keys, they also have the same feature that Chrysler calls Tip Start.

 

I didn't know about the start feature. Thanks. It seems I learn something new about my Crossfire weekly on this forum.

 

I don't have to hold mine for it to shift at redline... It just does it after I downshift with autostick...