I wanted the MANUAL 6speed... but the compromise with my wife was the AUTO/TRANSMISSION... ok i could deal with that... but i cant keep it in drive!!!

i am slapping it up gear and down gear ALL the time!!! around turns i downshift from green lights its 1 2 3 4 5... when i come to a yellow or red its 5 4 3 2 1... never in drive! when its time to shift at the rpm appropriate to the situation... i back off the accelrtor pedal like a manual... the tranny seems like it has alot of integrity... but i hope down the road i wont have problems... i am like a habitual fiend...

just wondering what the rest of u do!?!?!?

thanks
josh

 

I tend to drive around town with it in drive but use the tiptronic on country roads when I'm pushing on a bit.
I have to say I find it takes a bit of getting used to never having a manual before.
I sometimes wish I had bought a manual but them I read about someone else having trouble with the manual going in to first or jumping out of gear.
I've never had a car where I've had trouble with the gearbox.


Norrie.

 

My XF has the first automatic transmission I have ever owned in all my life. At 52, I thought it was time to allow myself to be lazy. I figured the AutoStick would be a nice compromise, but as yet, I haven't really used it. I played with it one time and got all out of whack. Without a true clutch, I felt like a driving novice.

One day, when I find myself on a deserted road with time to play, I'll probably try to master it.

 

as for me (again) it really appears to me that this tranny is indestructible... i am addicted to running through the gears ALL the time upshifting...downshifting ...i am WAS wondering if i or the car would pay for it later on in the future...
j.

 

any srt owners?? drive or slap stick?? any real noticeable performance differences between the two?

 

I never let the auto do it's own work... I love the way the car sounds pushing 6g as i slap into 2nd, 3rd, 4th, shifting on into 5th if there is enough road in front of me. It gives me the feeling "I'm not just along for the ride", I am part of the ride. hooah... As for damage I got just over 2K on my crossfire, and the transmission is leaking fluid, but there is a recall on the problem, but does pushing the auto to it's max have anything to do with the fluid leak, I don't know, and I don't care. I'll drive this car like I can't die, and as if I'm waiting on it to fly. God I love the feel of speed and sound of power. hooah hooah hooah

 

FirebaseD... brother...! i respect all opinions in this forum ...all but looking at your profession... you don't do anything but... ***** OUT!!! i AM Sure!!! i just made 8,000 miles yesterday... and no leaks... i am glad i am not the only lunatic... but it really seems that this car can't get enough... HDDP races tough courses and competition from what i gather... which gives me peace of mind knowing the xf can handle such loads and strains, ...engine wise... but he has a manual. everyday this XF gobbles up the pothole filled I87 passing yankee stadium... over the east river and unto the FDR... where the roads and highways seem like they are from a developing country or worse! THIS XF is being tested and it can't get enough... like you said... if there is enough road ahead!

j.

 

I purchased my Roadster Limited about 3 months before I moved to Virginia, I drove it on the FDR once and on the BQE once. It will never happen again, all the highways in NY are under perpetual construction, you know what I am talking about Xfire1.

 

the simple answer is that if you keep the car long enough you will pay more for repairs. downshifting through the gears every time you slow down is eventually going to cost more than using your brakes. which is cheaper to replace... the brakes or the transmission? your car will need to downshift on its own anyway but it is the fact that you will be downshifting into much higher rpms than the transmission would do automatically.

shifting through the gears with the autostick might provide entertainment to the driver but your car will not accelerate as quickly because of the time delay in the shifts. so from a performance standpoint you probably aren't gaining anything.

the autostick can be useful by allowing you to select a more desirable gear when planning ahead to accelerate out of a turn, up a hill, or from a crawl, since your transmission doesn't know what's expected.

but as far as trying to use the autostick full-time as a manual is concerned, it isn't going to enhance performance and might wear out the transmission faster.

 

Sometimes but rarely. It's usually after I have driven on the highway for a while and I need to wake up the auto tranny computer from fuel economy (i.e. "grandma shifting") mode to more spirited shifting...

 

I know exactly what your saying but the box changes for it's self at the redline. My biggest annoyance with the autostick system is the auto can't be switched off, redline and it changes, slow to a stop in 4th and start again and it changed down - also it's a little slow so when you try to change, near the redline the box is sometime doing the same thing and instead of 2nd to 3rd it goes all the way to 4th - hence the "out of wack" feeling midnightman quoted?

It is great for setting up corners etc on a downshift - I love the feeling when I drop into 3rd at 60 MPH and accelerate, but now when the pedal is all the way down I let the upshift change at the redline!

 

Darn FirebaseD, that's like talking dirty to me. It almost got me excited!

 

On the highway I'm in auto unless I'm passing. I'm surprised how pliable the auto stick is on the twisty bits. While it will never replace my Porsche it is more fun that I thought it would be. Not as responsive as I'd like but not terrible.

 

I use the slapstick whenever I can, but I never slapshift it up to a higher gear as it will change automatically when it reaches redline. I think it is the only way to drive the car. Besides it sounds great at 5k rpm...

 

I have 7.5k+ miles and have driven the auto-stick like it was made / advertised for. I wouldn't say I push it quite as hard as some others have posted. The tranny does indeed learn too, even in auto mode mine downshifts a bit early when slowing down, just as it would if I was running it manually.

The thing is a tried and true MB design which should (I expect) hold up for many, many years.

 

Brother we could almost go on a date, what I'm talking about is my life, and my life has always been "***** To The Wall" I don't know or understand any other way of doing life. hooah
I'm sorry brother, my transmission does not shift out of any gear unless I do it myself. There have been times when I would just get all into the engine (hearing it go off inside my head) and just be caught in space, the freaking V6 try's to suck a value. Maybe I should have the dealership run a scan on my car, or maybe not, may be I got something here I would not be happy with if I were to lose it. I'll need to think this over.

 

What i figure... i am still in that romance mode with the car... actually i do not think i ever will with the XFIRE... because this car responds as if she has your back!

Now i realize... the $1,000,000 ENZO has more sophisticated technology aboard ...and all the blah blah blahs it boasts...than the XFIRE... but put me on a course with an ENZO... govern its speed so that it equals the Xfire... and i will give that enzo-machine a lesson courtesy of the XFIRE... a car that costs 3-4% of what that ENZO goes for(...not saying i wouldn't want an ENZO... LOL) ... as strange as this may sound unless its a "New York" thing ...the xfire is an automobile that has and watches your BACK!!!

if anyone is interested i will tape my ride into manhattan giving a tour of the daily roads... if anyone is interest... i will post vid in 3 segments. with no traffic its a 14 minute ride. same ride in traffic can take 1 hour 45 Minutes!

i think most will agree that my xfire has the most demanding task... and to boot i do not have a garage at this time... i

in my opinion... whoever agreed to and launched the xfire's marketing strategies... should know that they horribly FAILED. horribly failed.

j.

 

in accordance with FirebaseD... my tranny doesn't leave its designated gear unless i up or down-shift EXCEPT when i am really winding 1st gear out... it will upshift to 2... if i don't like it at the point it automatically shifts, i slap it back down into 1st and it stays there obediently... never whining or laboring... she roars down the roadway... setting off the car alarms parked on the street...

i have owned several used porsches... '88 carrera, '74 914 & '67 912 and was able to sell them all at one point or another. I will not sell the crossfire... it'll be one of the family heirlooms for my unborn generations to come...LOL... yeah there are better performing cars than the X but when i am at a light with a quattroporte or a porsche or a VETTE aside me, the people on the street are looking at the X... making any other car just common to them! again for the $ this car is outstanding!

 

OK - our Crossfire definitely changes at just over 6,000 rpm - are those of you who say theirs don't also saying it will just rev limit at the redline or does it go past it?

I think I now like it changing up on the line (didn't use to).

Also if I were to try changing 4th to 3rd but that would over-rev the box will not change, ie when traveling over 100 mph for this example - this true for others?

Final bugbear on the auto box - at times the gear indicator doesn't alter when the box does ie change to 4th on the stick, then slow to a stop on the brakes, move of again and the indicator will show 4th but the box is in 1st.

 

malcb...my auto box on the dash is synchronized... to the shifting of gears... even when i am a bit hard on her... the box does indicate the gear that i am in at all times.

j.