I tried several times to autox in my AT but the strange shifting points kill me over and over..... The gears are fine, can do any course in 1st or 2nd gear. But on a fast course (60-65 mph for sew seconds) I need to shift to 2nd (manual mode) at 45mph. To shift back to 1st gear (so I have some pickup after a turn, or throttle control) I have to be at no more than 30 mph. So I am cruising from 45 down to 30 mph waiting for a really slow turn where I really need to brake (so I don't waste momentum) but in 2nd gear I have not much of HP or torque... only choice is to just drift in all places (so I can carry all the speed I have since I canot get back to speed fast enough anymore, if I lose it by breaking).
What are your experiences? How do you do the "slow in, fast out" when the car has almost no acceleration around 35-40 mph (if you are stuck in 2nd gear, as after a fast straight) ?!?

 

I sincerly doubt it

 

I think your only other option is to brake hard coming to the turn to get below 30, and rev match (yes you can, it's tough going into first but doable; you won't get an exact match, but you can bring the revs up fairly high before first engages) while you downshift. You'll have to get used to it though, as the rear can get a little squirrelly going into a turn in this manner (tcs off). I haven't auto-x'd, but this <30mph thing gets pretty annoying on the back roads as well :D

 

I don't know how to describe it to you, I only drive in Manumatic, and I have the gears down, you have to always drive daily and once you perfect the feel of it you will know how much you need to slow down and downshift with perfect timing.

 

what I mean is that, if you just *Practice* you will be a lot better, I know exactly how much brake I need to apply and don't even need to look at the speedometer anymore and I can get down to exactly 30 mph without trying, shift down gun it and shift back up without even trying. Practice is the key.

 

there are several Autox vids of Auto owners on the track...so you are not alone...I may even have a vid or two in my 'archive'

I'd make a video for you but I dont have the auto

 

Isn't downshifting into first pretty bad for the transmission once you get moving??? I've certainly never dared to do it, unless by accident. And yeah, you can definitely rev match. So much fun and so easy to do without having to worry about a clutch.

 

I've ran mine on a track just for fun (AT). Anything serious would HAVE to be done with a manual transmission. I was most frustrated by not being able to rev the snot out of it and slip the clutch to come out of corners above 30MPH. It felt like you had to wait days to get the rpm back above 6K. If auto cross was a regular on my schedule I'd trade the auto for a manual!

 

I just came back from a track session, and ive expereicend the agony of not being able to downshift to 1st when above ~45km/h(30mph). I was wondering if anyone know why it would be programmed like that? is it because the engine would suddenly rev up too high?

 

yes

 

OH okk. THanks for the reply...

 

If it's any conciliation to you, the MT sort of has the same problem. While there's technically nothing preventing you from downshifting into 1st at those speeds, you can seriously **** things up if you do.