The thread that wouldn't die -- Re: E36 Auto Tranny failure at 56K miles

["shawn . moyer" <shawn@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

[ Apologies for continuing this thread so long, all... I just keep
getting off-list replies that seem to be relevant to everyone else, so
I've been cc:'ing the list on my responses. ]


"Blok, Alexander M (MED)" wrote:

> When you shift from D to S on the fly, or vise versa, the tranny may
> downshift or upshift -- but that's what it is designed to do. No
> different than shifting from one gear to the next in D mode. 

That was my assumption as well. I'm just being paranoid after having one
trans blow up. Don't want to have to suffer without my car for 3 weeks
in another 50K miles with the same problem.

> It's not
> shifting on the fly, but driving the slushbox in the S mode that puts more
> strain on it, since the shifts occur at higher RPMs.

How would this put more strain on the trans? The higher RPM's would be
on the engine itself, correct? I was actually told by a few people that
S is better for the car in city driving, since the torque convertor
doesn't get as much of a workout.
 
> As for driving a manual transmission car in the stop and go traffic, I
> actually prefer the manual gearbox for the following reason:
> 
> An automatic transmission car has a massive flywheel and a lot of
> drivetrain inertia. When the take their foot off the gas, the car
> doesn't slow down fast enough, and when they step on the gas, it doesn't
> respond fast enough either. Therefore, it is difficult to precisely
> control the car speed. That's why you see people to go
> gas-brake-gas-brake-gas-brake.
> 
> With a manual transmission, the inertia is much less, and I can very
> precisely modulate my speed in rush-hour traffic simply with my gas
> pedal. Just food for thought. Takes a bit of practice though.

I agree that an auto can be annoying when you have to let it work up and
back down through three gears just to go three feet, and I'd wager that
this will likely wear the brakes more as well. 

Still, I use the same technique you mention myself, by dropping into 2nd
or 3rd in manual mode. Of course, it doesn't matter much since the guy
in front of me is usually going "gas-brake-gas-brake" anyway, and I
never know if he's really stopping or just decelerating. :)

For me, the Steptronic gives me the best of both worlds -- the
additional performance of the manual when I want it, while still
allowing me to smoke, drink coffee, talk on my cellphone (headset), and
eat an Egg McMuffin at 90mph. Yes, at the same time. I am the typical
ugly American driver. :)=)








- --shawn

- -- 

s h a w n   m o y e r
shawn@domain.elided

"May the forces of evil become 
confused on the way to your house."

                    --George Carlin

------------------------------