Help adjusting to the LGT 5-spd automatic?

[kidsanddogs]

Hi folks,

I've just bought an '06 LGT Limited wagon, and am generally thrilled with it. But I wonder whether you folks can give me some advice on getting the most fun out of the automatic transmission. A little background: I have a sports car driving personality with a minivan mom's life--two young kids, two big dogs. (Fortunately, I've convinced my husband to drive the minivan itself.)

 

My last car was a '99 Forester with a manual transmission, which I loved. But alas, my commute now requires me to sit in awful traffic. So I decided I needed the automatic. I knew there would be some adjustment, but I thought the manumatic was a good compromise. I'm still in the break-in period for my car, so I've been taking it easy on the gas. I can live with the turbo lag, annoying as it is. But I'm finding that even in Sport mode, it shifts a little earlier than I'd like, at least when I'm late picking up the kids and I really need to get past that cement mixer up ahead... (The regular mode is just awful. I feel like a grandma driving that way.) I've been compensating with the manual shift, but there's a definite lag there, as if it takes a minute to figure out what I want. Will this get better as time goes on, or do I need to learn to live with this?

 

Also, my gas mileage is averaging under 19 mpg with combined city/highway driving, despite my attempts to keep my driving easygoing. Can I expect this to improve after the break-in period? Obviously, I didn't buy this car for the fuel economy, but it would be nice to see better numbers. Does having a/c on full blast, as I've been doing lately, make much difference? Does driving in sport mode reduce fuel economy? What about the manual shifting? I know I'm going to lose some efficiency with an automatic anyway, but I was hoping to do a bit better than 19.

 

Thanks! I know you folks are mostly manual transmission people, but I figure there's someone out there who knows something about how to get the most out of the 5-spd automatic.

[SLegacy99]

Congrats on a good purchase.

Im too impatient for an auto so i really cant help you there. As far as gas mileage goes, well most people here claim to do somewhat better after the break in period. Some have reported as low as 16 during the break in. Others attain 28, 29 mpg on the highway. Which is pretty good for a turbo in my book.

[wukindada]

Not sure if you really want to mod but.......

 

The 5EAT seems to get chrisper with more power,

 

stock.........

 

My modded wagon is getting a combined city 15%/ hwy 85% around 27mpg.

[Prod]

If you leave it in D instead of Sport you will probably get better gas mileage. I drive in D for the gas mileage, and switch to manual mode if I'm going to do a bunch of passing or merging. Of course when I'm at the autocross, manual mode FTW.

[donswhitegt]

I have the auto GT Wagon as well. The trans takes a little getting used to. On the highway I find the buttons work best for down and up shifts. Around town the shifter can be fun but you have to pay attention or youll bounce off the rev limiter. I plan to put a trans colloer on the it for longevity, not that it needs it but its cheap insurance.

 

Good luck and have fun with it.

 

Don

[relhok]

One thing I enjoy is "Short-Shifting".

 

Put the pedal to the floor in sportshift mode and bang off shifts at 3500 rpm or less. The engine rpms stay around the torque peak and get you moving fast without all the fuss of running every gear to redline like an ordinary automatic does when floored.

[OrangeTea]

After awhile you'll learn to anticipate the 5EAT's hesitation and drive accordingly.

[kidsanddogs]

Great advice, all. I've never modified a car before, but perhaps I'll have to start with this one. I'm still getting used to driving an automatic at all, having driven a manual for the past 12 years or so. I keep looking for a clutch. I'll try the techniques you all mention. I'm already getting better at easing into turbo mode to avoid the sharp lag.

 

I took it for a highway-only ride today in an effort to get my baby to nap. I averaged 25-26 cruising between 65-70 mph, and that includes some hills. I can live with that.

 

Meanwhile, I'll just remember how much I love that giant moonroof and how glad I am that I didn't spend an extra 10K on an A4 Avant. Once I drove the LGT, it was a no-brainer.

 

Thanks!

[Paracitik]

After awhile you'll learn to anticipate the 5EAT's hesitation and drive accordingly.

 

I've had my '06 LGT 5EAT for about a month now. After a while you just get the feel for the car / transmission and you know when and how much gas to give it for whatever situation you're in.

[Elec]

I just hit 21k miles on mine last night and my gas mileage is pretty much stuck at 21.3mpg via carputer regardless of how I drive. When I reset the odometer, it'll take me maybe 50-75 miles before I hit that average and stay there. My driving is close to 100% city now, although my commute has a long stretch where I'm in traffic but moving ~50 with few stops or changes in speed, so that probably helps mileage.

 

In manumatic mode, downshifts seem to happen pretty quick, but upshifts have about a 500rpm lag between when you tell it to shift and when it actually does. As long as you know this, you can sort of compensate.

 

One thing I've noticed is that it seems to like to keep the car in 5th for fuel economy when possible. That's kinda bad when you're puttering around at 35 or 40 and need to get going in a hurry. At that speed, you really need to get down to 3rd and it takes the 5EAT a while to figure that out if you just step on it, so you're usually best off using the thumb buttons to do it yourself in that situation.

[showbo]

TDC Stage 2. That will solve ur waiting problems.

[donswhitegt]

In response to relhok, mine shifts at about 6000 if I floor it in sport mode. Maybe it has learned my driving style.

[relhok]

I was refering to sportshift in my earlier post where you shift yourself.

 

"Sport" mode is very similiar to full auto but much more responsive. I never noticed any difference in my daily routine driving though.

 

It wasn't until this summer, when I drove 188 miles on the Blue Ridge Parkway that the benefits of SPORT mode became apparent. Downshifts come much sooner when climbing grades and gears are held longer through curves. It also downshifts and has the right gear ready to go when you brake hard before a turn and power through and out of a turn. Overall, it makes aggressive driving much smoother than regular auto mode.

[NSFW]

Can you change the AT's behavior by tuning the ECU, or does the AT have its parameters stored elsewhere? (I know, I know, it's called an ENGINE control unit, but I had to ask...)

[wukindada]

The TQ converter is what throws things off.....the short answer for you is NO:(

 

My LGT when left in Sport mode pulls hard all the way to 6900, redline can be adjusted by your tuner:)

[red beast]

tcu = transmission control unit

 

just like the ecu for the engine.

[FormerSTI Driver]

My observations.

1. Sport mode is a lot more responsive than standard, but gas mileage is worse.

2. After 1500 miles, I'm getting 17-19 mpg mixed highway/city driving. Totally sucks.

3. The manual mode is slow, particularly when upshifting. Planning ahead helps (i.e. if I want to shift at 6000rpm, hit the downshift button at ~5500 while still accelerating).

4, Damn armrests (the door and center) are totally useless for me, and I'm actually thinking about getting rid of the car because them because of the stress on my shoulders.

[ece_tim]

One thing I enjoy is "Short-Shifting".

 

Put the pedal to the floor in sportshift mode and bang off shifts at 3500 rpm or less. The engine rpms stay around the torque peak and get you moving fast without all the fuss of running every gear to redline like an ordinary automatic does when floored.

Modern cars are more efficient this way too. Higher throttle @ lower RPM's is more efficient than vice versa.

[NSFW]

Is there a way to modify the TCU settings via OBDII? Given that the transmisison is electronically controlled, and supports multiple 'profiles' to change its shifting behavior, it seems like there's a fair chance that the AT shifting tables (or maps, ifyou prefer) might be readable (and writable) using tools similar to the Cobb AP or the open ECU tools.

 

I could probably learn to like (even love) an AT that can be programmed to behave the way I wanted it to behavior. I'm sure it would be a separate undertaking from the ECU work (new memory structures to discover and document, etc) but seems like it might be possible.