minmet

It's been mentioned by members here more than couple times that we never saw the transmission got into 7th gear in S mode. I was doing a two hour highway trip today and for the first time, I saw the transmission got into 7th gear in Sport. It was triggered by a >80 miles/hour down hill run. Since then, the transmission got into S7 freaquently as long as it's not going uphill and faster then 70 miles/hour. Just want to see if other members have similar observation. I have been driving in S most of the time these days. Feel the car runs smoother. The only concern I had was it only go up to 6th gear on highway cruising. Now I don't have that concern any more.

HyperS4

Yes, I have seen the transmission go into 7th gear while cruising in S above 75mph. However, this is obviously not the way to get the best mpg so Im rarely in S mode on the highway. Ill be in D most of the time and just pop it into S when needing to pass or merge.

minmet

Good to know you also observed it. I was kind very wxcited to see that as I remember people here saying it does not go into 7th in S.
Nope, I wasn't trying to save a bit gas. Just want normal driveing with smooth feeling and save some transmission fiddling.

VipinLJ

Yup. It does go into 7th when you are cruising in S at high speeds. I've seen it too. The opposite is also true. I've hardly seen my car go into 7th in D when I'm cruising at 60mph since the rpm is already kinda very low.

HyperS4

Well, they have said that for a while these transmissions do adapt to driving conditions. Oddly enough, Ive seen mine go into 7th at a low 45mph in D!

minmet

+1

The reason I drive in S most time now is when in D, it shifts up too fast in too low rpm causing vibration (short of power) and feel sluggish. 35 mph in 5th, 45mph in 6th and in 7th already somewhere around 50mph (depends pushed or not).
I try to maintain the rpm around 2000 as the best spot for normal driving.

VipinLJ

7th at 45mph? Wow. I guess the rpm would be around 1100-1200.

I usually drive exclusively in D. S is reserved for launch control. But yes. I do accelerate fast and sometimes use the paddleshifters to keep the car in the range. For example, say the car is in 6th at 45. I feel that is a bit too low, rpm wise, and downshift to 5th and modulate the throttle to keep it there, unless I am cruising in which case I let it do its job.

HyperS4

Yeah, just for S&G's I played around with it tonight. I was going 39mph on an on ramp and the car went into 6th gear! Merging onto the highway was brutal as it kicked all the way down to 2nd. Thats definitely a situation for S.

So Im going to assume the programming was done this way in order to achieve the mpg they need for this car. They have strict standards in Europe for emissions and I dont think they change the programming for the US. It really is bad and leads to the vibrations(lugging) that people complain about.

What @minmet said about keeping it around or above 2k is the sweet spot to get the turbo spinning.

VipinLJ

Yup. Everything in the name of fuel efficiency.

And yes. I alsways keep it in the sweet spot unless I'm cruising on the highway (I'm usually never in a rush and highway cruises are extremely rare).