Best way to drive an auto??

Can someone gimme some pointers as to the best way to drive an auto TT?

its all new to me and i wanna make sure im driving it properly and getting the best out of it..

..i've done a search and read up a bit but still interested to know when to use OD and when not to? i wont both with MANU mode but would like to kno what to do with OD?

also, yesterday when pulling from the lights in normal OD the wheels span slightly going into 3rd gear and this snow mode kicked in and obvisuly took all the performace away from the car...

..how do you stop the snow/traction thing coming on as i thought as long as the lights werent on the dash that means its off??

cheers guys

Traction control - no lights means it's primed, to prevent it kicking in you need to have it set to off (light indicates this)

In Manu mode you manually change the gears through the first 3 gears, it will hold the selected gear unless you are over revving when it will change up to prevent damage to the gear box, the only other exception is trying to pull away from stationary in D, when it will select 2nd for you. In Manu you have no access to Overdrive.

OD is simply a 4th gear with an overdrive ratio. I tend to leave OD on at all times, and disengage when approaching junctions to use engine breaking. For normal everyday driving I disengage Manu, and change the gears using the selector to select the gear I want. Have been driving this way for 3 years, and have noticed no ill effects yet

Edit: click the MANU link to get a better description.

Mike

thanx mate so if trying to pull away from standing put OD off yeah so it starts from 1st rather than 2nd gear? then turn OD on once at a high end speed?

and should i turn the snow thing so the light is on the dash? would that stop it cutting in when the wheels spin?

For any supra, manual or auto, I'd advise turning off traction control. It's an absolutely appauling system.

I would never encourage anyone to disable the traction control - your facelift traction control is better then the older version - but yes to prevent it cutting in the cluster should display TRAC OFF (or something similar)

edit: but yes it's the first thing I do too - but then I do have RLTC as a backup.

If you have MANU mode off, you can leave Overdrive enabled at all times unless you wish to hold 3rd for longer it will make no difference below 3rd gear anyway.

if you are in MANU mode on, the overdrive button will not work anyway.

HTH

Mike

For any supra, manual or auto, I'd advise turning off traction control. It's an absolutely appauling system.

cheers - so thats the same button as snow mode yeah? and the light needs to be on the dash?

I can't agree with that Mike, I've driven many pre-facelift auto cars and of course the trac control is a complete liability. However even on the facelift auto's it'd still want to cut power at critical times (e.g. full power out of a corner, when it'd cut then re-apply the power when you're trying to correct).

MANU mode is the way to drive the auto quickly - and safely when doing so.

RLTC is a joy for very high powered cars, it takes some level of driver skill (or lack of it) out of the picture, personally I never felt it necessary on the 6spd even with a single, but on an auto it's a very wise upgrade.

I would never encourage anyone to disable the traction control - your facelift traction control is better then the older version - but yes to prevent it cutting in the cluster should display TRAC OFF (or something similar)

 

edit: but yes it's the first thing I do too - but then I do have RLTC as a backup.

 

If you have MANU mode off, you can leave Overdrive enabled at all times unless you wish to hold 3rd for longer it will make no difference below 3rd gear anyway.

 

if you are in MANU mode on, the overdrive button will not work anyway.

 

HTH

 

Mike

thanx again.

if i leave OD off then at lights will it start from 1st gear also?

dont think i'll both with MANU for now while i master the OD on and off!!!!

MANU mode is the way to drive the auto quickly - and safely when doing so.

really?

what what changing gears manually from L to 2 to D? then turn it off on motorway?

do you just slide it along when u want to change or do you have to lift off the throttle first?

lol @ your avatar james!

this is gunna sound dumb lol but when you say change manually do you literally mean move the stick to L then up to 2 then to D ?? im still confused and still after reading all the info on it

so when your in D with manu mode switched on, i find it revs higher then changes up at around 6k on all gears, and am i right in saying in D when pushing the O/D button and light on dash comes up i can only use 3 gears unless i over rev ?

thanks and sorry about my simple mind lol

The tracktion control on the uk cars (mine) is supposed to be better isnt it? I always have it on. And it only kicks in if i go over a harsh bump while accelerating hard. all other times it never comes on.

But as far as driving. Get in the car. Put car in D. thats it. Its by far the nicest way to drive the car. I always have OD turned on.

really mine used to be a right pain ,coming on at all sorts of times just what you need on a tight corner sudden los of power

really mine used to be a right pain ,coming on at all sorts of times just what you need on a tight corner sudden los of power

Maybe you just have shit tires?

well i did have a set of fullruns on there for a month but the traction control wasnt a problem in the wet ,cause there was no traction at all ever think they span everywhere for a month and never wore out

Im glad i baught an auto. My tyres last ages. In my NA i went through them like nobody business

think they may be your right foot causing that not the tyres or transmission

;)

really mine used to be a right pain ,coming on at all sorts of times just what you need on a tight corner sudden los of power

Tips are the worst for TC problems. (only on MPH converted ones, which of course nearly all ours are)

nope mines a uk one

UK car, used to leave TC on, drive the car in Auto with OD. So no additional lights were on in the dash for OD or TC.

I would switch OD off (dash light on) before I wanted to overtake. The way I saw it OD was just a 4th gear.

As for the TC I was running Eagle F1's and maybe I just wasn't driving it hard enough to have any loss of full power. The UK spec TC dabs the brakes before cutting the power so imo unless you're being overly ambitious you shouldn't really have any issues.

i can ignore OD and manu now im having a boost logic box and a 3800 high still fitted?

nope mines a uk one

UK spec trac is very sensitive, and runs a secondary braking circuit to try to control the slip even further than just closing a butterfly in the manifold.

My UK spec trac used to come on all the time, even turning tight left hand junctions it would be there. Infact it seemed more sensitive turning left than right.

The tracktion control on the uk cars (mine) is supposed to be better isnt it? I always have it on. And it only kicks in if i go over a harsh bump while accelerating hard. all other times it never comes on.

 

But as far as driving. Get in the car. Put car in D. thats it. Its by far the nicest way to drive the car. I always have OD turned on.

Same here, no problems or complaints with the T/C on my car either.

As for driving, I always just leave it in 'D' and get on with driving.

I turn the TC off everytime I get in the car, rain, hail or shine, as its the most annoying thing to have all your power taken away from you when trying to join a dual carriageway or pulling out from a T-junction etc.

When driving the car hard I just turn of OD and use the stick manually, only time I go for manu mode is if I'm having a little fun with somebody on a sunday afternoon drive and need faster shifts. But for normal fast road driving I dont even take it out of drive, the gearbox seems to know what gear I want, its almost as if it learns your driving style or something.