Automatic Acceleration in Manual vs Auto modes
 

I was having a conversation about throttle response with @feldy and he mentioned the difference he feels between auto and manual modes in the automatic when accelerating off the line:


"I do notice sometimes in manual mode the car feels sluggish off the line but leaving it in auto feels much faster off the line. Not sure why this is but I notice it a lot."




Now that he mentioned it, I have the same feels about off-the-line differences between auto and manual mode. I'm going to go do some pulls and see if I can actually quantify a difference with logs just using Dash Command on the street.


I'd like to see how other auto drivers feel, and see if we can test the following scenarios just pulling through first gear from a stop:


1. Auto, Sport OFF, VSC OFF, Traction Control ON
2. Manual, Sport OFF, VSC OFF, Traction Control ON
3. Auto, Sport ON, VSC OFF, Traction Control ON
4. Manual, Sport ON, VSC OFF, Traction Control ON
5. Auto, Sport OFF, VSC ON, Traction Control ON
6. Manual, Sport OFF, VSC ON, Traction Control ON
7. Auto, Sport ON, VSC ON, Traction Control ON
8. Manual, Sport ON, VSC ON, Traction Control ON
9. Auto, Sport OFF, VSC OFF, Traction Control OFF
10. Manual, Sport OFF, VSC OFF, Traction Control OFF
11. Auto, Sport ON, VSC OFF, Traction Control OFF
12. Manual, Sport ON, VSC OFF, Traction Control OFF


Wow, that's a lot more scenarios than I first thought... Initially I was just thinking of auto vs manual, but you have to take into consideration all the other settings.

Please post your thoughts, results (measured or 'felt') and any relevant car mods or other contributing factors you can think of.


My gut instinct without going out to the car and trying it yet, is that in manual mode, the tranny locks up the torque converter asap and is relying only on the power of the engine, while in auto mode it might leave the torque converter unlocked longer, netting more torque to the wheels for longer...?




tagging some of the folks I know drive autos and also SSP to see their thoughts...

@Tye300 @chiefshayan @Lunatic @poptopclk @connor_lol @Covo_86 @Autocon @whataboutbob @Hardrock4445 @Captain Insano @Lonewolf @sspkris @s2d4 @DeOppressorLiber @FastWhite



Thanks everyone!
I'll post up as soon as I get logs...

Now that you mentioned it, I to have noticed this same discrepancy. I find that in manual mode, traction on, I can more easily spin the tires (more torque). But with traction off, if I don't release the brake just right, I have anemic acceleration. It's quite frustrating.
Makes me want to spend the big bucks for a higher stall convertor, valve body and cooler.

Need to run this by a tuner and see what they say.

Has anyone tried tuning the traction control ECU ?


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FFFFuuuuuuuuuu

That just occurred to me...


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I've been told that the torque converter will never fully lock in 1st on the auto?

I won't have time to try this until sometime NEXT week, but I will and post back.

Your going to have to that one to me. Beyond my experience or knowledge on automatics.


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It's for folks with a tune (ECUTek, OFT, etc). There are several maps that get updated, and they need to be replicated across all the different modes. If you miss one, you get something like this.

I'll have to look at them and see how different they are. @s2d4 were yours different, and did you make them match? I'm testing a tune on ecutek, but I'm not the tuner, just the guinea pig.


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The main difference I notice between auto and manual is the shifts in manual mode are actually a little shaky while the auto is perfectly smooth. They smooth out as the car warms up, though, but depending on the shift points you can still get a bit of a shake out of the shift.

I have noticed this too OP. In fact the car still amazes me after nearly two years of ownership how aggressively it will shift even in base auto mode with sport off and VSC on and traction control on (#5) if you are aggressive with throttle. To this point I have just chalked it up to brilliant factory AT tuning.

Sport Mode in Manual Mode doesn't do anything correct?

Best AT launch I've really been able to get. I can repeat this all the time but you really can't get better with AT.

[ame]http://youtu.be/EpAh7rRooOU[/ame]

Corrections, my bad, I was talking about normal vs Sport mode.
Sorry guys.

I was referring to this the whole time in this thread, it definitely does something.

I thought when I was reading the owner's manual, it shows that it only functions when in auto mode. but please correct me if I am wrong.
But I tried many time, it is the same.
It is not like Subaru's I, S, and S# mode that actually changes the throttle response.

Automatic Acceleration in Manual vs Auto modes
 

From the manual:
When sport mode is changed to while the shift lever is in the M position, the sport indicator will come on but sport mode functions will not be carried out. Shift the shift lever to the D position.

But the original question is not about the different between sport mode and normal mode in the tranny. We know there is a large difference between the two when in auto sport or auto normal.
The question is the difference between acceleration 0-60 in auto or manual shift modes. I don't have access to my throttle maps right now, but it does seem that people notice lower acceleration rate in manual mode vs auto mode, regardless of if they're tuned.

I should be able to log a few runs in each mode mentioned in the first post tomorrow. I'll be on the outskirts of town where it's flat and open.


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I can't really give some technical data on the subject. But i did some drag racing at the track a few weeks ago. Most of my runs were in manual mode and yes it was slower off the line with traction on. Throttle and accelerations felt like an eternity.

But when i switched to auto mode with sport mode on (traction on) it felt better and yes i was doing the brake gas launch.

Here is a view where you can see me launch (auto & sport mode). I thought i did a decent job launching, acceleration felt good. But of course with the lack of power and tall gears it's still going to be slow. I'm sure with the SSP's upgrades and a tune would help out a little bit.
[ame="http://youtu.be/Y3TnIdzy1wk"]http://youtu.be/Y3TnIdzy1wk[/ame]