Auto vs Manual Transmission

[Ultramaroon]

OP, let the auto do its thing. Here's another thing about cruising. Choosing to drive at a higher RPM than necessary not only wastes gas but if you consider the life of an engine as the total number of revolutions it can make until time to rebuild, then your engine will reach end of life that much more quickly at 4000 RPM than it will 2500 RPM.

Aircraft engine runtime counters are no more than odometers hooked up to the crankshaft.

Now, before I get flamed, yes, there's way more to it but still, it's a valid approximation.

[Ernest72]

OP, I have an AT as well. Just let the thing do its thing around town. If you do some mountain runs or some twisties than put it into sport or manual and do it yourself. You get less gas mileage when in manual or sport mode because the revs are usually higher. I have found that unlike my WRX, you just need to push that foot down some more and get those revs to 4500-6000 to get going and pass someone. For me it's a sound thing, in my WRX which has a 4eat, I need about 3500-4000 to pass and from there I am flying with the turbo. So I am used to that level of pushing my foot and the sound. When I drive my BRZ, if I only go to 3500-4000, it goes nowhere because of the torque dip. So I just press a bit more and the car goes. It's just a different feel. In sport or with manual it's easier to get the thing to downshift and get that rpm past 4500.

[KoolBRZ]

Originally Posted by ThornhillSubaruOwner

Lool damn guys. I didn't expect to come back and see 3 pages.

Thanks for the replies, I got the answer I needed!

I just don't like how the normal mode on the auto shifts my RPMs so quick. I'd turn a corner and id get stuck trying to go up a damn hill because it shifted to 5/6th gear so quick.

I was just curious if it was BAD for the engine/transmission, not so much that I would actually keep it at 4k RPMs.

Again, thanks guys!

The question really is. How can an AT owner change the TCU to shift later. It still hasn't been cracked, to the best of my knowledge. So, since I can't change the TCU programming, I changed my Final Drive instead. For EVERY AT owner out there, I would recommend changing the FD to at least a 4.67.

I'm currently enjoying a 4.88 FD and I'm getting even better mileage, and having a lot more fun doing it, than ever before. It's even better riding along while my wife drives. She used to use the stab and let go throttle method to cruise along, but now she has to squeeze the throttle, because the engine has that much more pull. I got 32 MPG combined city and highway mileage yesterday, and my wife got 36 MPG highway mileage today. I thought a 4.88 FD would lower my mileage, but figured it was worth it. To have more power AND better mileage is just a win-win.

The reason I bring this up is because it also makes the 5th to 6th shift much better around town, especially when it's on flat ground. Finally, since you probably can't afford a 4.88 FD switch, just remember to keep your finger close to the downshift paddle so you can do a quick downshift, because when you're when cruising in Auto, it will always shift just before you need the power. I find that I don't need to use the downshift, (left) paddle, nearly as often as I used to. I always thought of it as "correcting the TCU", since it is always trying to get better mileage by shifting to the highest gear. Sometimes a double-tap was needed to get the power I needed to accelerate, now a single-tap is all I need to get the right gear. The exception is the totally awesome improvement to 4th gear passing at highway speeds. That is a double-tap to 4th from 6th which gives me the perfect gear to accelerate with to pass cars and trucks at highway speeds.