I assume the little auto to manual switch was a stock Item for the autos. Anyway how do you use it. Do you wait untill your a dead stop push and then put it in first? Or can you hit it as your going down the highway so you can pop it in 3rd?

anytime, you don't have to wait. you can hit the button at a dead stop or top speed. I wont damage the transmission. FYI, you can even put the tranny in reverse while moving forward and it wont engage until you ALMOST come to a complete stop.

anytime, you don't have to wait. you can hit the button at a dead stop or top speed. I wont damage the transmission. FYI, you can even put the tranny in reverse while moving forward and it wont engage until you ALMOST come to a complete stop.

you sure about that?

That A/M button...

Press the M...
and then the car won't shift until you put it into the gear you want it to...
Here's a link from ti.org...
http://www.318ti.org/forum/showthread.php?t=3548&highlight=manual+mode

Basically...
From a stop, press the M and then shift into 1st...
accelerate, then shift into 2nd when you feel it's time to shift, and keep doing it till you get to 4th(D).
To downshift, you can go from 4th(D) to 3rd.
But if you go from 3rd to 2nd, you would need to blip the throttle a bit or else you'll hear this ugly sound that sounds like the car will break.
DO NOT shift from 2nd to 1st unless your car is stopped...(same with manual transmission cars.

Hope this helps you.

-Randy

Thanks for the advice.

Not really worth using. I just switch between sport and eco mode while driving. I can usually get it to shift when I want it to using this method and it makes me feel like Im driving a manual with all the shifting. It took a lot of practice but you can basically get almost complete control with this.

The only time I use the "M" mode is going around cloverleafs behind slow traffic. The automatic stays in much too high of a gear, so when it comes time to floor it and merge, the downshift(s) take WAY too long. I push M and force it into 2nd for much better acceleration. And like lkwd318ti said, going to from 3 to 2 you have to be going fairly slow, or add some throttle as you downshift it.

Try that , I wanna see what happens.:eek:
On the other hand, you probably already did.:lol

FYI, you can even put the tranny in reverse while moving forward and it wont engage until you ALMOST come to a complete stop.

Try that , I wanna see what happens.:eek:
On the other hand, you probably already did.:lol

It happened to me on accident once. The button on the under T grip was stuck and a passenger accidentally bumped it into R. Nothing happened. Hooray.

anytime, you don't have to wait. you can hit the button at a dead stop or top speed. I wont damage the transmission. FYI, you can even put the tranny in reverse while moving forward and it wont engage until you ALMOST come to a complete stop.
this is true, it's great for scaring the guy behind you when your reverse lights flick on at 80 mph. :D

you sure about that?

Basically...
From a stop, press the M and then shift into 1st...
accelerate, then shift into 2nd when you feel it's time to shift, and keep doing it till you get to 4th(D).
To downshift, you can go from 4th(D) to 3rd.
But if you go from 3rd to 2nd, you would need to blip the throttle a bit or else you'll hear this ugly sound that sounds like the car will break.
DO NOT shift from 2nd to 1st unless your car is stopped...(same with manual transmission cars.

Hope this helps you.

-Randy

Im a new owner of a 98ti. I was using the manual feature and went from 3rd to second and it didnt make a loud noise or anything, but the car jerked and my transmission light came on. Did I F-up my transmission? Is there anything I can do? I put the car back in automatic mode but the light stayed on. Seems to be running okay though.

Im a new owner of a 98ti. I was using the manual feature and went from 3rd to second and it didnt make a loud noise or anything, but the car jerked and my transmission light came on. Did I F-up my transmission? Is there anything I can do? I put the car back in automatic mode but the light stayed on. Seems to be running okay though.

When I went from 3 to 2 WITHOUT pressing the throttle, my car jerks too.
The transmission light didn't come on for me though...
Good luck on your situation!

-Randy

Im a new owner of a 98ti. I was using the manual feature and went from 3rd to second and it didnt make a loud noise or anything, but the car jerked and my transmission light came on. Did I F-up my transmission? Is there anything I can do? I put the car back in automatic mode but the light stayed on. Seems to be running okay though.
how fast were you going when you did that?

the gearbox shouldn't shift down if it's travelling to quickly to downshift safely. that doesn't mean that it won't try though.

how fast were you going when you did that?

the gearbox shouldn't shift down if it's travelling to quickly to downshift safely. that doesn't mean that it won't try though.

If I need to slow down quicker I shift down to 2nd at around 40 mph, but I blip the throttle so it does it smoothly and the car won't jerk.

-Randy