[pgsagar]

Thanks Iliketurtles and Panko. Iliketurtles, you can ask "kitna deti hai" about this tiny car unlike the guy in ad who asks this question about a space shuttle. A-Star is known for its FE and I am sure mine won't be an exception. I am sure it is the most fuel-efficient car after Nano. Especially now since it is new and not yet run-in, I am pussyfooting the go pedal. BTW, am not sure if the modern cars need running in.

Blackasta, you are right. I just noticed. N and D are in one plane whereas 3 and 2 are in another. And, I think P and N are not to be shfited into OR out of, unless car comes to a dead halt. Is that why P and N are encircled. And is it ok to keep car in D while staying on brake, at tarffic-lights? I know best would be to slot into N but when the wait is less than 1 min. I think we can keep it in D. Right?

[mdsaab]

Blackasta thanks for the clarification.
I too shift out of D at the traffic signal and into N.
Put up the handbrake and take it easy.
One does not have to though. You can keep it in D and hold the brakes.
And yes P and N are not to be shifted into while on the move.

[blackasta]

Originally Posted by pgsagar

Thanks Iliketurtles and Panko. Iliketurtles, you can ask "kitna deti hai" about this tiny car unlike the guy in ad who asks this question about a space shuttle. A-Star is known for its FE and I am sure mine won't be an exception. I am sure it is the most fuel-efficient car after Nano. Especially now since it is new and not yet run-in, I am pussyfooting the go pedal. BTW, am not sure if the modern cars need running in.

Blackasta, you are right. I just noticed. N and D are in one plane whereas 3 and 2 are in another. And, I think P and N are not to be shfited into OR out of, unless car comes to a dead halt. Is that why P and N are encircled. And is it ok to keep car in D while staying on brake, at tarffic-lights? I know best would be to slot into N but when the wait is less than 1 min. I think we can keep it in D. Right?

Originally Posted by mdsaab

Blackasta thanks for the clarification.
I too shift out of D at the traffic signal and into N.
Put up the handbrake and take it easy.
One does not have to though. You can keep it in D and hold the brakes.
And yes P and N are not to be shifted into while on the move.

It is OK to change D<->N while on the move (especially while slowing down for a red light), just do not put your foot on the gas while on N or else you might over rev the engine.
When I see a red light, I tap my brakes, push the lever in N and coast to the red light. Then I pull up the hand brake if the road has a slope.
One can stay on D and keep the brakes pressed while waiting at a traffic signal - but its doubly detrimental in the way that your brakes have to work harder while trying the car to creep forward and the engine spends undue energy by engaging the driveshaft.

[noopster]

Originally Posted by mdsaab

And yes P and N are not to be shifted into while on the move.

P never but what's the rationale for not moving into N while still in motion? I agree it shouldn't be done to"coast" say down a hill like those truck drivers do, but surely you can cut into N from D when approaching a signal- I often do.

[mdsaab]

In our Civic and the ANHC.
Have noticed that when waiting at a long signal.
The car automatically disconnects the driveshaft after a period.
You can see the rpm come down a bit.
As well as the the car settling down and not wanting to agressively move forward.
Anyone else feel anything similar?

Noops you too. Well am going to read more about it. I somehow felt its not the right thing to do.
What i was of the impression of is. Neutral is to be used when thr car has stalled or stationary and you need to move it to the side of the road.
Shall post any findings.
Drive Safe!

[blackasta]

Originally Posted by mdsaab

In our Civic and the ANHC.
Have noticed that when waiting at a long signal.
The car automatically disconnects the driveshaft after a period.
You can see the rpm come down a bit.
As well as the the car settling down and not wanting to agressively move forward.
Anyone else feel anything similar?

AFAIK - when the driveshaft is disengaged by the clutch, the RPM should go up momentarily before the idle speed actuator brings it to a steady level in order to not stall the engine.
I believe the phenomenon you are talking about is the AC clutch/compressor engaging / disengaging.

[mdsaab]

Thanks again Blackasta.
Sorry there isnt a thanks button on the android application as yet, so cant click that.
Its quite possible it may be the ac clutch.
I will let it happen again and then closely monitor and post the findings.

[jinojohnt]

The A-star Automatic User Manual specifically mentions the following:
1. For shifting in and out of 'P' make sure that the car is stationary, to avoid damage to the transmission.
2. Never shift from 'N' to 'D' when the engine is running more than idle speed, else it would damage the transmission.
3. Even if you shift from 'D' to '3', the transmission would not actually shift down to '3' until the engine rpm falls below the upper limit for '3'.

Other points from my experience:
1. There is no engine braking below 15 km/hr, simply because the car would be in first gear, and the engine would be 'pushing' the car even without pressing the accelerator. (Once the car reaches below 15 km/hr, I find that braking is better if I shift to 'N').
2. Above 15 km/hr, the car brakes better at 'D' rather than at 'N' due to engine braking.

[mdsaab]

Originally Posted by jinojohnt

Other points from my experience:
1. There is no engine braking below 15 km/hr, simply because the car would be in first gear, and the engine would be 'pushing' the car even without pressing the accelerator. (Once the car reaches below 15 km/hr, I find that braking is better if I shift to 'N').
2. Above 15 km/hr, the car brakes better at 'D' rather than at 'N' due to engine braking.

I guess it's because the car stops it natural forward crawl when in N as compared to D. Just got back, will read about shifting into N from D while on the move.

[pratim]

Hello pgsagar,
Beautiful looking car there. It's hot, its cute and it a hatch. Nice! And a big welcome to the AT brigade! This makes perfect sense for a second car at the least. Please keep us updated about your experience with the AT.

Originally Posted by mdsaab

In the Honda we have to rely on our senses to make out which gear she is in. Have gotten pretty good at it so it's alright. But a feature i would have loved to have in the Honda's.

In the manual override front, the Honda's come with paddles while the VW comes with tip tronic.
Noops we shall meet soon and drive them back to back to and post our findings.

@Mdsaab, been thorough your thread. Amazing. A bit of information on the in-gear display in ANHC A/T:
a) In the S mode with paddle shifters, you can always see in what gear your car is running: display comes in the speedo dial towards the bottom. It shows like: M1, M2, etc.
b) In D mode if you are using the paddle shifters, it shows briefly the gear selected and car is in. Thsi time around, only the gear number is displayed: no 'M' stuff. If you are using the paddles too freqently, the display will remain on for a a longer duration.
Try these let us know how do you feel.

Cheers
Pratim

[mdsaab]

Originally Posted by pratim

@Mdsaab, been thorough your thread. Amazing. A bit of information on the in-gear display in ANHC A/T:
a) In the S mode with paddle shifters, you can always see in what gear your car is running: display comes in the speedo dial towards the bottom. It shows like: M1, M2, etc.
b) In D mode if you are using the paddle shifters, it shows briefly the gear selected and car is in. Thsi time around, only the gear number is displayed: no 'M' stuff. If you are using the paddles too freqently, the display will remain on for a a longer duration.
Try these let us know how do you feel.

Cheers
Pratim

Thanks Mate,
Yes am aware of this, but the display in D vanishes after a couple of seconds. What i would have liked is for it to stay on throughout the drive.

[pgsagar]

Thanks Pratim. Today I checked the in-city mileage. I got 16.74 KMpl. Very impressive indeed, for an AT. Of course, I refrained from stamping on the go pedal. More like coaxed it gently. But the in-city part included 10-15 kph crawls. No snarl-up though. The traffic keeps moving, even at a crawl, in this city. We seldom see jams. Will check highway FE and some brick-on-the-pedal FE.

Why does my car take 2/3 cranks to fire up? I always thought petrol engines fire up instantly. Or, may be I am spoiled by my Lancer D which fires up if you so much as touch the key.

One more thing. When I start in the morning and turn the blower on, I get soil smell. I always have my car in recirculation mode, so there shouldn't be any outside air blowing in.

jinojohnt, please refer to your point no.2. Never shift from N to D when engine is ove-revving. Wish this car had a tacho. Well, how does MUL expect us to ensure this? By honing our aural skills?

[blackasta]

Originally Posted by pgsagar

Thanks Pratim. Today I checked the in-city mileage. I got 16.74 KMpl. Very impressive indeed, for an AT. Of course, I refrained from stamping on the go pedal. More like coaxed it gently. But the in-city part included 10-15 kph crawls. No snarl-up though. The traffic keeps moving, even at a crawl, in this city. We seldom see jams. Will check highway FE and some brick-on-the-pedal FE.

Why does my car take 2/3 cranks to fire up? I always thought petrol engines fire up instantly. Or, may be I am spoiled by my Lancer D which fires up if you so much as touch the key.

One more thing. When I start in the morning and turn the blower on, I get soil smell. I always have my car in recirculation mode, so there shouldn't be any outside air blowing in.

jinojohnt, please refer to your point no.2. Never shift from N to D when engine is ove-revving. Wish this car had a tacho. Well, how does MUL expect us to ensure this? By honing our aural skills?

A new car should not take 2-3 cranks to start up. Are you sure you aren't letting go of the crank a bit too early?

Also - while driving your car for the first time in the day, have the blower set to fresh air and roll down all the windows. Keep it like this for 2-3 minutes and then roll up the windows, and turn on the AC in fresh / recirculate mode. The smell might be from the fungus that sets in the AC ducts, or just stale recirculated air - try a AC vent cleaning.

[supremeBaleno]

Originally Posted by pgsagar

Today I checked the in-city mileage. I got 16.74 KMpl. Very impressive indeed, for an AT. Of course, I refrained from stamping on the go pedal. More like coaxed it gently. But the in-city part included 10-15 kph crawls. No snarl-up though. The traffic keeps moving, even at a crawl, in this city. We seldom see jams. Will check highway FE and some brick-on-the-pedal FE.

Hmm. Impressive FE, especially for Vizag, though the last time I was there was atleast 15years ago. How did you measure it BTW ? FTF method, I hope. Regarding coaxing, yeah, I for some reason become gentle when I am driving the AT - with our MT cars, I am revving. Not sure why. The rare times I stomped on the A-pedal was when I wanted to perfect overtaking-manouvre in AT.

Originally Posted by pgsagar

Why does my car take 2/3 cranks to fire up? I always thought petrol engines fire up instantly.

Do you mean 3 full cranks to start the car ? Never faced this, but sometimes I did not complete the turn of the key (ie. feathered the key) and the car would not start which I believe is expected.
EDIT : blackasta put my thoughts down better - "not letting go of the crank early" is what I meant when I said "not complete the turn of the key".

Originally Posted by pgsagar

One more thing. When I start in the morning and turn the blower on, I get soil smell. I always have my car in recirculation mode, so there shouldn't be any outside air blowing in.

I always have it in recirc mode and never faced this issue.

Originally Posted by pgsagar

jinojohnt, please refer to your point no.2. Never shift from N to D when engine is ove-revving. Wish this car had a tacho. Well, how does MUL expect us to ensure this? By honing our aural skills?

I am not sure, but I believe he would have meant that you should not revv the car and then shift to D. In normal cases, you can start the car and shift to D without needing a tacho.

BTW, one thing I noticed from the time we got this car till today and which I mentioned in my LTR is that on startup the engine is loud - I don't seem to hear this loudness in our Swift/Baleno. Do you also see this ?

[mdsaab]

Probably the loud engine has much to.do with the fact that its a 3 pot.
They are usually buzzy and not extremely smooth at idle too.

On.another note.
I managed to check out the City idle in D thing i was mentioning earlier.
When i stop for a little longer in D and hold the brake pedal down harder than usual.
The brake pedal softens down
Thr rpm goes lower. And it feels much easier to hold the car stationary.
I have no clue as to what exactly this is. But only the experience to share.