Quote:
Originally Posted by KarthikK Hearty congrats on the purchase Bluu! Amazing thread and one of a kind, this is the only Kizashi ownership thread on all of team-bhp.
The car looks smashing to say the least. My car should have been in that 3 car photoshoot on the first page, if only I had managed to make it that day.
The last set of pictures are nice. The interiors look brilliant and fab, I must say. I'm going to take a test drive of your car very soon , and you better give it on a proper road, not near the traffic-jam-clogged ITPL vicinity.
How are the paddle shifters to use? How good is the automatic mode in detecting sudden inclines and downshifting to compensate, etc? How does the manual override feel? |
Thanks Karthik! Let's make another drive plan da. Woody's is near perfect for a quick breakfast run. Bring your new Punto!
I will answer your question about the paddle shifters in my answers to anandpadhye below.
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Originally Posted by anandpadhye Congrats @Bluu.
How is the CVT overall? I mean can you post some details?
I read somewhere that the RPM to speed ratio (in any given gear) can change depending upon driving style. Is that true? Did you experience anything like that so far?
And how is the manual mode? Does it wait till redline for the driver to upshift? And if you downshift, if you are in the valid RPM range, does it downshift instantly?
Does it shift to neutral on it's own if you brake and come to a complete halt, say on a red signal?
Cheers! |
Thanks!
The easiest way to describe the CVT characteristic is to liken it to a turbo. What I mean by that is, if you are in slow-moving traffic, the transmission is a breeze to drive like any other auto box. However, consider if you are in free-flowing conditions and if you depress the accelerator and the car is
not in the power band (if it is puttering in low-rpm in a high gear from FE sake) there is a fraction of a second before the car hits the right RPM and the surge of power comes through. This behaviour is very similar to the spooling of a turbo but the lag is very short. If during the kick-down acceleration the car is in the powerband, power delivery is immediate and brutal like I mentioned before. This is the
rubber-band effect that is mentioned a lot about this CVT and while it would be nice if it did not happen, it definitely does not detract from the experience. Not unless you were the getaway driver for a bank heist but then you wouldn't be using an automatic in the first place!
The RPM to speed ratio definitely matches the driving style. You can be at 4,500 RPM at 80 kph in second while accelerating and can also cruise at 1,500 RPM at 80 kph at a higher gear. Not sure if I'm answering your question correctly.
I have used the manual mode sparingly for two reasons:
1. I was running in the car and did not want to cross my 4,000 RPM run-in limit.
2. Red-lining this car on surface streets is a recipe for disaster. The rubber band effect I described above is almost nullified in manual mode. There is so much power and torque and the gear changes are so quick that you can very quickly hit triple digit speeds. I am going to refrain from using that mode unless I am on a freeway.
To answer your questions, yes, the car will redline (6,500 RPM) in every gear and hold it till you shift. Downshifts are instant and multiple downshifts will keep raising the RPM. I haven't tried hard downshifting (5th to 2nd etc) yet so can't comment on how the car will handle that. I prefer the paddles to the stick for ergonomic and intuitive reasons. I just can't seem to wrap my head around the rally-style up-down action of the stick shifter.
In manual mode, the car will downshift for you if it thinks you have left it too late and may stall. I like this feature. The car will not shift to neutral when at a stop. I do it manually when at red lights since the cabin vibrations are almost completely removed when in neutral. Engaging drive gets a thrum started.
I have not driven the car on sudden inclines to know how well it will cope. My feeling is that the driver will probably feather the throttle to compensate for the incline rather than wait for the car to take action.
I hope this answers your questions. If not, please ask me again like you would ask a small child and I will try my best to answer.
Cheers!