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Old 16th December 2010, 20:56   #16
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re: Stop at nothing. Not even gears. The 1st A-Star AT ownership on Team-BHP

Quote:
Originally Posted by akshay1234
I dont think you need to put it into L etc when climbing up.
Are you sure about this ? Because this was a real steep climb, which takes quite some effort with the Swift too - a 45deg incline if I am right. I doubt the car would have climbed it with 4 people inside, in D mode. Anyway will try this sometime.

Quote:
Originally Posted by akshay1234
Also put it in N only if the signal is longer than a minute or so.
My logic was : In D, the car is trying to move, which I am cancelling using the brakes - a waste of energy. Instead go to N (idle). On MT cars also, I move to Neutral at signals - so followed the same here. Anyway, I guess my wifey/FIL will remain in D from the time they start the car till it is switched off.
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Old 16th December 2010, 21:35   #17
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re: Stop at nothing. Not even gears. The 1st A-Star AT ownership on Team-BHP

Congrats SupremeBaleno! Wishing your Fatherinlaw a long happy ownership experience. There must be quite a few like me who are curious about the FE figures. Perhaps some figures with a light foot?
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Old 16th December 2010, 22:00   #18
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re: Stop at nothing. Not even gears. The 1st A-Star AT ownership on Team-BHP

Quote:
Originally Posted by supremeBaleno View Post
Are you sure about this ? Because this was a real steep climb, which takes quite some effort with the Swift too - a 45deg incline if I am right. I doubt the car would have climbed it with 4 people inside, in D mode. Anyway will try this sometime.

My logic was : In D, the car is trying to move, which I am cancelling using the brakes - a waste of energy. Instead go to N (idle). On MT cars also, I move to Neutral at signals - so followed the same here. Anyway, I guess my wifey/FIL will remain in D from the time they start the car till it is switched off.
Im not sure about the A-Star but normally the transmission has a sensor so it knows when its on an incline and does not shift to a higher gear. Of course you will only know by trying it.

Your logic is absolutely correct. But you are forgetting the wear and tear caused by repeatedly moving from D to N and back to D.
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Old 16th December 2010, 22:08   #19
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re: Stop at nothing. Not even gears. The 1st A-Star AT ownership on Team-BHP

Congrats supremeBaleno,
Automatics have started picking up I see. For various reasons!
Anyways, happy mile crunching!

Do keep the thread updated.
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Old 16th December 2010, 23:51   #20
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Re: Driving Impressions

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Originally Posted by supremeBaleno View Post
Nope. Only VXi trim.
Alright! I wish they had offered A-Star in ZXi trim so that one could have safety features like ABS & Airbags!

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Not sure what the contradiction is here. 32kms was the reading on odo when we took delivery. Since then the car has been driven around with odo reading 150-odd and within this short duration, the seat-cover stitching is giving way.
I thought that you were referring to the current odometer reading and thus I got confused. My bad.
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Old 17th December 2010, 10:13   #21
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Re: Driving Impressions

Quote:
Originally Posted by akshay1234
Im not sure about the A-Star but normally the transmission has a sensor so it knows when its on an incline and does not shift to a higher gear. Of course you will only know by trying it.
Will definitely try this out during the long X'mas vacation. BTW, you mentioned using L for going downhill. With MT cars, the good practice is to climb down hills in the same gear that you climbed up, which is usually one of the lower gears. So, by that logic, if in AT we climb down in low, should we not using low for going up too ?

Quote:
Originally Posted by akshay1234
Your logic is absolutely correct. But you are forgetting the wear and tear caused by repeatedly moving from D to N and back to D.
Would there be significant wear and tear due to this ? Asking because while reading the manual, I went through the service schedule and was surprised to see that they have asked for replacement of the transmission oil only at 1.65lakh kms. Which seems to suggest the parts being low-maintenance.

BTW, no oil-change at 1K km 1st service. First oil change is at 10K kms only. Another surprise. Wonder if this is the same for A*-MT too.

Quote:
Originally Posted by Dry Ice
Congrats supremeBaleno,
Automatics have started picking up I see. For various reasons!
Anyways, happy mile crunching! Do keep the thread updated.
Thanks. A long highway trip is coming up and that should give me a better idea about the car and its pros/cons.

Quote:
Originally Posted by Klub Class
Alright! I wish they had offered A-Star in ZXi trim so that one could have safety features like ABS & Airbags!
It does have ABS - normal VXi-MT does not have ABS. But wish it also had airbags.

Quote:
Originally Posted by Klub Class
I thought that you were referring to the current odometer reading and thus I got confused. My bad.
No issues. Partly my mistake too. I re-read my post and saw that I forgot to clarify that 32kms was the odo on delivery.
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Old 17th December 2010, 10:36   #22
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Re: Driving Impressions

Quote:
Originally Posted by supremeBaleno View Post
Will definitely try this out during the long X'mas vacation. BTW, you mentioned using L for going downhill. With MT cars, the good practice is to climb down hills in the same gear that you climbed up, which is usually one of the lower gears. So, by that logic, if in AT we climb down in low, should we not using low for going up too ?

Would there be significant wear and tear due to this ? Asking because while reading the manual, I went through the service schedule and was surprised to see that they have asked for replacement of the transmission oil only at 1.65lakh kms. Which seems to suggest the parts being low-maintenance.
But while going up the car would be in L (1st gear) by default anyway, so no need to manually select it. Its only while going down, if left in D the car dosent give much engine braking. Thats why you have to manually select L or 2 then.

No I doubt any significant wear and tear. But why take a chance? Yes A/Ts are generally very low maintenance.
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Old 17th December 2010, 10:56   #23
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re: Stop at nothing. Not even gears. The 1st A-Star AT ownership on Team-BHP

AFAIK it is a very good practice (which I follow too) to switch to N from D at short duration stops / traffic light. IMO thats why the shifter can be moved between N <-> D without pressing the shift lock button/pressing the brakes (in some AT cars). I highly doubt there will be any wear and tear due to this.
Also - keeping the car in D and pressing the brakes takes its toll on he brakes and brakelights (which goes kaput sooner).
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Old 17th December 2010, 11:15   #24
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re: Stop at nothing. Not even gears. The 1st A-Star AT ownership on Team-BHP

Quote:
Originally Posted by blackasta
IMO thats why the shifter can be moved between N <-> D without pressing the shift lock button.
In the A*-AT, you can move between any gears, while the engine is running. Ajmat had mentioned that he could not get the shift-lock button to work. I also could not really find what it is for initially. Then I observed that when you have parked in P with engine off, you cannot shift to other gears. However, with shift-lock button depressed, you can. Not sure if this is the intention behind that feature.

BTW, when we are in Park mode, brakes are also applied - is this only the rear drum brakes ? Or all 4 wheels ?
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Old 17th December 2010, 11:18   #25
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re: Stop at nothing. Not even gears. The 1st A-Star AT ownership on Team-BHP

Quote:
Originally Posted by supremeBaleno View Post
In the A*-AT, you can move between any gears, while the engine is running. Ajmat had mentioned that he could not get the shift-lock button to work. I also could not really find what it is for initially. Then I observed that when you have parked in P with engine off, you cannot shift to other gears. However, with shift-lock button depressed, you can. Not sure if this is the intention behind that feature.

BTW, when we are in Park mode, brakes are also applied - is this only the rear drum brakes ? Or all 4 wheels ?
Shift lock is used to unlock if your engine has a problem and cannot be started.

You need to be in lower gears while climbing up because sometimes the car might be hunting to find the right gear if the steepness decreases.

Last edited by srishiva : 17th December 2010 at 11:20.
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Old 17th December 2010, 11:20   #26
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re: Stop at nothing. Not even gears. The 1st A-Star AT ownership on Team-BHP

Quote:
Originally Posted by supremeBaleno View Post
In the A*-AT, you can move between any gears, while the engine is running. Ajmat had mentioned that he could not get the shift-lock button to work. I also could not really find what it is for initially. Then I observed that when you have parked in P with engine off, you cannot shift to other gears. However, with shift-lock button depressed, you can. Not sure if this is the intention behind that feature.

BTW, when we are in Park mode, brakes are also applied - is this only the rear drum brakes ? Or all 4 wheels ?
Do not try to move between any gear other than D<->N when the car is moving. It can result in huge transmission damage.

When we are in P - no brakes are applied. Only the output shaft is mechanically locked. The parking pawl (a pin of sorts) prevents the transmission from rotating and the car does not move. If you hoist the rear wheels of the Astar on the jack while on P - they shall rotate freely.
While parking on an incline of any sorts, always engage the handbreak - this reduces the pressure from the parking pawl and helps in transmission longevity.



Quote:
Originally Posted by srishiva View Post
Shift lock is used to unlock if your engine has a problem and cannot be started.

You need to be in lower gears while climbing up because sometimes the car might be hunting to find the right gear if the steepness decreases.
No disrespect intended - you are wrong.

Last edited by blackasta : 17th December 2010 at 11:25.
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Old 17th December 2010, 11:51   #27
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re: Stop at nothing. Not even gears. The 1st A-Star AT ownership on Team-BHP

Quote:
Originally Posted by srishiva
Shift lock is used to unlock if your engine has a problem and cannot be started.
By "unlock" what do you mean ?
As I understood it, "By design, the lever will not shift through the gates when the engine is switched off. The Shift Lock is for emergencies. One can hold shift-lock button down and move the lever through the gates if ever required."

Quote:
Originally Posted by blackasta
Do not try to move between any gear other than D<->N when the car is moving. It can result in huge transmission damage.
I can see your point about say moving from D to R, while car is in motion. But is it a no-no to even move from D to D3 OR say D3 to 2 ? IIRC, the manual seems to suggest this is OK.

Quote:
Originally Posted by blackasta
While parking on an incline of any sorts, always engage
I have never used parking brake on any cars - due to fear of forgetting to release brake before driving off. But I guess I need to change my habit and also encourage wifey/FIL to use this as the parking-brake has more relevance for an AT - while parked and also at short stops when we are in N.
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Old 17th December 2010, 11:59   #28
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re: Stop at nothing. Not even gears. The 1st A-Star AT ownership on Team-BHP

Quote:
Originally Posted by supremeBaleno View Post
But is it a no-no to even move from D to D3 OR say D3 to 2 ? IIRC, the manual seems to suggest this is OK.
I think that is completely fine, infact I usually do that in my Accord when I want to downshift and drive it like a manual (No paddle shift or tiptronic, so what choice besides moving the gear level down to 1). Of course I make sure the speed isnt too high for a lower gear.
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Old 17th December 2010, 12:47   #29
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re: Stop at nothing. Not even gears. The 1st A-Star AT ownership on Team-BHP

SB, congratulations on your new car. Wish you many happy miles!
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Old 17th December 2010, 15:08   #30
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re: Stop at nothing. Not even gears. The 1st A-Star AT ownership on Team-BHP

I have a dumb question: In an manual car when 1st gear is still too fast, like traffic that is inching forward, or getting out of a parking lot etc, we use the half clutch. How do you manage very slow speeds in the automatic, i.e where the normal movement of the car without pressing the accelerator is too fast? Do you hold the brakes to slow it down?

Oh, BTW, congrats on a nice handling, spunky little car! Please do update with your mileage from time to time.
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