autostick for the newbie?

[Punch]

ok i have the autostick in my car, not knowing how to drive standard, can I screw anything up with the autostick?

the dealer says the computer, will not allow anything stupid to happen. but the other day, i downshifted using autostick, and the car seemed to bog right down, is this safe etc.....

what should I learn, know etc....

Punch

[SteelBlueGT]

No problem autostick is pretty much fool proof but you can downshift and put a strain on engine for no good reason but you cant really hurt the engine! It will let you upshift too soon and bog yourself down too! There is nothing too hard to figure out, shift before redline and as you slow down it will actually downshift for you including when you stop. My problem is that if I let it downshift comming to a stop I forget to upshift and it revs a lot for no good reason till I remember I have to shift. I mostly use it when I want to take off fast from a stop or when I am going downhill and dont want to ride the brakes all the way down. third and second depending on the hill works great to keep me within speed limit and off the brakes! [^]

[DTs_PTGT]

SteelBlueGT,

The cool thing about the PT (IMHO) is that cruise control will do the same thing that you are doing with the autostick if you go more than 5MPH faster than what you have cruise set to. I think that's a pretty cool feature, although I wasn't sure what was going on the first time it kicked in LOL!

[Beacon]

Yup, it'll shift up for ya but it will also let you downshift as far as you like whether good or bad.

I can't say for certain if it applies as I've never driven the PT with Auto-Stick but my Dad's Prowler would sometimes lag a little when I was downshifting and thinking I hadn't pushed it over far enough I'd hit it again and it'd bog waaaay down like ya said.

I think the gear indicator is in a more prominent place in the PT so it shouldn't be hard to get in the habit of checking it before you bog it down. Think it's just one of those things ya have to get accustomed too.

[PK Cruiser]

quote:Originally posted by Beacon

Yup, it'll shift up for ya but it will also let you downshift as far as you like whether good or bad.

I can't say for certain if it applies as I've never driven the PT with Auto-Stick but my Dad's Prowler would sometimes lag a little when I was downshifting and thinking I hadn't pushed it over far enough I'd hit it again and it'd bog waaaay down like ya said.

I think the gear indicator is in a more prominent place in the PT so it shouldn't be hard to get in the habit of checking it before you bog it down. Think it's just one of those things ya have to get accustomed too.

The PT won't let you down shift with the autostick above certain speeds...don't recall what they are, but you are rather safe...

[Punch]

thanks for the replies, now I wonder about shifting into corners, out fo corners etc.....

maybe some lessons on driving a stick might help?

[SteelBlueGT]

Corner shifting is like hill shifting need to be in right gear for the speed of the turn. I find it is better to slow down before the turn rather than go hot into the turn and brake hard. My Cruiser likes to be relatively straight before I put the power down! I think most front drive cars prefer you power through the turn rather than brake late!!