JohnInTexas

I have a 1989 928 S4, Automatic. I grew up in the country and drove pickups, a VW Rabbit, a Mazda GLC, and a Buick Electra. More recently I drive a Camry as my every day driver. Now none of those cars is anything close to a sports car and I only used gears other than "D" for "Drive" if I was hauling a load with a pickup or pulling a boat up a ramp. Are the other gears on my 928 for showing out? How do you use your 928's automatic transmission and what is OK and not OK from a mechanical standpoint?

dcrasta

Good question: *Disclaimer - Some may disagree with what I do*

Your car is equipped with a 4 speed Auto made by Mercedes Benz. Its a good transmission, tough, and when in good condition/adjusted properly feels almost seamless (unless you are getting it on!).

Normal driving in the city with female in car -D [car shifts quickly and smoothly, almost invisibly if you are lightly on the throttle.]
Normal driving in the city solo -3 [Does not go into '4' gear, however 3rd is good for 60-70 mph easily (I am spinning 2800 rpms at 80mph)]
'Spirited Driving -'
-Manually shifting the transmission :
-If your transmission is adjusted correctly (vacuum modulator, bowden cable, fluid level), you can manually shift. If you put the car in 2 it will stay in first gear( from a standing start ) until redline or you move the shift lever to '3'
-Once you move the lever to 3 and it shifts from 1- ->2 gear, if you put the lever back in '2' it will stay in second gear.
-Once you are in second gear (and the lever is in -2-), you get 3rd by moving the shifter to 3 (same with 3- 4(D) shift..move the lever and the car shifts.)

Downshifting is the same. From 'D' (exit ramp for example) you can move the selector to 3 and the car will downshift (and you can also move it to 2 for a downshift but be aware of 'rpm-matching' so you dont try to put it in a gear that is incorrect for your speed).

If you put it in 2 it will not shift to 1st until your speed is < 20MPH (or so).

for towing I would suggest putting it in 3rd until your road speed gets to about 60-65 then go to D, however if your transmission is all adjusted correctly and your kickdown is working you should be fine leaving it in D.

Good luck. Have fun with your car (check your fluid level in the transmission before towing!)

JohnInTexas

dcrasta, good review...and thanks. I experimented briefly with using the transmission manually and it does allow you to keep the engine at a little higher RPMs during acceleration. I never got close to redline....clarify what you said about redline. When you said:
"If you put the car in 2 it will stay in first gear( from a standing start ) until redline or you move the shift lever to '3'"
you didn't mean the car would shift up on its own? If it does that, I would be impressed with the engineering.
As for towing...I guess an S4 would do a good job towing but I just can't see putting a trailer hitch on it, LOL!

dcrasta

Yes if you floor it in 2 from a standing start it will shift to 2 just about 6k.
(If everything is working).
At least my car does this.

voskian

I "play " with the auto shift lever just as dcrasta describes. On the highway when I am cruising at 65-70 and want to pass , I don't mash the pedal to downshift, just pull back into 3rd , watch revs pick up, and then mash the pedal!!

I also can pull into 2 at stand still and it will hold 1st until redline and mine then will shift to 2nd. I usually just shift the 2-3-2 as previously described.

The automatic can really be quite a bit of fun shifting this way.

Around town I essentially have a 2 speed, starts in second and leave in 3rd .

Randy V

I shift it constantly.

It goes into Drive only on the freeways.

WallyP

John,

You can also install a toggle or push button switch in parallel to the kickdown switch located under the throttle pedal.

When this switch is closed (on), the transmission will be more reluctant to upshift, and more eager to downshift. This gives the equivalent to the "sport mode" found on some of the newer sporty sedans.

This is a pretty popular mod. Cheap, easy, no permanent change to the car, and a lot of fun when you feel like doing some sporty driving.

JohnInTexas

Coool! I'm reluctant to do any permanent mods since I'm almost (except the wheels and sound) fully original stock. The sport switch is a super idea.

So far, everyone has offered mostly positive feedback on how to use the transmission to benefit the Porsche Experience. I'm reluctant to redline...I tend to be overly cautious with things I don't fully understand tolerance for...but has anyone had experiences that would indicate constant shifting of gears in an automatic causes pre-mature wear any of us might be concerned about?

voskian

Only personal experience...16 years of ownership and 75K miles of rowing the gears in my 89 S4 and no problems.

jayc67

My opinion only of course but... from talking to folks over the years it appears that the 4 speed auto we have is pretty much bulletproof. That and the shift points seem to be well before actual engine damage could occur if things are solid so we probably aren't REALLY at redline if we let the transmission do it's thing.

I don't think there is much extra wear by moving it around now and then, but that's just my gut feeling. I drive around town in 3 and kick it up to D on the highway, that's about the only time I mess with it.

I have toyed with wiring in a switch like Wally describes, just never got around to it. It's more fun to hit the switch under the pedal

auzivision

D is for date night and highway cruising
3 is for around town
2 is for cornering
1 is for takeoff
N is for nothing
R is for rockford

for those not old enough to remember the files... it goes something like this:

NoVector

If you still have the stock "T" handle, a shifter like this will make rowing the gears more fun.

http://marketplaceadvisor.channeladv...12&i=127121456

voskian

Excellent point on changing the T shifter. I switched years ago to the Jaeger CF shifter and makes shifting much easier.

FredR

Some folks seem happy to accept what Herr Ferdinand put through the letter box and others are more prone to challenge.

In std forn the auto box is designed to take off in second and IMHO kills the notion that this is a sports car. Tha tprobably suited the well heeled executives of the day who originally purchased these things.

For those of us a tad more adventurous Porsche left something on the table to play with. The first little trick is to tighten the kickdown cable. I believe Porsche tell you to adjust it so that when the cup is offered to the ball it sits on you fit it with the adjuster 1 turn slack of that position- I fit it about 3 turns tight [apologies if it is 3 turns slack and I fit it 1 turn tight-memory?]. This livens up the way the box operates and tends to get you first gear starts about half throttle.

The second bit as Wally alludes to is to short out the kick down switch. In this mode the auto box takes off big time at low speeds. In this position I find the optimal adjustment of the kick down cable is easy to find in that if you are doing about 70 mph in top gear, a light touch of the throttle pedal will get you into 3rd gearwithout thinking.

The easy way to do this is to cut the cable leading to the kickdown switch and re-connect it using a pair of 13 amp [or whatever] connectors at the base of the pedals. Then on the inlet terminals also add another pair of cables, take that back to a convenient location and fit either a toggle switch or as I do, a simple spade connector. The former is more practical but I find once you do this you do not want to go back to being wthout it unless you are doing tuning runs where you need to hold gears.

Regards

Fred

depami

Be careful with your rowing!