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Old 06-25-2009, 11:54 AM
Ladogaboy Ladogaboy is offline
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Join Date: Jun 2009
Posts: 271
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From what I've felt of the car up to this point, I think the driving techniques for it aren't dissimilar from the techniques for driving most other cars.

Normal mode is fine for daily driving. In my opinion, it might even be a bit too aggressive. If the shift points were dropped by 250-500 rpm depending on gear, I believe that the fuel economy would increase substantially.

Sport mode is fun, but completely unnecessary for daily driving. It is also not ideal for racing, but I am glad it is there. It is, for me, a "fun" mode. If I happen to be driving through canyons or up on a mountain road, I might switch it on just for the fun factor. I have to imagine that the higher revs would make it a better choice for uphill climbs (still somewhat tame driving circumstances), though...

The fact that the TC-SST doesn't have super sport mode doesn't bother me at all. If I'm actually racing, I want 100% control of the shifts (even if the super sport in the EVO might shift better than me, I'd rather do it myself).

Braking, as I've seen, works the same as it should work in any other car. The brakes are under-sized and under-performing (mostly due to the weight of the car), but they aren't that bad. The main thing to remember about braking is that it should be done in a straight line. Just make sure that you have done all your braking before you enter a corner, and you should be fine.

E-braking: My question is why? Do you want to kick out the rear? You should have gotten a FR car if that's what you wanted to do. I, personally, would be scared to see what excessive e-braking would do to my beautiful AWC.

Down shifting should work the same as a manual. I haven't mapped out the full rpm curve just yet (I've only had the car for about 1,000 miles), but once you know what the speed to rpm ratios are, you can make a better judgment about when to down shift/up shift. Generally, you down shift when you are decelerating or when you are coasting and you want a sudden burst of speed. When performance driving, I would say that you should be trying to downshift to keep your rpms in the 4-5k range.

Up shifting should be done either: a) when you are driving normally, about the time you start to feel boost come on (between 2 to 2.5k) or b) when you are performance driving, about the time your powerband starts to peter off (depending on the tune and the setup, about 6k).

Auto mode: Great for daily driving and stop and go traffic. Basically, good for all the times you just want to sit back and relax while driving. The Sport mode is also good for spirited, but relaxed driving.

Manual mode: I've used it while daily driving (not a lot), and I've found that it is somewhat effective. I want to mess with it a little more, but right now, I am tracking my fuel economy in Normal mode. After a few tanks of gas, I will switch over to driving exclusively in manual mode to see if I can do better than the computer in terms of fuel economy.

Tarmac: Dry pavement. 90% of your driving, you should be in Tarmac mode.

Gravel: Dirt, gravel or wet pavement. So, when it's raining, switch to Gravel mode.

Snow: Well, snow and ice.

ASC: Active stability control. This is mainly to prevent skidding and to help maintain control in hard braking. The funny thing is (and this could just be psychosomatic), but I feel the difference in the car with ASC off even during normal driving conditions. One thing I will say, this is being turned off when I go to the track.

I think I've covered the last two already. Anyway, these are all based on my experience and are my opinions. They are in no way meant to be authoritative, so if anyone feels like adding to this or correcting me in any places where I have erred from the truth, please do. I come to these boards to learn as well.

Last edited by Ladogaboy; 06-26-2009 at 12:52 AM. Reason: typo
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