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Slap shifting works great in a 9-3SS.... Posted by Mike Lynch [Email]  (#81) [Profile/Gallery]
(more from Mike Lynch) on Tue, 30 Jan 2007 12:48:20
In Reply to: Using manual mode with Sentronic auto transmission, 9-3Dog, Mon, 29 Jan 2007 14:08:55 Members do not see ads below this line. - Help Keep This Site Online - Signup |
The 9-3SS slap shifter works lots better than most people can possibly imagine. There's an overwhelming amount of prejudice against a Saab with an automatic as previous Saab autos were mostly miserable. Also the 9-3SS is one of the best manu-matic setups and programs, despite not having rev matching on downshifts. And the high torque of a Saab turbo is also very well suited to an auto. I do wish a 9-3SS had a sport button instead of automatically adjusting for sport or normal, but the excellent, intuitive slap shifter lessens the need for that.
While somewhat slow shifting in the lower gears, slap shifting works great for all the things you do with a manual. For example as I approach a freeway exit in D I slap it over to the manual gate and pull back twice and I've down shifted into third using engine braking to slow down instead of the brakes and in the right gear for the offramp, just like I would do in a manual.
For poking around the neighborhood I start in 1st and almost immediately slap to second as you really don't need first at low speeds, like with a manual. It won't shift down to 1st until a dead stop and motoring away from a slight roll in 2nd is very natural and preferred, again just like a manual. The Saab Sentronic is one of the few slap shifting systems that allows full use of 1st gear as many won't allow downwshifts into 1st or have a 1st gear position at all, if that's what you desire too.
My shift brain is wired to my arm, not my finger tips, so using the paddles takes more concentration whereas using the slap shifter becomes very intuitive and natural without taking your eyes off the road, unlike carefully have to select manual and then paddle only like in a 9-5.
The 9-3SS Sentronic (again not so with the 9-5) is also one of the few manu-matics that won't upshift at redline. It's very frustrating concentrating on you line during an autocross only to have the tranny pop into a higher gear on corner exit and spoil the getaway because you weren't paying close enough attention to the tach.
I don't think folks give the Sentronic enough of a workout before they choose the manual. The Sentronic operation is almost everything a manual is without a clutch pedal. Old (and true) Saab paradigms about previous Saab autos and just a general under appreciation of just what the tranny will and won't do and the suitability of the high torque turbo to the auto, make it an virtually impossible for many to really use one and comprehend it. You can always shift a Sentronic manually, and very satisfactorily, but you can never put a manual in D for stop and go traffic.
, Tue, 30 Jan 2007 12:48:20 <-- Viewing This Message, Wed, 31 Jan 2007 09:30:46
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