(Automatic) Tips for smooth shifting in manual mode

[spark hinge]

So guys there's a road I unfortunately have to take on my daily commute and the automatic gear shifter is completely <not nice words> for the conditions of this road

Can someone give me some solid tips on how to shift smoothly as I dont have the budget to afford damage to the transmission?

[flat sonnet]

youtube is 🔥

[spark hinge]

I tried that already and didn't get what I was looking for

[flat sonnet]

Do u have a clutch?

[knotty ember]

Being in manual mode is gonna be exactly the same. What kind of problem does the road have
And what kind of damage do you think it will do to the transmission

[shrewd roost]

What kind of road conditions make the auto suck?
Also, I don't think any relatively modern automatic will allow you to damage the gearbox in manual mode

my car won't

[flat sonnet]

I have so many questions

this post makes no sense

[spark hinge]

@knotty ember @shrewd roost the car just loves going into 5th gear when I frequently need the power of 3rd gear

And then I find myself almost constantly flooring it

I honestly forgot what about the road created that condition, but I remember the feeling of misery as I had to constantly take it out of automatic, I think it was just a lot of uphill

[spark hinge]

It's an automatic as listed in the title, if you didn't know a bunch of automatics have a mode where you can manually select gears, you just kinda push the shifter up or down to go up one or down one

It also integrates the cars computer so you can't really stall it or push it past redline

[spark hinge]

Alright, I appreciate the reassurance but either way I'd like some kind of concrete guide on how to do smooth shifts without the car jerking backwards or something silly like that

[spark hinge]

In terms of transmission damage, honestly it just feels uncomfortable sometimes, I kinda just threw that out there to see if anyone would correct me and say it doesn't do any 👍

[knotty ember]

Well there's things that could do some damage to the transmission but if its just a hill its the engine thats working the hardest if you are on those high gears.
If the jerking you mention is while downshifting try letting go a bit of the gas. And preferably go into manual mode before those hills

[shrewd roost]

I had a similar problem when I was new to driving. All you need to do, really, is just not downshift to first gear unless the car is completely stopped. Don't try to get the car moving from a stop in 3rd gear. That's about it

What car is this, anyway?

[flat sonnet]

Ok well obviously I know that

Given that u have no clutch

How would u plan on shifting “smoothly”?

Not rlly possible

[spark hinge]

Hyundai Sonata 2011 regular version

[spark hinge]

Well I've done smooth shifts before, and when in automatic mode almost every shift is smooth except the occasional once in 2 weeks

[spark hinge]

Well I know those parts, but thank you for the reinforcement!

[spark hinge]

Thank you for the tip, is there any situation in where being on the gas would help?

[knotty ember]

Well if you want to downshift faster you should stay on the gas. But you say it jerks. You should also maybe check your transmission mounta if its jerking too hard

Because it shouldn't

[spark hinge]

Alright, well unfortunately my family does not have a jack, all the people who did died 😭

But if it's a noticeable issue I'll get some kind of diagnostic from a local shop

[spark hinge]

So basically staying on the gas will do it faster but more uncomfortably?

Would it benefit letting off or staying on the gas when upshifting?

[knotty ember]

Off the gas is smoother. My car has a fucked up transmission mount and when i feel it shifting i let go of the gas so it doesn't jerk

[spark hinge]

Alright thank you

[flat sonnet]

So?

U say all ur shifts in auto are smooth, so what is ur actual question

[flat sonnet]

If u have a torque converter that isn’t super new, ur transmission will slightly “jerk”

Its just how it is, if ur transmission randomly jerks hard on a downshift, and if ur trans fluid is perfectly fine, its just the trans being dumb and trying to shift quickly

[spark hinge]

In manual gear selection mode on the automatic, it's not

[spark hinge]

That makes sense, cause the upshifts are significantly slower, I usually can count to about 2, and the downshift are usually about 0.8 in my made up units of time

Anyway though I think I've got the general idea now.

I need to do a bit more testing to be sure but I think one of the primary issues is with the engine breaking being really overpowering which made me think that I should be on the gas, but the guys tip from earlier about simply letting off the gas before downshifting definitely helped in certain situations as well but I've got some ideas to explore now atleast

Pretty sure the solution in a manual car would just be rev matching... though unfortunately I can't really control the clutch

[flat sonnet]

If u have a torque converter and its not built to throttle in between gears, either pressing the throttle will do nothing, or it will make ur torque converter slip the gear more and make the shift slower but smoother which is not really want u want (more wear)

[spark hinge]

Okay okay, I will definitely do my research on torque converters, tysm

[undone lintel]

0.8 after you ask for the gear or it's legit shifting for 0.8 ish

[spark hinge]

after i ask for the gear

the actual gear shifts appear to be under a second every time

[undone lintel]

Oh OK, I got so concerned your transmission was done for, I got a 21 year old truck that does it in 0.2

[spark hinge]

that's really cool that you have such an old vehicle