Aurion Gearbox - Sports Mode

[TRD1]

does any one else wish that sports mode meant a proper sequential type shift ? !

in sports mode the gearbox still decides when to change up, even after you have selected the next gear.

It also decides to change back down when you accelerate.

A true sequential would do what you tell it to when you tell it to regardless of revs and speed.

Not changing down if you are going too fast is a good saftey feature of any sequential box so that should remain.

Given it is electronically controlled someone must be cluey enough to change the ECU so that when you change gear the gearbox changes instantly.

Its very frustrating if you accelerate and change up to the next gear and the gearbox does nothing until you either back off a little or hit the limiter.

The standard set would be crap to dive around a track, you could never short shift if the track dictated it.

dont get me wrong, I am a very happy trd owner, just starting to get the modification itch and looking at what needs improvement.

maybe neal bates will make a sequential gearbox !!

[DJKOR]

I think many people out there wish the same. It's one of those nuisances though that you just have to live with when you realise what car it is you purchased. Toyota was aiming for comfort and not track performance when they designed the gearbox, so I guess that is the end result.

From what I heard, the ECU is well encrypted to prevent anyone but Toyota from messing with it. All we need is some genius out there to figure some way around it all. I'm not holding my breath though.

[Freddo]

does the aurion have a snow or hold button?

[v8toy]

they had a problem when the xr6 turbo falcons came out they couldnt do much with the ecu but with time and a bit of mucking around they figured it out and could tune a exhaust, intake and more boost mods off the standard ecu but only minor changes but a change is mostly good with that stuff right.

but the sports mode could do with some work to make it more sporty maybe a gearbox ecu mod or swap maybe the only way :D :D :D :D

whats a snow button?

[Freddo]

they had a problem when the xr6 turbo falcons came out they couldnt do much with the ecu but with time and a bit of mucking around they figured it out and could tune a exhaust, intake and more boost mods off the standard ecu but only minor changes but a change is mostly good with that stuff right.

but the sports mode could do with some work to make it more sporty maybe a gearbox ecu mod or swap maybe the only way :D :D :D :D

whats a snow button?

doubt there would be any company interested in hacking the ecu of an aurion. the XR6 turbos yeh coz plenty of owners would want to chase more power.

snow button is same as hold button - holds it in the gear u select (when in manual mode) or when in auto mode starts off in 2nds gear to reduce the risk of wheelspin.

thinking about it the aurion wouldnt have it coz it has traction control!?

[Adrian]

I think it's suppose to be Sequential mode, not sports.

[Supercharged TRD]

Yeah I find it annoying too. One of those little things that annoy me about the TRD (and probably all Aurions in general). I think Toyota merely designed it to be used to keep the gears low for descending hills, not so much for quick gear changes when doing spirited driving.

I know that if you try to send it past redline by dropping the gear at high speed, it will give that same "beep" that comes on when the traction control comes on. But no way to force it to stay at a higher gear than it wants to. Having said that, I can still get 0 to 100km/h in 6.0s when leaving it in auto mode, and that's better than an Evo X.

[dave262]

Compared to most Autos I have driven, I think the Aurion generally has a fairly good shift pattern that is tuned quite well for quick acceleration. The only reason for using the "sports mode" would be if you are towing something, going up a steep hill or descending a steep hill and don't want to either destroy the trans or wear the brakes.

In sports mode, it seems that every setting you put it in alters the shift pattern and limits the highest gear. Compared to "true sequential" such as in a Honda, where it doesn't have a shift pattern, but instead acts like a clutch-less manual. I personally prefer the Honda's implementation of it, as it gives far more control. But then again... the Aurion is a family car and isn't designed to be for pure performance.

[Speedz]

I just use the sports mode when I want to slow down the car in a hurry like around corners etc...

pretty handy and also have episode where the engine is so quiet that I didnt know I was revving 3k+ doing 100km/hr... only realised when I felt the sudden pin to me seat powerrrr when I tried to overtake a slow mobile...

:P

[DJKOR]

... also have episode where the engine is so quiet that I didnt know I was revving 3k+ doing 100km/hr... only realised when I felt the sudden pin to me seat powerrrr when I tried to overtake a slow mobile...

:P

That's one reason why I try to avoid using it. The car is so smooth that with my music on, I seem to always forget to upshift. I would be cruising down the highway with it in 3rd or 4th and only realise when I take a glance at the tacho. I usually only use it when I am cruising in dense traffic (like at 50-60km/h) and want to match the speed that everyone is moving at without having to use the brakes all the time as they slow down a fraction.

[Supercharged TRD]

I think Toyota put in place some "fuzzy" logic which they thought would negate the need for a true "sports mode" shifter. I find that if I drive the car very hard for a while, the system seems to learn this and will deliberately rev higher for that period of time. But when I'm in "grandpa" mode, it will shift up to higher gears faster. The only problem comes when I want that sudden burst of acceleration, like changing lane after a traffic jam and I catch the gearbox sleeping. But that's when the manual shifter comes in and the supercharger justifies its cost. :D

I changed my exhaust so it's quite obvious to me how high the car is revving.

Edited August 18, 2008 by TRD Aurion Owner

[Pumped]

What sort of exhaust have you got :D

Video clips? :D

hows it sound

[SecaBoy]

his is still a "stock" exhaust... but the tips have been replaced with pipe that bends and points downwards... GREAT idea as the back exhaust holes on the bumper dont get dirty anymore... plus its somehow changed the sound of the exhaust...

its not crazy loud, but still louder than stock... ;)

[Supercharged TRD]

Yeah, sorry just pointed them downwards. I'm quite a n00b at all this so I get the terminology wrong at times. I didn't even know what headers, CAI and catback was until I started hanging around here. My previous car was a company car (Nissan Maxima) and I wasn't allowed to mod it, so I'm just going a bit crazy now.

I paid $350 to get the exhaust tips done at Pipewerx at McGregor. They are not terribly loud as SecaBoy mentioned. In fact, at idle it sounds identical to the original one. If you want loud, hear Natedog's ride. ^_^

I plan to do gauges next, and maybe go down to CES to see if they can do anything for me.

Unfortunately, the day I brought my video camera out to do some recording was the day that the error message popped up. But I promise to get some videos on YouTube soon.

Edited August 18, 2008 by TRD Aurion Owner

[SecaBoy]

i'll be getting my cat back exhaust system done soon... so i'll let you know where/how much it costed me when its done... :)

[dave262]

Yeah, sorry just pointed them downwards. I'm quite a n00b at all this so I get the terminology wrong at times. I didn't even know what headers, CAI and catback was until I started hanging around here. My previous car was a company car (Nissan Maxima) and I wasn't allowed to mod it, so I'm just going a bit crazy now.

I paid $350 to get the exhaust tips done at Pipewerx at McGregor. They are not terribly loud as SecaBoy mentioned. In fact, at idle it sounds identical to the original one. If you want loud, hear Natedog's ride. ^_^

I plan to do gauges next, and maybe go down to CES to see if they can do anything for me.

Unfortunately, the day I brought my video camera out to do some recording was the day that the error message popped up. But I promise to get some videos on YouTube soon.

What would you change on the gauges? If they are the Optitron gauges I can't really imagine there being all that much u could change...

[Supercharged TRD]

No I'm not changing the optitronometerajig thing. Just adding some gauges on the centre console, I'm either looking at analogue gauges or a digital display like the Dash Hawk. I'm still looking for a digital display like the Dash Hawk that uses metric measurements. Either way, it has to have blue lighting to match the standard interior lights.

Also looking for the ever-elusive red Aurion gear shifter that was featured in early TRD Aurion builds but never showed up in the retail version. So far, no one has been able to help me get one. Even the company that was originally contracted by Toyota to manufacture those were not helpful.

Edited August 18, 2008 by TRD Aurion Owner

[DJKOR]

... I'm either looking at analogue gauges or a digital display like the Dash Hawk. I'm still looking for a digital display like the Dash Hawk that uses metric measurements. Either way, it has to have blue lighting to match the standard interior lights.

How about the ScanGaugeII? You can switch that between imperial and metric. It may not be as pretty as the Dash Hawk, but it's pretty much the same thing. I was planning on getting one for the fun of it.

[Supercharged TRD]

Hmm ScanGauge II with the blue backlight doesn't look too bad....do you think it's easy to install? I'm a complete n00b when it comes to all this.

Also evaluating whether to get 3 analogue gauges with blue backlights off Ebay, together with a gauge holder pod.

[DJKOR]

Hmm ScanGauge II with the blue backlight doesn't look too bad....do you think it's easy to install? I'm a complete n00b when it comes to all this.

Also evaluating whether to get 3 analogue gauges with blue backlights off Ebay, together with a gauge holder pod.

All you need to be able to do with the ScanGauge is run a cable. It is purely as easy as plugging it into the OBDII port located next to the bonnet release, running the cable to where ever you please, and plugging the other end of the cable into the ScanGauge.

As for the analogue gauges... that might work. You would want to blend it into the dash well though so it looks really clean.

[DJKOR]

Sorry to revive an old thread, but all the talk on the intake thread has made me think of bringing this thread back so I can post some further opinions.

So, for the past week I have had to drive my sister's Mazda3 around. It's definitely a huge difference compared to the Aurion, but I must say, at least Mazda got it right in the sports mode. The sports mode in this car behaves just as I would like the Aurion one to. Firstly, when you change over to sports mode, it will automatically enter the gear that the car was currently in when in auto mode.

Secondly, whatever gear you select, the car will stay in that gear. If you put your foot down, it is going to stay in that gear and won't automatically kick down. When slowing down, it will hold the gear for as long as it can, after which it will automatically drop down in gear and stay there (so say it automatically changes to 3rd, it will stay there even if you put your foot down afterwards). As well, when you come to a complete stop, it will automatically go to 1st so that if you forget to downshift, you will at least start in the right gear. On a side note, when at a complete stop, you have the ability to put the car into 2nd and launch from that gear.

There are some minor things as well that I wish the Aurion would do. The display on the dash shows which gear the car is in regardless of whether it is in auto or sports mode; in my opinion it is always nice to know that. Also as well, the gear shift for sports mode is actually the right way around; that is pull to upshift, push to downshift. I have gotten so used to the Aurion, which had led to a few occasions of epic mis-shift in the Mazda where I have pushed it to just about redline in first gear then pushing on the shift lever (which would do absolutely nothing) then having the rev-limiter kick in. Sure I can quite easily swap a couple of wires around to reverse the one on the Aurion, but I would like to have the fascia on the gear shift show the + and - around the right way.

So yeah, I thought I would share my experience with the Mazda. So it's funny to think that Mazda managed to get it right on a small car with a 4 speed auto, yet Toyota managed to mess up slightly. One thing to note though is that the Mazda shifts smoothly in auto mode, but is comparably rough in sports mode when compared to the Aurion. Even still, it would be nice if the Aurion behaved that way. Even if it was to shift roughly in sports mode, you would be entering it for the purpose of having manual control. If you wanted it to shift smoothly, you would then leave it in auto mode.

[myztik]

Also as well, the gear shift for sports mode is actually the right way around; that is pull to upshift, push to downshift. I have gotten so used to the Aurion, which had led to a few occasions of epic mis-shift in the Mazda where I have pushed it to just about redline in first gear then pushing on the shift lever (which would do absolutely nothing) then having the rev-limiter kick in. Sure I can quite easily swap a couple of wires around to reverse the one on the Aurion, but I would like to have the fascia on the gear shift show the + and - around the right way.

argh, i thought that i was just me playing too much games that i thought that pulling is upshifting while pushing is downshifting.

turns out that toyota mixed up their south and north. wonder why this is :s were they trying to prove that they are different or were their designers/engineers were on drugs :s i dont see the benefit in having this opposite shifting

[Stealth]

Sorry to spoil everyones fun but all the manual shift mode is for is to change the available gears. I looked into it a while ago and after decrypting the owners manual explanation it works like this.

Shifting from D to "Manual mode" manually changes the gears available to the gearbox. So if you select 3rd gear - the car will only use gears one through three. Or if you select 5th gear the car will only use gears from one through five, etc etc...

The manual shift mode is more to assist with gear selection in heavy/slow traffic (use 4th gear to use gears one through four to provide better respose at slow speeds) or engine braking on downhill stretches. It's only other practical use is for towing.

The crap part is that the manual shift option is nothing more than a modern version of an overdrive selector. But instead of having a 3 speed auto with 4th gear overdrive on a switch, you can select any of the 6 gears. Nothing more...

That's why the car still up and down shifts when it dam well pleases. Even though you think you've selected a single gear, you've only narrowed the cars options.

Edited October 15, 2008 by Stealth

[dave262]

It does however also seem to be a bit more rev-happy generally, and seems to like downshifting somewhat. You can still accelerate much alike a manual if you want, by simply stepping up through the gears - but going down a gear, it is just like normal auto in the way it downshifts. Interestingly manual upshifting between 1st and 2nd seems to avoid that massive lag the full auto mode typically does...

[DJKOR]

Sorry to spoil everyones fun but all the manual shift mode is for is to change the available gears. I looked into it a while ago and after decrypting the owners manual explanation it works like this.

Shifting from D to "Manual mode" manually changes the gears available to the gearbox. So if you select 3rd gear - the car will only use gears one through three. Or if you select 5th gear the car will only use gears from one through five, etc etc...

The manual shift mode is more to assist with gear selection in heavy/slow traffic (use 4th gear to use gears one through four to provide better respose at slow speeds) or engine braking on downhill stretches. It's only other practical use is for towing.

The crap part is that the manual shift option is nothing more than a modern version of an overdrive selector. But instead of having a 3 speed auto with 4th gear overdrive on a switch, you can select any of the 6 gears. Nothing more...

That's why the car still up and down shifts when it dam well pleases. Even though you think you've selected a single gear, you've only narrowed the cars options.

That was the point of this thread. Didn't really spoil our fun there. LOL.

Hence why I also posted my thoughts on the sports mode on a crappier car Mazda3.