[jjw1033]

Still enjoying my SX Koup
The concept of the sport manual mode of the Automatic is new to me.
Any tips on working with it for the best performance and fuel economy. In simple terms please. It has been years (way too many) since owning a standard, and have just put my cars in DRIVE and go. Now it's time to get funky. And no, no plans for racing etc.
Thanks

 

[wingzero_]

Really nothing to it, simply shift at an RPM that suits the current situation. Around town and the red lights, 3000 would be more than enough. On the highway a little higher to bring you up to speed. No real reason to downshift other than to pass other cars.

 

[plat_num]

^Can you explain further?

Why shift at 3000 and not 4000 for example? Better fuel economy or something?

 

[CorsaKoup]

If you're hoping to better your fuel economy by shifting manually, you may be out of luck. The ECU controls the transmission in a way that maximizes efficiency in any situation. Of course, there will be no MPG difference if the gas is floored in manual mode vs automatic, but the computer knows best when it comes to shift points during normal driving.

 

[KiaTech]

There are only a few times I have found it useful to pick my own gear... driving through town at 60 km/h the car likes fifth, and I like fourth. When comeing into town on the freeway, I drop a gear or two and let it 'engine brake' instead of using the left pedal. When passing on the highway, dropping two gears provides a satisfying push while avoiding the trans dropping to second (and sounding like a jackass passing someone at 5,500 rpm). Crawling through parking lots I like first gear.

All personal preference, but for me that's pretty much 'it'. The transmission control unit is a marvel of logic and mapping... let it do it's job - after all, you paid more for it

Go ahead and play with it... it'll never let you drop too many gears and over rev the engine, nor will it let you shift up into a gear that will over-lug the engine. The only thing you'll hurt is your fuel economy.

 

[jjw1033]

.... The ECU controls the transmission in a way that maximizes efficiency in any situation. ......

But what if you take it out of ECU?

 

[wingzero_]

^Can you explain further?

Why shift at 3000 and not 4000 for example? Better fuel economy or something?

Exactly.

 

[EspanaSX]

I would just let it stay in D.
My mom has an AUDI A4 with Triptronic and it's basically the same (im using it as an example)
The so called "sport mode" is similar to a car that has D 3 2 L
The sport mode uses the same gears 1 - 5, that you get to choose
However the mode will auto shift from 1 to 2 if you let it hit to high of a rev, I'm not sure on the other gears.
Pros and Cons to using sport mode. But I'll explain it to how you described how you want to use it.
QUOTE: Any tips on working with it for the best performance and fuel economy. In simple terms please.

Best performance:
Street: let your revs only hit a maximum of 4000 if you want the best performance and somewhat good fuel economy. (Being nice to Gas pedal too)
or for better mileage, shift below 3000 and cruise in 4th at street speeds.

Highway: You can be a little more aggressive with pedal and engine speed RPMS
to get onto a highway start from 1 and hit your pedal slowly progressing to the floor, by the time you get about 1/2 way to the floor you should have automatically shifted into 2 by itself, then you can back off your pedal and shift into 3 at around 4500 rpms, by this time you should be going 65mph. Then just cruise it into 4 or 5 or put it back into D.

However, I really dont recommend using it. You CAN damage your vehicle in more than 1 way. Engine, Tranny, etc... Using sport mode all the time will put alot of wear on your car if you take the revs too high. Unless your shifting at lower RPMS than the D function, in that case just leave it in D.

And don't engine brake this car. It has more than capable brakes. The braking system is large and very good.
Its better to replace brakes, not an engine. And on the subject of sport mode, use it if you are driving in mountains or towing only.

Baby your Kia man, so that we proud owners can show that the Forte has overcame the bad rap that Kia's are known for. I want mine to outlast the same model year Honda's and Toyota's. Lets make Kia Forte the new "last forever" car. We are on the front lines of a War between Honda/Toyota and Kia Owners, I'm in it to win it.

 

[wbw]

Baby your Kia man, so that we proud owners can show that the Forte has overcame the bad rap that Kia's are known for. I want mine to outlast the same model year Honda's and Toyota's. Lets make Kia Forte the new "last forever" car. We are on the front lines of a War between Honda/Toyota and Kia Owners, I'm in it to win it.

I bought my Kia because I liked the look and it has a 100,000 / 10 year powertrain warrenty. I also tend to like products that are different than what 'everybody else' is buying. I like my Forte, but, the 5 speed auto transmission problem is a big black eye on Kia until they get it fixed. And it's been a known problem since at least last September. So as far as I'm concerned, Kia hasn't overcome the 'bad rap'.

The suspension is also less sophisticated than on the Japanese cars.

 

[ForteGT2]

I bought my Kia because I liked the look and it has a 100,000 / 10 year powertrain warrenty. I also tend to like products that are different than what 'everybody else' is buying. I like my Forte, but, the 5 speed auto transmission problem is a big black eye on Kia until they get it fixed. And it's been a known problem since at least last September. So as far as I'm concerned, Kia hasn't overcome the 'bad rap'.

The suspension is also less sophisticated than on the Japanese cars.

I understand your frustration about your 5-speed auto -- but it isn't a big problem on Kias -- I have 2 Fortes with the 5-spd autos and neither of them have any problems. My dealer has one Forte 5-spd auto with the problem (one of their own salesmen's!) - so I don't consider it a Kia problem. They have worked on them in all kinds of ways and still can't figure it out -- wish they would find a cure for yours!

OP Use the manual shifting when you want to drive aggressively -- and turn off the ESC with the switch on the left part of the dash. The ECU and Tranny module are set up to give you the BEST MPG in Drive. I have found that the tranny responds faster than I can in a hard downshift situation -- flooring it at speed to pass, for example.

You cannot take out the ECU and Tranny module -- these control the engine and tranny.

 

[wbw]

Well right now I have the problem, and like others, am waiting for Kia to fix it. If it's not fixed in the next year, I would hope that we can get some law office to open a class action law suit. I'm planning to keep the car for a while, but what if I wanted to sell it, or trade it in? Once a prospective buyer or used car sales manager gets a load of this transmission, the car will be greatly devalued. (I was temped to say 'worthless', but that would probably not be true.) So even though I'm working around the problem in my day to day driving, it's always in the back of my mind that until it's fixed, the car is greatly devalued if I wanted to get rid of it.

 

[TeeJay1959]

wbw -

Like I need to tell YOU this... but... WELL SAID!

As for any other Forte owner thinking that those of us affected are either whacko or whiny...... think again. On another Forte forum I started a thread about this transmission that is what.... 24 pages long now? And it has the most hits listed in the ENTIRE Forte section of the forum. I cannot believe that "just a few" of us have experienced this tranny problem.

KIA has had lots of notification from various owners across the entire USA (and perhaps elsewhere) that this problem exists. They have sent out regional (NOT dealership) technicians to hook up PCs into the vehicles and do a "flight data" data dump of the car while it's acting up.

What do we hear back from KIA Corporate? Deafening silence. Nothing. Nada. Zip.

I personally believe that I and others have the perfect right to feel more than a little frustrated......

As for using the transmission in Manual Mode, I would have to say that I probably do that about 50% of the time, when I want faster acceleration than the transmission will do in full-auto mode. As for downshifting, I have found that doing so does NOT over-rev the engine, and works well AS LONG AS YOU DO NOT SHIFT INTO 1st GEAR. The ratio for 1st gear is a little low, and down-shifting into 1st at anything over 10 mph really DOES wind the engine up. I prefer to leave it in 2nd until the vehicle comes to a full stop, at which time the transmission will automatically drop back down into 1st. As for a "sporty" launch without wasting too much fuel, I sometimes will accelerate up to 20 mph and shift into 2nd, 3rd at 30, 4th at 40, and 5th at 50. Perhaps not always, but sometimes. I cannot complain about economy; my 20-mile round trip to work and home nets me (if I don't STOMP on it) about 26 mpg. I can get it higher if I choose to drive more conservatively.

Anyhow... just my thoughts.

 

[my forte koup]

Well i drive mine simply put it in first gear and mash the peddel and let it shift by it self!!!

 

[Aidensgrand]

Well i drive mine simply put it in first gear and mash the peddel and let it shift by it self!!!

i read this after reading the posts prior and it literally made me laugh! lmao

that being said, i only use mine when i need to pass. sometimes when i go to pass a person on the hWY i push the acc but it drops it 2 gears rather than just 1 and it annoys me cuz it makes me look like an ass to other drivers like im pissed theyre driving too slow(not the case). so i just switch it over, drop it down a gear, shift and pass then switch it bacK