No body is arguing that D has different gearing then L & 2 but it seems that the automatic transmission shifts waay to early in city driving. I think at low throttle, I shift all the way to 3rd gear before 1800 rpm.

This thread is 8yrs old....just saying. I would let the trans shift it self.

nek said:

No body is arguing that D has different gearing then L & 2 but it seems that the automatic transmission shifts waay to early in city driving. I think at low throttle, I shift all the way to 3rd gear before 1800 rpm.

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The most common reason for the TCU to cause an early shift is an improperly adjusted throttle position sensor. At lower throttle values it is normal for it to up-shift early. Verify that the output from the TPS at WOT is at least 4.5V.

Manually shifting an automatic does not do any harm to these transmissions. I would recommend using a shift box, rather than just moving the lever from L to 2 to D though.

Forced four shift box and be done with it.

I have the basic unit and its so awesome! Made my car feel so different!

Not knocking anyone's product, but "Different strokes for different folks".

Almost all of the variables, and constants can be changed within the TCU code, even the downshift thresholds for manual mode with the TCU.

I like using the TCU for normal driving, it is easy and works well. But when I want to have fun, nothing beats manual. A good shift box gives you the best of both worlds. Flip the switch (or slide the shifter over to manual if using a hyundai shifter) and pass that slow car in style

I also wanted to clear up, but can't post in the other thread due to "Probationary Member", the shift boxes I offer have ZERO delay built into them. When you shift, the power to the solenoids is virtually instant. The delay I mention of 500-1000ms on my web site is the mechanical time inside the transmission to engage full hydraulic or release pressure on the clutch packs. Obviously using a shift kit on the valve body will lessen the delay some, but you can't get rid of it. This is true with any shift box, TCU, or kiggly mod.

Not trying to start an argument here, but help you up your post count constructively through discussion.

I will agree that using a shift box does offer versatility since you can switch between the TCU, or the shift box, and you have the option of using different style shifters(IE: tiptronic, padle, ETC). BTW, your product does look very nice, and if I was in the market, I would buy one!

Coding for my DSM is one of my hobbies, and I believe that if one was dedicated enough that a different style shifter could be used with the TCU. Although, use of the entire available code space, or a stacked BIN may be necessary depending how much coding is involved to do so. The only limiting factor I could see would be running out of RAM, but the 1g TCU has quite a bit of unused RAM. I cannot comment on the 2g side of the house because I don't have one, nor am I really interested in them.

You state that the delay is based on the transmission hardware, and I'm not trying to make you give up details on the inner workings of your product here. If that is true how are you able to overcome this without changing hardware?

I've seen many different places in the code that look to be tweak-able to lower that delay time, but I don't think it can be done instantaneously, or at least without incorporating relays with instantaneous contacts.

rts91tsi said:

You state that the delay is based on the transmission hardware, and I'm not trying to make you give up details on the inner workings of your product here. If that is true how are you able to overcome this without changing hardware?

I've seen many different places in the code that look to be tweak-able to lower that delay time, but I don't think it can be done instantaneously, or at least without incorporating relays with instantaneous contacts.

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I haven't overcome it. Simply stating that there is a mechanical delay, and no electronics can get rid of it. Do you have any info on the 1G TCU reprogramming you do? My TCU is stock and I am interested in getting the shift points raised some.

All of the info I have has come from DSM-ECU Yahoo group, which can easily be found there by searching(not trying to be rude). There is quite a bit of information regarding TCU tuning, including the shift tables for ECO/Power modes which are easy to find in the code.

I used the disassembly of the stock code to make a definition for TunerPro RT, which makes life much easier for those who can't read hexadecimal. As far as tuning, I'm using the Moates Ostrich for BIN emulation for tuning, and Moates BURN2 to burn my tune to chip. The address tracing with the Ostrich is a great tool, and makes tuning much much easier.

I haven't got as far as making the ADX for data logging, and tracing yet, but hope to over holiday break from classes. I've been using MMCd TCU for logging, which is also on DSM-ECU. I also have EvoScan, which can be used for logging, but the supplied XML is not correct at all for our TCU. I haven't finished editing it yet to be correct for 1g's.

I made a jazzy little manual shifter out of a 2 pole, 4 position rotary switch. Each pole controls one solenoid. It is about as basic as you can get. Much better than the 2 switch method IMHO, since you can't skip gears. The positions have pretty solid detents between them, so it's hard to jump 2 gears.

I have mine wired so that if I leave it in 3rd (both solenoids off) I can give the TCU power (through a switch) and it will drive normally.

The switch I used is actually a 2 pole, 6 position switch. I just made it so the last 2 positions don't send power (3rd).

I should take some photos of it sometime. I built it all into the ashtray. It's removable.

I made it when my TCU died the night before a 500 mile trip from PA to MI. It took me 20 min to wire up with some spare parts I had laying around. Worked flawlessly.


A few cons are that there is no over rev protection and no torque converter lockup (could be added in a 5th position).

I have built trans, have done fuel oval drags with brake boost. Installed arc2 set at 3200 and I use paddle shifters to up and down shift manually