I bought my tC in March of this year. I am wondering if I have made a mistake in purchasing this car. It feels stiff, rigid and jerky. Every day I keep thinking I will "get used to it". When you accelerate slowly the transmission seems to "shift" twice by about 40 mph, and they are really noticeable shifts. The second shift almost feels like a bit of a stall, especially if you are starting off slowly. I also find the acceleration to be "jerky". I cannot find a comfortable force with which to accelerate smoothly. If I try to start of slowly to avoid a jerky start, then sometimes that's not fast enough for getting into the traffic. The shifting is smoother at higher speeds. Most of my driving is around town, not on the highway. Have I bought the wrong car, or is something wrong with this one?

 

I'm assuming you have an automatic transmission?

 

is this a manual or automatic?

did you buy a new or used tc?

and yeah, shifting twice before 40 is well...normal...even manual tc's have to shift three times before reaching 60 mph.

anyway, if your tc has some high mileage on it it could need a tranny flush if it is an auto.

or a manual could use some synthetic gear oil.

 

Not high mileage...it only has 5000 miles on it.Yah its an automatic

 

well your well within warranty, you can take it in to be looked at by your dealership.

i thought the auto shifted harder or softer depending on throttle input and such...

 

there may be a reflash for that im not sure the auto camary has one for harsh shifting theres a reflash to smooth it out by moving points of shifting and what not...so bring it and check ill look tomorrow at work someone may beat me to it but ill repost tomorrow with the news on that...07 AUTO???if not it could just be the characteristic of the car its not a BMW so it wont be smooth as can be but ill look into it

 

boostaddict...i love u..lol

i really appreciate it...if there is a reflash should i take it to the dealer?

BTW is it the same reflash as the ones for the s/c tc?

 

all you have to do msabo.. is this.

take off the negative cable of the battery, wait a couple minutes, reattach, drive around, you'll see that the transmission has to "re-learn" how to shift. takes about 200 miles from what I've heard.

yes this transmission will learn how you drive.

if someone had driven it and it was driven hard, it will go into "sport" mode, with more aggressive shifts. drive it softly, and you'll feel this harshness.

try that first before going to the dealer. they can also force it to reset at the dealership as well, but cheaper just to disconnect the battery. You will have to reinitialize the windows and sunroof (easy, it's in your manual)

 

Just to let you know, your car is fine. It took me FOREVER, actually, I'm still trying to get used to it, but my car is just like this.

 

Just to let you know, your car is fine. It took me FOREVER, actually, I'm still trying to get used to it, but my car is just like this. I have an automatic also.

 

I've noticed that a lot of Japanese cars shift harder than American cars. I had a brand new '00 Galant and a friend suggested I take it to the dealership because he thought the transmission was slipping. He was used to an old Buick.

I've never driven an auto tC, so wouldn't know the engagement of the gears when it shifts. I don't think anything is wrong with the car though.

 

read my above post about the transmission learns your shift patterns. so before people who don't know say it's normal.. try why i suggested.

 

I know about the ECTi and how it learns your throtttle inputs.However,if i do that and drive the car softly, you think it will shift alot smoother?

 

you first need to disconnect the battery to reset the computer. Then it will learn your inputs.. but yes, i think that if you reset it, chances are once 200 miles rolls by, it will shift smoother, just drive more moderately. Then see how it feels after that.

 

If this isn't normal than there is something wrong with my car. The first 2k miles I took it easy and RARELY ever shifted above 4k rpms. Sometimes I took it to up in the 5-6k area, but we all have to have fun in our cars, right? Let me know if anything changes msabo.

 

Well you do know for automatics that it actually shifts into 2nd the to 1st gear then back to 2nd from "N" to "D" (neutral to drive". This is to eliminate the squatting. Thats the reason you're feeling the different shifts up to 40 mph.

 

^^ actually that's only for "squatting" when shifting into drive. not when the car is actually shifting from 1st to 2nd. so that anti-squatting wouldn't be something you'd feel after you're already driving.

 

Although sciontc_mich is right about ECTi and learning your driving based on throttle inputs,i've come to the conclusion that there is no real need to disconnect the battery to restart from factory settings because the car is ALWAYS learning.So,since this post started i started driving the car alot sloooower from starts and going by the speed limit.Rest assured,shifting feels much softer and smoother.It accelerates qucikly and smoothly into traffic and isn't as choppy as before.I, like many people out there don't speed that often with my rpms NEVER exceeding 3k rpms (unless on the highway...where i let her rip).In addition to driving smoother now,it doesn't show as much lag from the drive-by wire system giving you that jolt when you start from slowing down.If this problem ever does come back,i will hopefully take it to the dealer where they might have software updates!

Thanks everybody!

 

good to know, at least the computer is smart enough to re-learn as you're driving! yeah definitely keep up posted on how it goes from here! glad it's the software learning more!

 

I personally would rather unplug the battery for 10 minutes than get whiplash for 200 miles, but to each their own.