I agree with you completely. I own a Ferrari 2008 599 GTB with the F1 gear box and never drive it in auto and never lift off the pedal when shifting and it’s a blast to drive. I have a 6 spd manual Mini Cooper that I enjoy driving so I’m not against manual cars at all. But the plethora of auto journalists that claim that you have to have a manual transmission for the engagement I don’t quite understand. Let’s face it most of us are not professional race car drivers (perfect) heel toe aficionados so when I’m out on a drive, even a somewhat spirited drive with the Ferrari club I shift the 599 way more than I would with a normal manual and it does it perfectly every time. I’d also argue it’s much safer because it’s right every time with rev matching there is no wheel lock up entering a turn under braking while downshifting and you can concentrate much more on your line. By the way love the sound of your Maserati absolutely one of the best engine notes in the business. Enjoy!
Crucial to understand for prolonged clutch life is that the clutch fully closes at 1800rpm (this equates to 18km/h on a flat level surface). In other words avoid being in a situation where you have to give gas while below 1800rpm as much as possible. It slips below that. So when driving off for example get to that rpm quickly. Also at every service you should: 1) perform DEIS self initialization procedure 2) change F1 system fluid (preferably use hydraulic oil instead of atf oil used by Maserati from factory!) 3) perform gear changes self-learn procedures (there are two of them) Driving in reverse on an uphill is clutch killer #1! So avoid that as well at all costs. Always driving in SPORT-MANUAL mode helps reduce clutch wear. If you observe all of the above you will enjoy „very“ long clutch life - I get at least 120.000 km out of mine!
Are you sure about the 1800 rpm (18 km/h). If I recall correctly, the Granturismo S and Stradale clutches are fully engaged at a similar speed as the Vantage V8 Sportshift (somewhere between 7 and 9 km/h).
I'm not sure if the SportShift gearbox in my Vantage works the same, but I found that lifting off the throttle for the briefest amount of time between shifts does result in a smoother shift. This is only under day-to-day driving in your usual traffic. Under heavy acceleration, keeping the foot planted results in quicker shifts. Different habits for different driving style I guess.
so main dear mguy you got it to the point. I agree with your opinion or rather I come to the conclusion that everyone who, as you said yourself, talks badly about the mc shift, especially as slow, maybe doesn't even know that the switching process is much faster from 5000 rpm. in my opinion, this is a vehicle with style for the gentleman and driver who really understands something about mechanics. I would like to take this opportunity to say thank you for this deep and insightful explanation
great video and advice. been doing 1,2,3,4 intuitively but always wondered in the back of my mind if it was right. still on my original clutch after 40K miles. glad to know from an expert the best way to drive the car. Question, what RPM do you shift normally? I'm typically shifting at 5k RPM.
I don't think it should matter, depending on how "eagerly" I'm driving I will hold on longer for better acceleration. But similarly, you can change at 2k revs no problem. The car will auto shift into a lower gear if the revs get too low (even in manual).
I drive my 4200 like this, hardly anyone understands how to drive the correct way, it's unbelievable as the valuation of the car drops because of this . Maserati used to give out instructions to new owners of the 4200 in the correct manner of usage, very old school, but that's what you get with a special exotica. Clarkson didn't even both to look at this in his review of the 4200 and look what happened, disaster.
Mine is an Aston Vantage with sportshift . I always leave it on sport and try to avoid any traffic and slow uphill creep especially reversing. I was told to keep my foot on the brake when starting the engine until I hear a click for the gearbox to do a learn but I am not sure it does anything
Some suzuki city car also get smg transmission.. in the past i looked down to it and take the manual instead.. but now id like to try this smg thanks to your video...
Tip 4 is spot on! So many reviewers say to lift when upshifting "for smoother shifts" which is not true at all. The manual explicitly states that you should not lift when upshifting. When you do you're just confusing the computer into thinking you want to reduce speed.
I have a question, If you cruise at 5 or 6 gear around 60-70mph and put the car in neutral and let it coast, how do you re-engage the gears and does it re-engage at a high gear?
If I recall correctly, you pull the right paddle and the car will go into the appropriate gear for the speed. It’s a way to overcome limp mode where it will only shift into 2nd - accelerate in 2nd, flick into neutral, then pull the right paddle and it should shift into 4, 5 or 6 depending on speed.
Also a good point to mention is to avoid reversing up slopes. In reverse the clutch doesn't fully engage and can cause to overheat which leads to wearing the clutch out prematurely.
Funny thing the robotised manual is actually faster then most dual clutches🙃 svj for example 2.8sec to 60mph and in roll races even tends to dominate certain vehicles
Thank you very much for explaining the single clutch auto transmission. I have recently purchased a 2005 Maserati GranSport, and the information on the internet is very confusing. I am using your method, and truly enjoy driving it now. I am a retired VW Porsche Audi master tech, and this video is the first one that I have seen that makes sense out of this gearbox.
Are you saying when you take off from a stop you don’t ease into the throttle, but just pick a throttle position and don’t move your foot till the clutch is fully engaged?
Of course that’s impractical, but the more you modulate the throttle during the clutch slip, the more the TCU has to recalculate the torque required and the clutch position necessary.
@@mguytv so in your opinion, when moving off from a stop should you give it more or less throttle? In other words should you accelerate faster or slower from a stop for less wear? I have heard both, curious about your opinion
@@coreycohen6160 I always ease into my throttle when moving off from a stop. I can feel the clutch slip a little at first and once I can feel it has fully engaged that's when I just accelerate as I see fit. I think clutch slip at low rpm at the start is okay. It's fast starts and launching at high rpm is where heat builds up and causes unnecessary wear on the clutch.
