re: V8Q - "To shift or not to shift...

[Eliot Lim <eliot@u.washington.edu>]

the ZF tranny in the v8 was designed for both the audi v8 and the bmw
735i/750i in mind.  as you may know, bmws of that era were not too usable
in the snow, thus, the "M" switch was created so that bmws can veeery
gently take off in 3rd on a slippery surface.

i don't know of a good reason why you would want to start the v8 off in
3rd.  the new software in my car will ignore that "request" anyway
and start off in 1st.  as for more aggressive driving you can already
do this by either selecting "S" mode or simply pulling back on the
shifter while in "E".  this is what i usually do.

the tranny simply takes electrical signals from the control unit to shift
and the control unit will take the driver's inputs and factor in its own
contraints (i.e. check to see that it won't overrev the engine) and send
the command to shift.  i cannot see how manual override could damage the
gearbox.  if that's the case, then so would automatic shifting.  as far as
the mechanical bits are concerned, it doesn't know or care where the shift
commands are coming from.


eliot