Glacial it isn't

Author
Discussion

Robbie1400

Original Poster:

30 posts

145 months

Monday 30th March 2015
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Hi Everyone

I have recently moved (upgraded?) from a 997 C2 cabrio to this glacial blue 2008 V8 Vantage Sportshift Roadster. Sorry I haven't had a chance to take any photos so this one from the dealer will have to do for the moment. A trip to Italy is planned for this weekend - lots of tunnels and lots of photo ops.

You guys have set the bar pretty high with the photo threads so I am sure I will not be able to compete.

A couple of questions:
- I have the phone buttons on the steering wheel but not cruise control. In order to add the cc is it simply a matter of fitting a new wheel with the cc buttons and getting a dealer to alter the settings to recognise that the car now has cruise control?
- when I fold the roof, the headlining (alcantara) looks like a turkey neck as it folds (this is the polite description) - is this normal? I know - first world problems.....
- on hill starts, is the car supposed to hold still as you take your foot off the brake or is a terrifying roll backwards normal behaviour.






burnout3

68 posts

222 months

Monday 30th March 2015
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Love the colour, gorgeous!

Afraid I can't help with your questions (manual coupe), although I believe retrofitting cruise is a relatively straightforward job ... possibly only need the module, not even a new wheel, but an expert will be along shortly. There might even be a thread on here already, not sure.

speech

387 posts

155 months

Tuesday 31st March 2015
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Welcome, and congrats on the upgrade! smile

As a Sportshift owner, yes the roll backwards is normal on a hill! What you have to get your head around is although it looks like an automatic, it behaves more like a manual gearbox in some respects. When starting uphill I tend to be a bit quicker going from brake pedal to accelerator and giving it a bit more gas than usual. I believe the correct approach is a bit more like an uphill start on a manual gearbox, i.e. use the handbrake

Another Sportshift "quirk" to watch out for is the creep mode. The car doesn't automatically creep forward when you come off the brake as you get in an automatic, so with Sportshift if you take your foot off the brake pedal and don't use the accelerator within a couple of seconds then the creep function is activated. It's usually a bit faster than you'd like so you find you're immediately braking again! Same with reverse gear... try to avoid reversing uphill round a bend, it's a bit tricky! It's at its worst when you start the car from cold, once it's warmed up a bit it'll behave better. You can improve this by doing a "clutch learn" from time to time. I think there are details in the FAQ as to how it's done and how often it should be done. Another tip, I believe most owners (on here at least) never use comfort mode and never leave it in Auto.

Finally, I have read on here that gearchanges are better if you come off the accelerator when changing gear, but I can't say I've noticed this myself. In fact, I was reading last night that if you change gear above 5000rpm with the accelerator pedal to the metal then you get an even "sportier" gearchange.

Have fun!

sooty61

686 posts

170 months

Tuesday 31st March 2015
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I just use my left foot on the brake for hill starts

good grief

197 posts

194 months

Tuesday 31st March 2015
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Snap..... Except mine has three peddles....... Has yours clear rear lights, it realy suits that colour.