V12 Vantage S Transmission quirk?
Discussion
Morning all,
I have a V12 Vantage S I drive infrequently, only just done 14,000 miles in 5 years, but I have noticed a weird quirk which I can only assume is a Sportshift issue. I rarely floor the car, certainly never from cold, but I have noticed that infrequently (although enough to be annoying), if I pull out of a junction and put my foot down sometimes, the car revs high, but the power isn't being put down, you can be pushing 5k in 1st gear and it feels like you have just put your foot down in 4th gear at 30mph, only with much higher revs. I can reset, slow the car down and repeat, and it takes off like the nutter it is. The best way to descrbe would be like the tyres are wheel spinning, but they are not, no traction light in sight and it happens on bone dry roads. I am running Pilot Sport 2's, all 4 were put on the car less than 1000 miles a go. It's almost as if the clutch is struggling to disengage, despite being 80% of the way up the rev counter.
Does anyone else get this from time to time? Main dealer did a clutch wear test on my recent service in November and didn't know how to interpret the numbers as they hadn't had any issues with the Sportshift 3, or anyone request a car with the Sportshift 3 transmission to be tested for clutch related issues. They said the number they used to measure the original Sportshift was a high number on my car, but ultimately said that the transmissions are not comparable so the score was irrelevant on the Sportshift 3 boxes, and I had nothing to worry about. A bit of a vague answer, but they said they hadn't done a single clutch replacement on a Sportshift 3 model, even ones they had serviced pushing 40k miles and told me not to worry.
Cheers!
I have a V12 Vantage S I drive infrequently, only just done 14,000 miles in 5 years, but I have noticed a weird quirk which I can only assume is a Sportshift issue. I rarely floor the car, certainly never from cold, but I have noticed that infrequently (although enough to be annoying), if I pull out of a junction and put my foot down sometimes, the car revs high, but the power isn't being put down, you can be pushing 5k in 1st gear and it feels like you have just put your foot down in 4th gear at 30mph, only with much higher revs. I can reset, slow the car down and repeat, and it takes off like the nutter it is. The best way to descrbe would be like the tyres are wheel spinning, but they are not, no traction light in sight and it happens on bone dry roads. I am running Pilot Sport 2's, all 4 were put on the car less than 1000 miles a go. It's almost as if the clutch is struggling to disengage, despite being 80% of the way up the rev counter.
Does anyone else get this from time to time? Main dealer did a clutch wear test on my recent service in November and didn't know how to interpret the numbers as they hadn't had any issues with the Sportshift 3, or anyone request a car with the Sportshift 3 transmission to be tested for clutch related issues. They said the number they used to measure the original Sportshift was a high number on my car, but ultimately said that the transmissions are not comparable so the score was irrelevant on the Sportshift 3 boxes, and I had nothing to worry about. A bit of a vague answer, but they said they hadn't done a single clutch replacement on a Sportshift 3 model, even ones they had serviced pushing 40k miles and told me not to worry.
Cheers!
Edited by ajk9 on Sunday 29th December 14:45
It doesn't feel quite like that although I can understand why my description might come across as that being the issue. I had a 4.7 V8 Vantage with the awful Sportshift 1 box, and I had the clutch replaced on that after a pathetic 20 thousand miles, and I know when the clutch was slipping on that, the way it manifested itself felt different to this.
I never drive the car in auto, so I am 1st gear when I pull off and it feels to pull away fine, it's only at that point which the revs infrequently struggle to translate into speed. Would the clutch still be engaged beyond 4 thousand revs when I am driving the car effectively in manual mode and not after a gear change?
Does anyone work for a main dealer who can ask their servicing department if they have any numbers around the Sportshift 3 transmission and what figures I should look out for on a clutch wear test? I am conscious of throwing money down to investigate an issue which my nearest main dealer has already dismissed, as that traditionally has led to high investigation bills with no end result. If I know what values to look out for on a clutch wear test with this transmission though, I can ready myself before hand.
I never drive the car in auto, so I am 1st gear when I pull off and it feels to pull away fine, it's only at that point which the revs infrequently struggle to translate into speed. Would the clutch still be engaged beyond 4 thousand revs when I am driving the car effectively in manual mode and not after a gear change?
Does anyone work for a main dealer who can ask their servicing department if they have any numbers around the Sportshift 3 transmission and what figures I should look out for on a clutch wear test? I am conscious of throwing money down to investigate an issue which my nearest main dealer has already dismissed, as that traditionally has led to high investigation bills with no end result. If I know what values to look out for on a clutch wear test with this transmission though, I can ready myself before hand.
If the engine is turning fast and the wheels are turning slow when in first gear then the only thing left is the clutch.
Must be slipping IMHO. I would get it checked.
If you do it a lot does it stink of clutch?
May not be a busted clutch per se, could just be the actuator has not engaged it properly leading to too much slip. Either way this is not appropriate for full-bore starts and not why you own these cars, get it fixed!
Must be slipping IMHO. I would get it checked.
If you do it a lot does it stink of clutch?
May not be a busted clutch per se, could just be the actuator has not engaged it properly leading to too much slip. Either way this is not appropriate for full-bore starts and not why you own these cars, get it fixed!
It sounds like you may be getting caught out during a clutch reset. The SSIII does clutch resets automatically, on the fly. Occasionally I’ll notice at some red lights the gear indicator drops to N and the red light on the N button flashes. I understand that’s the clutch resetting itself (I think- but I’m not sure - that it cycles through a series of settings as it gets warmer). It takes maybe 5 seconds, which is fine if you’re sitting at lights as it’s done before you have to pull away. But if you pulled up to a give way, came to a halt, and it did its thing whereas you wanted to pull away immediately, I can imagine you might get stranded.
I don’t know whether it can be overridden mid-reset so as to give you drive immediately. Perhaps someone who knows these things better than I do can shed some light.
I don’t know whether it can be overridden mid-reset so as to give you drive immediately. Perhaps someone who knows these things better than I do can shed some light.
Thanks for the replies, I didn't think it was normal behavior but these Sportshift boxes are quirky at best so wasn't sure if there was something programmed to restrict torque under certain conditions.
BlackTails you can override it, I have done it a few times accidentally just as it tries to switch to neutral. Although the new box is leagues ahead of the first iteration, I wish they had kept the option in place to do a manual learn. I know it supposedly does it on start up and when the clutch hits certain temperatures, but then you are relying on that part of the technology working. If it was implemented by the same person who actually though Sportshift was ever a good idea, I wouldn't bet on it
I will get an independant to take a look in the coming weeks and let you know if they spot anything.
BlackTails you can override it, I have done it a few times accidentally just as it tries to switch to neutral. Although the new box is leagues ahead of the first iteration, I wish they had kept the option in place to do a manual learn. I know it supposedly does it on start up and when the clutch hits certain temperatures, but then you are relying on that part of the technology working. If it was implemented by the same person who actually though Sportshift was ever a good idea, I wouldn't bet on it
I will get an independant to take a look in the coming weeks and let you know if they spot anything.
I've had the exact same situation that you describe. Clutch is fine. There's just a moment when you are slowing down in second gear, where the gearbox wants to shift to first when you nearly come to a halt but then accelerate again and the gearbox seems to be out of gear and you are basically putting revs with the gearbox in neutral.
I take my foot off the accelerator and accelerate again and it seems to catch first gear again.
I think you can avoid this by downshifting to first gear yourself instead of letting the gearbox do it for you which it does even if you're in full manual mode.
I take my foot off the accelerator and accelerate again and it seems to catch first gear again.
I think you can avoid this by downshifting to first gear yourself instead of letting the gearbox do it for you which it does even if you're in full manual mode.
I came across a V12VS in Texas [brand new], that did the same, and i believe it was traced to the brake light switch [above brake pedal] sticking briefly, so the car thought the brakes were still applied, while the driver wanted to accelerate. Its worth a look, as you can check it yourself.
roughrider]I came across a V12VS in Texas [brand new said:
, that did the same, and i believe it was traced to the brake light switch [above brake pedal] sticking briefly, so the car thought the brakes were still applied, while the driver wanted to accelerate. Its worth a look, as you can check it yourself.
makes a lot of sense 👍Thanks for the additional replies and advice.
CSK1, that issue is a different issue although I have experienced that a couple of times. Similar to what you have said it happens when you are in second gear coming to a stop and then set off without dropping into first gear, the car sits in what appears to be neautral as you rev and go no where. This particular issue I have had, you still move so it is in sort of gear, just not at anywhere near the speed you should do for first gear.
roughrider, thanks for that, I will get the garage to check that over.
CSK1, that issue is a different issue although I have experienced that a couple of times. Similar to what you have said it happens when you are in second gear coming to a stop and then set off without dropping into first gear, the car sits in what appears to be neautral as you rev and go no where. This particular issue I have had, you still move so it is in sort of gear, just not at anywhere near the speed you should do for first gear.
roughrider, thanks for that, I will get the garage to check that over.
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