Auto kick down slow to respond.

[forrester123]

I have an E320 petrol, 03 reg., but when I need the performance on kick down , it is slow to respond.
I would have thought that by flooring the accelerator the box would chose the appropriate gear to give max. acceleration. but it seems a bit hit & miss.
Is it better using the gear selector to get top performance?

 

[219]

It certainly makes for a smoother drive to select the gear before you need it , rather than using kickdown which can at times be brutal , and might even upset a car if it happens at the wrong time .

 

[S-class]

Has your ATF fluid been changed as per schedule? I did notice speedier more smoother changes after mine was done.

 

[Meldrew2]

Far better pre-selecting the desired gear.

The car can only respond to throttle input - while you can pre-empt the need for kick down.

 

[Deleted member 6183]

Do you mean just dropping a gear by pushing the pedal or meshing it into the carpet to trigger the kickdown switch?

I cannot recall the last time I did the latter it just seems pointless.

If you push the gearstick to the left and hold for a couple of seconds the gearbox will change to the most appropriate gear for max acceleration.