Functionality of modern tiptronic, DSG etc. -gearboxes

[GeCcO]

My self I have only owned cars with manual gearboxes, but I have driven several cars with auto-boxes. The last car I have tried is my dads 2007 Hyundai SantaFe 2,2D with 5-speed tiptronic. The main issue with the Hyundai (and other cars I have tried), is the fact that even if you put it in "manual" so you can change gears up and down, it will never stay there. When I for instance drive up a hill in the Hyundai and select the 4th gear it will eventually change down before I reach the top. If i press the pedal down to much (no kickdown) it will drop down to 3rd (it still displays in the indicator that it is in 4th), and if i keep the pedal so that it will not do this, the engine will not have enough power to climb the hill, and eventually it will need to change down. Had it been a manual, you could put it in 4th, put the pedal down and it would climb the hill with no problem. The hill is also irrelevant as the Hyundai will do this even if the engine is not under strain at flat roads.

I have always, probably as many other boys, been interested in trucks at some time, and now I do drive for a company whenever I have time and they need the extra help. The truck, a 2008 Scania R580 also has a kind of automated gearbox. The difference here is that you still have the clutch-pedal to start and stop (optionally removed at newer models). The thing here is, if you put this gearbox into manual mode, it will not do anything at all if you don't want it to. If I put it in 10th gear and hit the pedal down, it will stay there. I have not tried to see what would happen if i tried to brake it to a stop while in gear, but once I forgot that I had it in manual mode and as I was slowing down to an intersection the truck was still in 12th gear and when I got down to 5-600rpm's you could really feel and hear the engine praying for a lower gear. But still, it didn't do anything, and I believe the truck would either shut down or just drop to neutral if the rpm's became to low.

My point is, are newer high-performance automated gearboxes in cars like the RS6, Veyron, M3, M5, you name it, just the same as the Hyundai? Or do you have more control over it?

[Erik]

My point is, are newer high-performance automated gearboxes in cars like the RS6, Veyron, M3, M5, you name it, just the same as the Hyundai? Or do you have more control over it?

The answer is both yes and no. It depends from brand to brand, but also from setting to setting.

For instance there could be a car with a DSG/PDK type gearbox and if you put it in comfort/normal mode it will upshift or downshift automatically.
But some cars also have a more track/performance focused setting, where the car will keep the gear until you tell it to do otherwise - just like a manual.
The BMW SMG system wil keep the gear until you tell it to.

I think MB had a setting in their auto that if the car was under g-forces (i.e. turning) the car would keep the gear, could be that more brands also have this.

How the new RS6 auto behaves I cannot remember, and unfortunately I don't have one around so I can try. All I remember it was pretty damn quick, and the sound
from the exhaust when it upshifted was highly addictive! (I think they cut the ignition for a short while when upshifting, to avoid damage, which creates like a vaccuum in the exhaust. That's the best way I can describe it)

You really should try a car with DSG/PDK. I love them!