Bigs, I think the deal was:

At a stop, pull to 2nd then return to 3rd, and it will stay in FIRST until you select 2nd again......

 

The factory manuals are about as good as it gets, which are a reprint of the Merc documentation. There are also Merc manuals I've located out there that are for the 95 5 speed transmissions, which is the 4 speed with OD.

And a basic text on AT transmissions is a good starting point. S/NAIT library or bookstore would have this for the auto tech students. I just bought a book and started reading.

The 928 is of course designed for gear 2 starts this is the way the car should be driven the majority of the time. Therefore I would not suggest modification to gear 1 starts. The engine has gobs of torque, and traction is guaranteed starting in 2. Sure, starting in 1st is fun every now and then, but will cost in fuel = estimate ~ 300 liters per year and for what?

We designed the GTRSS button system so you can control 1st gear starts by pressing your shifter lever button. I might use this 1-2 times per day and never in the rain as I just get a lot of wheelspin. On that my average fuel burn has bumped 1-2 liters per 100K over a fill.

 

Yes, I understand perfectly.

But if I simply keep my selector in "2," my car stays in first until redline all by itself, then it shifts automatically into second at redline all by itself. So, what's the point in doing all the fancy shifting? What does it gain me that I don't already have?

I suppose if I were doing a short course autocross or DE with lots of corners and not much straightaway, and I wanted to keep the tranny between first and second at all times - sometimes shifting into second before redline - then I see an advantage.

But if I'm just doing a 0-60 run or having fun tromping the throttle from a stoplight, I don't see any advantage to all the fancy shifting.

 

While the later (S4 and onward) cars were designed with 2nd gear starts, the earlier "S" cars started in first gear. I guess that my few years with the '86.5 car has left me expecting/enjoying the more spritely launches.

I'd still think that reverting to this older, 1-2-3-4 operational mode shouldn't be too difficult.

 

Ooops...... I thought you had said that if you selected second, that it stayed in second forever

Then again, that IS what you said

 

Yup. Both of the above. My car will stay in first all the way until redline, shift automatically into second, then stay in second until redline unless I move the gear selector into 3.

So basically, with the selector pulled down into 2, I can do a 0-60 run and never touch the shifter. In fact, I could probably do somewhere around a 0-90 run and never touch the shifter! It would stay in "2" the whole time!

Is this unusual for a GTS AT?

 

Nope........
pulled into second, you get 1-2 and that's all.

pulled into second (at a stop) and then returned to THIRD, you should get first gear ONLY.

 

How is this early S4 auto tranny designated by Porsche, by Mercedes?