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How do you drive a selespeed??

20K views 25 replies 16 participants last post by  SEARs 
#1 ·
Just bought my first Alfa 147 selepseed on 51 plate. I love the car, but am not sure Im driving it right as when I change gear I get lots of jumps etc.
At the moment when I change gear I take my foot off the accelorator, let it change gear and then go back on, but Im still getting a jumpy change and losing speed.
I am driving it right??
 
#2 ·
I have driven a GT 3.2V6 Selespeed once. I found that the best way to drive it was to leave it in "City" mode. Most of the times the gearbox's ECU would guess what i want it to do and do it for me. For instance if i accelerate with half throttle it will upshift at 5000rpm but at full throttle it will take the engine at the fuel cutoff before upshifting. Also in normal braking it will keep the current gear until standstill but in hard braking it will downshift vigorously, blipping the throttle -what a sound! Of course you can always temporarily override the ECU by upshifting or downshifting manually.

I found that the upshifts are slow but the downshifts fast. I have been told that there are some tuners that provide faster software fro the selespeed ECU that can accelerate upshifts but i don't know anything more.
 
#4 ·
Chris Clough said:
At the moment when I change gear I take my foot off the accelorator, let it change gear and then go back on, but Im still getting a jumpy change and losing speed.
That is where you are going wrong!
Keep a constant throttle during the gearchange, sometimes even increasing the throttle just at the end of the change.
 
#6 ·
Once the engine is warm don't be afraid to use a few revs either.
Also remember that there is a big gap between 1st & 2nd gear, so you may need to hold 1st slightly longer than you are used to.
Don't change down from 2nd to 1st until the revs have dropped to 1000rpm either!
 
#13 ·
Calibration and clutch push-rod adjustment is usually about an hours labour (although it may not take that long) at what ever rate your chosen specialist charges.
 
#14 ·
David C said:
That is where you are going wrong!
Keep a constant throttle during the gearchange, sometimes even increasing the throttle just at the end of the change.
David is right (again). You need to learn how to use the accelerator to promote smooth changes. If you want to give it a bit of stick just keep the accelerator floored while changing at about 6500 revs for max acceleration (apparently the changes are slower if you let it change up automatically at the redline). Also remember that the upshifts are programmed to be faster when the accelerator is more than 60% depressed and the revs are over 5000. The most difficult thing to master is part throttle upshifts, but like anything rewarding it takes a little effort!!! All downshifts are a doddle, when you get very confident you can try left foot braking, now that takes some mastering!!!!!
 
#15 ·
left foot breaking is the way forward in the sele!

i find if i put the accelerator down a little bit further as i upchange i get a very smooth change (unless im at 100% throttle). downchange i tend to only do if im dropping it to pass someone (rarely required with my engine) or when approaching junctions, at which i take my foot completely off accelerator and just downchange as i slow down, the revs tend to jump quite high the way i change down tho! as has already been said, dont be afraid to use the revs, i rarely change up before 4k in 1st and 2nd!

oh, mine wont let me go down a gear if it is dangerous to do so, ie, 2nd to 1st at 60mph it just wont do!

once you have it mastered it is a truely rewarding system to use! puts a smile on my face every time i go out
 
#16 ·
a recalibration works magic on a Sele... it took my brother 10 minutes, The examiner does all the work ... its funny to hear the system work the gearbox with a lot of clicking and humming. As a bonus you get a printed report..
 
#17 ·
Thats crazy !! are you serious you have a selespeed gearbox and drive it in city mode ?!
i think its better if u manage to drive selespeed man !
u know we all experienced shaky and jumpy stuff caused by this gearbox, but that doesnt mean u can not manage to prevent them.
u know that shaky stuff that occurs when :
1-accelerating 2nd gear
2-slowing down till the rpm drops then accelerating while the car is still moving at slow speed
3-upshifting DUH ??

remarkably after a while of driving your car you will notice that the first and third causes dont occur again .. thats becz u somehow got used to it

but the second cause, will always be a problem UNLESS YOU:
1-notice that when shaky stuff occur while accelerating first gear,they go smoother till they disappear when u shift to second.
2-notice that your shifter could be moved : up, down , right not just up and down, for some reason :
engaging neutral will solve it look how:
when you are about to slow down and stop (u may not stop in the end lol), switch to neutral when the rpm reaches 1200, then if car is still moving, u know what to do to accelerate, just move the shifter up or down (u will know whats right for you when you try it...), and if the car stopped apply some brakes and shift up.
accelerating in first gear right away from neutral never shakes ! and slowing down in neutral never shakes also. (u will notice that :D ;))


SOME MORE CRAZY TIPS I would like to share with you :
1-while in 3rd gear , when the rpm reaches 2000-2200, try to downshift (remember keeping your foot on the throttle) and enjoy that beautiful thing it does!
2-if you want to experiment with the 2nd to first gear, dont do it when you are at above 1800 rpm in your 2nd gear ;)
3-DONT DOWNSHIFT TOOOO MUCH LOOOL :p
4-u may need to downshift before getting to an uphill so that u dont get stuck in the middle of it.

Thats it ! :thumbs:
 
#21 ·
May be an old thread but it's still good practice for Sele owners :)

When I first bought the car, I was told that the shifts would be smoother if I lifted the throttle slightly. I've tried this for a while and I still get jerky shifts, particularly from 1st to 2nd. Now I dip the throttle slightly on upshifts from 2500 to 5000 rpm and it's much smoother.

Anything from 5000 rpm onwards, just mash that pedal and hold on ;)
 
#23 ·
Drive it anyway you like, full throttle, part throttle, lift off the throttle, constant throttle, experiment - you cant do it any damage no matter how you do the changes.

The only thing I didnt like about mine was the jerky control while moving slowly in traffic. Really miss the blip of the throttle on downshifts
 
#24 ·
cuty mode is smoothest or else foot flat to the floor.... how boring it becomes....thank god i drive a manual:)
 
#25 ·
you are still living in the stone ages of motoring my friend !!!:lol:
F1 WTC WRC they all have sequential gearboxes... they must be bored:lol:
 
#26 ·
selespeed ain't sequential....
 
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