How to drive selespeed

[lazz174]

hello!! Im new to this forum, iv been looking at posts about Alfa 156 on whats good and bad. So after reading and reviewing interesting information I decided and purchased a 99 2L 156. It runs wonderful with everything i want but Im not to confident with the selespeed.

Do i accelerate and change gears or treat it like a manual when changing gears take my foot off the accelerator?

[Pascs]

You change without needing to take your foot off the accelerator. The accelerator, clutch and gear change are all controlled together so when your foot is flat to the floor the computer holds the revs as it changes gear and then once the clutch is released the revs drop to the new gear. It will also change up a gear just before the rev limiter at about 6500rpm.

The same when changing down, the computer blips the throttle as you change down a gear. Also the computer will not allow you to change down a gear where it would over rev the engine.

The speed of the gear change depends on the position of the accelerator - light throttle slow change and full throttle fast change and with some variance in between

[purple145]

we have just bought one too and have found the following

* city mode isn't brilliant as it seems to change gear later than you would do in a manual, but it can be tricked into changing earlier by backing off the throttle abit

* gear changes up are better if you back off the throttle a bit, makes no difference going down though as the engine blips automatically

* in the mode that uses the gearstick or paddles, the car will change down anyway, so in theory you only need to chage up

* I found the manual somewhat confusing at first and had to drive it for a week to then go back to the manual to have an idea what it trying to tell me.

* once a bit more used to it, it does work really well, just watch out for jumping into a standard car and eg trying to go into reverse without using the clutch, easily done

great fun once you've got the hang of it

HTH

[lazz174]

thanks for the reply

mad ****!

so in manual mode i will just gear up with my foot on the accelerator.

but what if i drive it like a manual car? keep taking my foot off the accelerator is it bad for the car?

[cranester]

i love my selespeed, the only thing i don't like is the slight delay between putting your foot down and the car dropping gear / accelerating in city mode.

However, when sitting at 65 ish, and you want to overtake someone, two quick taps of the left hand paddle and you have a pocket rocket at your disposal!!

The only reason i knew there was an auto upchanger was cos i tried to bounce the limiter to see what maximum speed i could get out of a couple of gears.

[cranester]

Originally Posted by lazz174

but what if i drive it like a manual car? keep taking my foot off the accelerator is it bad for the car?

No it's not bad for it, it just might feel a little jerky. The acceleration through the gears (when the engine is warm) is perfectly smooth if you keep a constant level of acceleration.

The fact that you can keep your foot right down gives you muchos confidence off the line!

[lazz174]

coool cool cheers for the info!!!

anything that i shouldn't do while driving that would stuff the transmission or the car up? Im just asking because i heard it costs $3000AU for a new transmission, quite a lot of money!

[Pascs]

Its the Selespeed system which has the potential for failure and I'm not sure there is much extra you can do to look after this except regular maintenance and checking the level of the Selespeed oil.

I used to also get the gearbox oil changed everytime the car went for service - quite cheap to do and cant do any harm.

As for the engine just religiously check the engine oil level every week - mine never used to use any oil but some use a large amount.

[cranester]

My car likes a good drink every now and then, so keep your eye on the engine oil levels. My car doesn't go through selespeed oil very much, but very worth keeping an eye on it.

Not really much you can do to maintain the system i don't think, just keep the car in good general condition, and fingers crossed you'll be ok!

I also very very rarely drive my car in city mode, keep it in the manual mode and you'll have more fun (and better fuel economy!)

[David C]

Originally Posted by cranester

I also very very rarely drive my car in city mode, keep it in the manual mode and you'll have more fun (and better fuel economy!)

I very rarely use City mode too. But there is potential for better MPG if you do use it out of town because it forces you to drive gentler and when you do it changes up more often then you would in manual.

[cranester]

Good point!

[Pascs]

I only thing I liked about City mode was that it changed down to 1st gear at slightly higher speed than in manual mode..................I think thats the only reason I pressed that button in the last few years that I drove a Selespeed

[lazz174]

yo cheers for the feedback!!! thanks

[purple145]

one thing, don't pressure wash your engine bay, but do keep it clean, help minimize any dirty contacts etc there are quite a lot of sensors and electrics above the gearbox. I guess in Oz you do not have to worry too much about getting it wet through the weather, just make sure it's not self inflicted when cleaning.

HTH

[Trampy]

On the 147 Selespeed it has a "kick-down" function so when you want to accelerate quickly, just floor it and the 'box drops down a gear almost instantly.........pocket rocket indeed, no need to "tap" the downshift........ps I'm constantly using city mode at the moment as my up padde is buggered :-(

[David C]

Originally Posted by Trampy

On the 147 Selespeed it has a "kick-down" function so when you want to accelerate quickly, just floor it and the 'box drops down a gear almost instantly

Surely that is only when in "City" mode?

[Trampy]

ooh I'm not sure as I am constantly in city mode at the mo as my up paddled is buggered....... :-(

[alfapdent]

I really miss my old 156 Selespeed. I thoroughly enjoyed it.

I bought the car with 40k miles on the clock, and then did 94k miles in the next 4 years. I only sold the car on after engine failure (NOT the cambelt, I might add). The gearbox and acctuator were fine until the end. I understand that the car has now had an engine rebuild and is back on the road.

I only used the 'city' mode when stuck in traffic on motorawys or around town - it is not as smooth as a normal automatic.

The only problems that I had were:

1) On a cold damp morning the car would sometimes not change from 2nd to 3rd. Putting it into 'city' mode would force the car to change up. This would happen once or twice a year.
2) The gearbox warning light would come on after travelling on Eurotunnel. I just needed to switch off the ignition and start again, and then it would be fine.

I am still tempted to get another sometime.