Tell me about Sensodrive.
- Thread starter Trixie
- Start date
That's exactly how I drive my Pluriel. If you read the post you quoted you will note I did mention putting it back into "auto" mode after the rolling start.UFO said:
I personally refer to it as a "semi-automatic" gearbox because it does require a small amount of manual intervention to drive it effectively. Again, as I often have said, these occasions are few and very predictable.
Let's face facts!
This is all well and good, but why should we have to do any of this. The fact is - SENSODRIVE HAS FLAWS, IT IS NOT A QUALITY PRODUCT! (Even without taking into account any reliability issues). We need to get this into our collective heads and get over it. It's usable, even fun sometimes, but a manual is a better manual and an auto is a better auto, while the Sensodrive system has been brought onto the market underdeveloped. Other manufacturers have proven that it can be done better.
JamesII said:
This is all well and good, but why should we have to do any of this. The fact is - SENSODRIVE HAS FLAWS, IT IS NOT A QUALITY PRODUCT! (Even without taking into account any reliability issues). We need to get this into our collective heads and get over it. It's usable, even fun sometimes, but a manual is a better manual and an auto is a better auto, while the Sensodrive system has been brought onto the market underdeveloped. Other manufacturers have proven that it can be done better.
Please, please - they are "quirks" not "flaws" :nownow: and don't shout it too loudly!:joker:BlackC2 said:
The occasions when I have to "manage" my Sensodrive are few and far between - and always at the same locations. It has never stopped working on me. On the occasions when I've chosen to "manage" it, it would have (eventually) sorted itself out - just I dislike being in the middle of a busy intersection without drive for half a second or so while it decides.
Let's get this issue in perspective. The time taken (in auto mode) to find the gear (for me) has always been under one second. The problem is that when entering a busy intersection at a roll, that fraction of a second is enough to make your heart-rate increase a little. Half a second in these situations can seem like an eternity.
The biggest advantage is while there are better manuals and better autos, there is none that can be driven like both on a spur-of-the-moment decision. Overall, I find the Sensodrive quirky, but nonetheless reliable, flexible and a bucket-load of fun.BlackC2 said:
Struck me that the advantage of Sensodrive over a tiptronic auto is that you can do a bit more to make the changes exact and imperceptible by lifting off the accelerator at the right moment. There is that little extra control. Just a shame the shift change speed does not seem to respond to brisker driving by changing quicker, as you would do yourself in a manual. Get it to do that ( say faster changes signalled by the amount of urgency by which the paddles are flicked) and stick in a hill-holder to prevent rolling back and it would be really great IMO.
I agree with that. Perhaps in response to the amount of throttle at the time of the change? It should be a simple update to the firmware. I wonder how hard it would be for me to hack it? I actually have the gear to program the AVR chips used in the Sensodrive management (assuming they are AVR's since they are the only microprocessor made in France.)Trixie said:
Anybody got an old Sensodrive management unit from a wreck that I can play with?
You've been driving too many Smarts! To add this would require a rework of the brake hydraulics - not so easy. Besides, I find that a quick traverse from the brake to the throttle is all that is needed, just like with a real manual (who uses the handbrake for hill starts apart from impressing a driving tester?)Trixie said:
Correct. I've never driven a Smart, which is still too manyJamesII said:
My previous Liberty had a hill holder; hated it at first, loved it in the end. The Sensodrive seems to roll back more as in a manual you can be already letting the clutch out to catch the roll - in the Cit I seemed to have to boot it, and it felt as if the clutch disliked this method.Trixie said:Correct. I've never driven a Smart, which is still too many
Use your handbrake on a hill start and you will never get "roll back". It takes of immediately.
Once you are familiar with the idiosyncratic behaviour or the gearbox, it's fine. You learn where to be careful. It certain doesn't affect my style of driving.
It could be a problem to let someone unfamiliar with it take it for a spin in traffic.
JamesII said:
They are actually Marelli units - basically the same as the Selespeed in the Alfas, so I suspect that the bits might be Italian.
A lot of people hated (and still do) the Hydraulique gearbox in the DS, but others swear by it.
Paul
A mate of mine, his sister has a C2 VTR. She came to pick him up from school the other day and pulled away from a gentle slope. I was so surprised to hear the amount of clutch slip which the box seemed to be allowing, It was just a simple pull out into traffic situation and she wasnt giving it much stick.
They look a really nice car - I'd love to give the sensodrive box a go! C2's sure are out and about in Sydney, well I am seeing alot of them anyways!
Stalled
They look a really nice car - I'd love to give the sensodrive box a go! C2's sure are out and about in Sydney, well I am seeing alot of them anyways!
Stalled
just wondering if you need a manual or auto licence to drive a car with sensodrive
Good questionLadyBlergh said:just wondering if you need a manual or auto licence to drive a car with sensodrive
We have auto/manual licenses over here. (EG if you pass your test in an auto you're not allowed to drive manuals)
I would guess that it would be decided based on the controls available to the driver, rather than whats actually under the hood.
For example if it was a manual with a hydraulically operated clutch and no clutch pedal - ala some DS's that would not count as a manual for the drivers test, as you can't prove your competance at using a clutch.
I wonder what the situation is with flappy paddle gearchanges though...
Regards,
Simon
jasC2 said:
As far as I'm aware we now have manual/auto licenses in NSW whilst a learner or a P1 permit holder (but no restriction after that), so it is an excellent question
John,
If you haven't already bought the C3 - DON'T!! Save yourself heaps of heartache and wasted time trying to get the rotten thing to work properly.
What the dealer should say is the the Sensodrive [or as someone i see so eloquently put it, the "Sensless-drive"] in the Pluriel is junk.
if you go in a straight line or spend you life in quiet suburban streets then it may be for you. Commuting through the streets of Sydney it is a fatal accident waiting to happen. predominantly because of the transmission's failure t engage when slowing. after a few months of driving my wife's car. it is not just an inconvenient and annoying issue, it would end up being a death trap in a crisis.
Time and time again I am caught in the middle of an intersection, going around a corner, going around a roundabout, in an uphill line of slow traffic- when the car simply decides not to go. I don't believe one should have to factor in the prospect of getting run down by cars/trucks/buses and/or running over pedestrians/cyclists etc. because you can't count on the car going when you put your foot down.
And expect zero from Citroen Australia. I have now been told officially that there is nothing wrong with the car and the Sensodrive flat spot is a characteristic of the car.
That's supposed to make me feel better?????.......NOT!
Give a real live manual that goes when it goes and disengages when the clutch is depressed. Call me old fashioned.
Good Luck
Rex
If you haven't already bought the C3 - DON'T!! Save yourself heaps of heartache and wasted time trying to get the rotten thing to work properly.
What the dealer should say is the the Sensodrive [or as someone i see so eloquently put it, the "Sensless-drive"] in the Pluriel is junk.
if you go in a straight line or spend you life in quiet suburban streets then it may be for you. Commuting through the streets of Sydney it is a fatal accident waiting to happen. predominantly because of the transmission's failure t engage when slowing. after a few months of driving my wife's car. it is not just an inconvenient and annoying issue, it would end up being a death trap in a crisis.
Time and time again I am caught in the middle of an intersection, going around a corner, going around a roundabout, in an uphill line of slow traffic- when the car simply decides not to go. I don't believe one should have to factor in the prospect of getting run down by cars/trucks/buses and/or running over pedestrians/cyclists etc. because you can't count on the car going when you put your foot down.
And expect zero from Citroen Australia. I have now been told officially that there is nothing wrong with the car and the Sensodrive flat spot is a characteristic of the car.
That's supposed to make me feel better?????.......NOT!
Give a real live manual that goes when it goes and disengages when the clutch is depressed. Call me old fashioned.
Good Luck
Rex
Going by various roadtests of Cits with sensodrive it should be avoided,
sounds like a very clumsy and frustrating system.
C2's and C3's only available in sensodrive???
Is this some sort of french joke??:crazy:
Thankgod for old Cits!:wink2:
sounds like a very clumsy and frustrating system.
C2's and C3's only available in sensodrive???
Is this some sort of french joke??:crazy:
Thankgod for old Cits!:wink2:
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raver said:Going by various roadtests of Cits with sensodrive it should be avoided,
sounds like a very clumsy and frustrating system.
C2's and C3's only available in sensodrive???
Is this some sort of french joke??:crazy:
Thankgod for old Cits!:wink2:
The hatchback C3's are no longer available with Sensodrive. Only the C2 and C3 Pluriel are sensodrive only here.
Troy.