Shude mentioned this briefly on another forum on this board. Has anyone used this device? Does anyone know of someone who has it installed? One of my biggest gripes to date with the C43 was the auto trans. In "D," it's just plain sluggish.

Race logic
Birds in UK

I would assume this is much more popular in Europe that here in the Colonies. Anyone in UK or elsewhere abroad can pipe in?

George
'99 C43 AMG

oops. that was on benzsport.com
me bad

Cost in UK is about $3000 fitted.

I have 2000 E_Class 320CDi Auto that includes Tiptronic.

Cannot see that Switchlogic is any advantage over what I have.

Why not try to pick up a Tip box from a Wrecker.

Mike

Mike;

I was under an impression it was under US$1000 not installed, and the install is not overly complicated. Are we talking the same switchlogic unit?

My C43 is a '99, and does not have the "tip.' Since there aren't that many '00 C43s is US, chances of finding a "parts car" are slim. Does anyone know which tranny '00 C343 AMG is using? is it a "stock" unit from the MB parts bin? Otherwise, Switchlogic sounds like the right unit [for me].

Best regards,
George
'99 C43AMG

Dear George,

I actually had a word with them on the telephone.

I had assumed that in addition to the actual "Gear Changer" you would also want the "What gear am I in" indicator that is an extra cost.
This plus fitting came to about 2000 UK Pounds hence the $3000 Quote.

I have a 190E in addition to my Tip E320CDi.
My wife now uses it but I ran it full time up until a year or so ago.

I do not need to do it on the E Class, but on the 190 I always drove it "A La Manual" shifting with the stick due to lack of "Grunt".
My garage tweaked some setting in the box to make the shift faster. Apparently this can be done on all MB Auto boxes as long as you don't overdo it.
However you have to feather the throttle on a "Hard Shift" to max Revs (Like a Manual Shift) or the next gear up came in with a Bump.
I soon got the technique of it.
Car is now 17 + years old with no ill effects.

I believe the Transmission on your C43 AMG is the Driver-adaptive electronic 5-speed automatic. AMG-modified this for crisper, higher-rpm upshifts, with heavy-duty components and external liquid cooling.

The problem I have found with this "Driver-adaptive" electronics, I have it on my E-Class in the Tip box, is that it does not not have a "Long" memory.
I can get mine "Up to speed" when I drive locally.
I live outside the City and use a lot of Dual Carriageway and Motorways to move around.
It get's my "Robust" Style of driving in a few days, say 40 - 60 Miles.

Then if I go into the city and poodle around in traffic for a few hours it has "Amnesia" about my normal style.
Back to square 1.
I did check if the memory could be locked but the answer came back as a firm NO.

My Garage told me that ANY MB auto box will take driving "on the stick" forever.

Why not give it a try - you might like it. If you do, then get the "Shift Rate" speeded up.
If I ask my garage they will tell me how.

There again, whilst I actually think the switchlogic unit is a pretty good idea, I ask myself if putting something totally non-standard on a top line MB is a good move.

By the way, I thought that TipTronic was the ultimate, until I actually owned it.
My 320CDi engine has so much torque, 470Nm (That's about 350 Ft Lbs) that I actually gave up using it within a few weeks.
It would have it's uses on lower powered cars but not a lot of use on mine.
Used in the lower gears it causes the Traction Control to intervene a lot more and resulted in a slower "Off the Line" performance.

The only time it is really handy is when you want a "Snap" downshift for overtaking.
Mind you, I did that today, on the way out of the city and the result was a swift burst of traction control and the ESP cut in as I swung out to pass.
I had not realised that some leaves were on the road surface and so I had to abort the overtake.

Hope this helps to clarify your thoughts and gives you something to consider.

Mike

Wow... that is a lot of torque... too bad they don't sell direct injection diesels state-side... I think they would sell pretty well....

Mike;

I am very intersted in finding out what settings your garage changed on the trans to allow the shifts to become faster and crisper. I just called a local MB dealership, and the service advisor there had not a clue of what I was talking about. He asked to find out what eactly your garage did...

Perhaps your other idea of getting a tip trans from a "donor" car also has alot of merit... Or I could just leave the C43 alone and get a $4-5K summer car to beat around the track ;-)

George
'99 C43 AMG
ex: '97 M3 sedan (saloon)

I had a replacement reconditioned gearbox instaled by ATP Automatics (in Bristol, England, near Mike) they do lots of autobox work for my Dad's garage. The guy there said he increased the vacuum pressures so it's no so sluggish and holds onto the revs longer, which it does. It doesn't affect it if you aren't driving quickly though, so it's the best of both worlds. I also love driving it with the stick when you really need to get on.

Mine's an older vacuum operated rather than electronically operated box, which may make things easier or harder for adjusting the shifts?


later,

Russ

__________________
190E's:
2.5-16v 1990 90,000m Astral Silver
2.0E 8v 1986 107,000m Black 2nd owner
http://www.maylane.demon.co.uk/190esmall.jpghttp://www.maylane.demon.co.uk/190esmall2.jpg

On the amnesia of the electronic transmissions -- I understand that clicking from the "summer" to the "winter" setting and back resets the computer memory so that it will "relearn" the driving style afresh. You might try that and see if it seems to make a difference.

I would personally be reluctant to spend a lot of $$ on trying to redo the C43 transmission -- if you want a track car, look at a Porsche 944 turbo or, if you have the budget, a Honda S2000 or an older 911-based turbo like the 930 (but you'd better know what you're doing in that car -- the rear end comes come around very quickly if it gets unbalanced -- the DEA in Miami used to describe the 930 as the best ally they had in getting rid of drug dealers!).

__________________
'98 C43 AMG
'88 420SEL
'93 190E Limited Edition (including factory Sportline package)