What is the best way to drive this semi-auto gearbox? I was going through many threads on this forum and I can't find definitive answer. What I do is driving like 50:50 in auto and manual mode. Generally speaking I don't like engine braking so use manual mode when light ahead of me change to red. However, when I stop on lights for like 45 seconds - 1 minute should I disengage to Neutral from A/1? This is what mechanic told me - keeping it on A is like keeping clutch all the time pressed in normal manual gearbox. Made sense to me so now for longer stops I just engage N. Should I?
Generally speaking, around town it is manual and on the motorway, it is either/or for me. I've tried driving around town in Automatic and it's... OK, it being the best descriptor I have for that but I know I can do better in Manual. Plus, mine has paddle shifters, be a shame not to use them.
The engine braking in my car is fairly minimal compared to my 450's (the 1998-2007 city-coupe/fortwo). I suspect this is because of the narrower ratios between each gear, especially between 5th and 6th so I do find myself changing down twice when needing to slow down with some rapidity.
As G implies, it can be more fincikity to put the car into N and then back into 1/A when starting and stopping. I used to think the same as you in that it'd keep the clutch released as you held your foot on the brake or on the handbrake but I don't think that is the case. If that was true, I'd imagine the clutch would have burnt out in mine long ago and you would feel the car wanting to move forwards at stationary (much like as you might feel if a manual car had its brake applied on and the clutch pedal released slowly to the biting point). In my experience anyway, it just sits there until I let go of the brake and then I can feel the power slowly being applied, as if the actuator is slowly releasing the clutch to bite.
The onboard computer is a nice indicator, yes but it isn't that accurate in my experience.
Why "creeping" sometimes works and sometimes not? Literally. When I leave car on A/1 it sometimes doesn't move, sometimes moves for a while after sometimes after a while it just starts to drive slowly.
I can't say I've ever experienced the car not move in 1/A under its own steam where everything was working. That being said, it is fairly sensitive to the gradient and the only time I've ever experienced the car not move under its own steam was when the ABS/ESP was disabled.
I read a bit about adjusting clutch/actuator. I bought this car used of course so I have no idea if it's even been done but generally gearbox works totally fine, clutch not slipping at all so I think I will leave it be. Or I should go to Mitsubishi for adjustment? The only problem is that when it's raining heavily gearbox likes to show "0" but I read it's basically everybody problem and going quick from A to R/applying brake hard helps to I can live with that.
The "0" problem is, I think, a situation where the car expects something to have been done within a certain time frame and then that doesn't happen. This is a fairly common occurrence and save for any disaster with the clutch actuator, is usually remedied by a swift movement back to 1/A and then back again. I would typically recommend a indie for clutch actuator adjustment but it depends on wherever they have the right equipment or not (in the Smart world, that is the Mercedes STAR system). I think I've heard tale of Snap-Ons being able to do it these days but I can't confirm that and I wouldn't know what Mitsubishi use for their diagnosis system either.
