I've noticed my car will seem to apply or feather the brakes when I come off the throttle in the 30-40 mph range. I'll be driving in what I call a semi aggresive mode, not hard, just purposeful. Release the throttle and it feels like the brakes are being applied. There is no rpm blip and I don't think there is a gear shift happening. Then when I hit the throttle again it feels like I'm having to overcome the brakes which will then release, giving me a bit of a jerking motion. Is this one of those 7AT deals I heard about or is it something that just needs to be broken in? I haven't taken it in yet as it is more of an annoyance than a concern at this time. Just hit 1100 on the odometer, so I have yet to run the **** out of her yet to see if that is all it needs to clear it up. Thanks in advance for any input/ideas.

 

From the manual:

Brake Assist (BA)

In emergency braking situations, some drivers may not brake hard enough, soon enough. Brake Assist monitors how you apply the brakes and, sensing emergency braking, works with the standard ABS system to apply maximum brake pressure for potentially shorter stops.

 

That is not what it says in my manual under brake assist. Mine describes it as simply a means to generate greater braking force after applying braking. What I'm getting seems like the braking action described with ICC, which I don't not have. Also seems like it might be a function of VDC. I'm not pushing it hard enough for the VDC to apply, I don't think anyway. Will go for a test hop without VDC and see if I get the same action.

 

Most likely the engine braking in the Transmission. Makes the car feel sluggish. My car was like that for the first 3k miles or so. It eventually stops, at least in my case.

 

Yeah sounds like engine braking . It's most likely you're on a low gear due to your aggressive driving

 

It's gotta be engine braking. Most automatics have a flywheel effect when you release the gas, but in an effort to be sportier, the torque converter locks up and keeps you in gear. If you aren't used to driving a manual, it may feel weird to you.

 

must be a new feature

 

^ What they said

Nope, see above.

 

^ thanks!

 

my engine braking was bad when i first got the car now that i have 4k on it its alot better

 

I'm going to go with engine braking. Good to hear this thing is built as tight as that and good to hear it goes away with break in. Thanks for the input. I'll post a thread btiching about it if it doesn't get better...

 

It doesn't go away with break-in, it's part of the programming of the transmission. It will increase or decrease depending on how you drive the car. It's supposed to be there because the 7AT is supposed to mimc a manual transmission. That being said, the latest transmission ECU flash upgrade reduces the engine braking effect, so if you don't like it, you should get that flash done. There are other threads here on it.