Drove a stepstronic .. not as bad as I thought.

[fake]

So I drove my friend's 2001 323Ci and I must say that Steptronic isn't *that* bad. It pulls and it lets you downshift into redline .. very nice imho. Any thoughts on it? I'm a stick driver, but my dad is thinking of going steptronic on his next car .. I'm evaluating the pros and cons

 

[SALvation]

Check the forums at bmwplanet.com for about a million threads about this.

 

[Mr.IncrediblyBored]

I'll admit the steptronic transmission would be an attractive option if I could only choose between that and an auto. That said, nothing is as fun as a manual tranny.

 

[aphex]

Is steptronic about the same thing as the tiptronic in my 2002 passat?

 

[RedRooster]

Costs as much or more than an automatic, gets the fuel economy of an automatic, is as costly or even more to fix than an automatic. What's the pros again? Those trannies are a huge gimmick for the baby boomers who're too old to use their creaky leg on a clutch, and for the 16 year olds who've never learned how to use a true manual.

 

[jlee]

Umm...what is it? Basically a manual, but without a clutch..? That's..goofy.

 

[fake]

<< Umm...what is it? Basically a manual, but without a clutch..? That's..goofy. >>



No, it's more automatic than manual. It'll downshift for you when you come to a stop, etc. Clutchless manual is BMW's SMGII which is only available on 2002 M3's ..

 

[LittleWolf]

Yup, the Tiptronic in your Passat is the same as the Steptronic in BMW. Tiptronic was first developed by Porsche and then Audi used it and then ofcourse VW's also got it. Both Tiptronic & Steptronic offer much better control over gears than the similar auto-gear ones available in the likes of Acura etc.

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[SinNisTeR]

whats the difference between tiptronic and steptronic?