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Do you 'shift' your iQ?

9K views 32 replies 12 participants last post by  iqforyou 
#1 ·
I was watching a video online where someone was test driving an iQ and they "shifted" from S to D when pulling away from a stop sign. Does anyone else do this? Do you use B to shift down when coming to a stop also?

How do you drive your iQ?
 
#5 ·
It's easy.

"D" is the most efficienty (lowest RPM) mode. You could stay in D all the time if you wanted.

"S" tells the car to use a little higher RPM. If you give throttle while you're in S, you accelerate quicker/harder. If you are braking while in "S" the higher RPM/engine load helps slow the car down. It's like downshifting in this way.

"B" is the highest rpm setting we have. You can smash the gas while using B to accelerate or hit the brake to slow down.

Try it out... and you'll see exactly what I'm saying. On the highway I use "S" and some gas to catch up, merge...etc. And at quick stops I use S and B to help slow down... or to just slow down entirely without using my brakes.
 
#7 ·
I would avoid shifting into "B" when coming to a stop. It's great for steep hills but flat driving doesn't require more than a shift into "S" when coming to a stop. I use the "S" mode when getting on the freeway.
 
#19 ·
You're right. This happens with every car I own. At first it feels a little foreign and I don't push it to see what it will do but eventually I become so comfortable with my car it becomes like it was made for me. It's good to know that I can "experiment" with the shifting and see what works best for me. :)
 
#26 ·
Awesome. I was used to driving an automatic wherein shifting gears while in motion was ill-advised (no synchro).
SABQT, yeah, that's why I've been a bit apprehensive about learning to use the S and B modes. I thought I'd have to time it somehow, like with a manual, or otherwise I'd hurt the engine. I guess it's much simpler than I'd thought.

Vancouver iQ, thanks for the great explanation (once again) of how to drive using the S and B modes. Here I was all prepared to pour over my manual to figure it out. This forum is such a great resource.
 
#24 ·
Alrighty, I've been playin' with it in traffic. <cough> I wouldn't say its "WAY" better. Its hardly a "feel-your-way-along-with-your-toes" racing (or rock-crawling) 5-speed "feather-n-throw" manual (I love crawling in my 'zuki!). But the S and B gears do spin up the engine a solid 20-30% faster off the line. Torque-to-tires-wise though the lower modes are still disappointingly slippery. It must be a belt drive on conical pulley system in there. Sure feels like it.

Its still mind-blowing to me to be fly-by-wire between the stick and gears like that, throwing on the fly with no clutch and no synchro. I still have this old-school phobia that the tranny's gonna explode. My Zuki's might if I'm drivin' a long and forget which tranny I'm on.
 
#28 ·
Being one with your car is a cool thing. My xB isn't fast. It doesn't have a lot of engine mods. It is lowered, front and rear strut bar c pillar bar racing seats, racing seat belt bar. It has short ram air intake and an exhaust. It's stable. Spacers behind the wheels to widen the stance. I do shift it like it's a manual. Now those things still don't make it a race car by any means. but with that said some kids in a mustang drove by me three times and ran there mouth. the 3rd time I turned around and followed them. They took side roads, back roads, etc. They couldn't lose me. straight aways sure they pulled ahead but on those roller coaster back roads with hills and s turns and s turns over hills etc they could not shake me. my xB hugged those corners like no tomorrow. Basically it doesn't matter how fast your car is if you don't know what it can do and don't know how to drive it all that horse power is as useless as tits on a bull. I know what my xB can do and what it's capable of. I am not quite that comfortable with the iQ yet but once I am.. well thats when it becomes fun.
 
#29 ·
visonbar, once you mod the suspension the IQ starts feeling a lot different. I wouldn't drive it on the stock wheels/springs the way I do now. I've yet to get the rear sway bar/stiffer front bushings. I can already take exits and corners twice as fast as the posted warning... so I'm curious to see how much more control I can gain. It's a fun car.
 
#30 ·
I've actually stopped shifting just too see if I get better gas mileage leaving it in 'D' - I think I am but I'm not entirely done with my experiment yet. I'm just not used to getting gas every week. That's been throwing me off a little, and I realize the tank is small, but I am getting upwards of 300 kms out of a 32 L tank of gas so that's not too shabby really.
 
#31 ·
Maggie, you will get better mileage if you stay in "D". That's the least powerful/most economical setting. You'll get used to filling up more frequently. It's just because the tank is so small. It is nice not having to spent a fortune whenever you do stop for fuel. I stop at the store all the time for my various energy drink/cigarette habits, so I don't mind throwing some fuel in while I'm there anyway... but yeah, it would be nice if the tank was a little bigger.
 
#33 ·
not mine maggiebite,but normal regular things rarely pertain to me,IN MY CASE,the mileage has gotten MUCH worse cuzz now i matt it everywhere,drive it hard,maybe im even seeing if i can BREAK it,no luck yet.have a fine week ahead.
 
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