Have just taken delivery of a petrol Autobiography. Apart from the first signs of the knocking, dealt with on the other thread, i have noticed that the gear changing isn't that smooth.

In general leave-it-to-its-own-devices use, the upward and downward changes don't feel that seamless or smooth, either compared to an L322 we have in the family or my E63 wagon.

More noticeable still is that using the paddles results in very jerky down-shifts and not great up-shifts.

Has anyone else noticed this? It feels like a calibration/software set-up issue...thoughts gratefully received, thank you.

My gear changes are much smoother than they were in my 2010 SC as they should be given the switch to an 8 speed box. I use the paddles mainly for downshifts to give more engine braking on steep hills and it seems to be very smooth. Only thing I have noticed is the final shift down when coming to rest was a bit rough but that seems to have gone now I have done a few more miles. Sounds like you need to have it looked at.

My gear changes are much smoother than they were in my 2010 SC as they should be given the switch to an 8 speed box. I use the paddles mainly for downshifts to give more engine braking on steep hills and it seems to be very smooth. Only thing I have noticed is the final shift down when coming to rest was a bit rough but that seems to have gone now I have done a few more miles. Sounds like you need to have it looked at.

Thanks, 5.0. I also use the paddles to down-shift for engine-braking (feels like there is surprisingly little engine braking in the petrol car, btw).

It is these down-shifts that feel a bit agricultural, almost as if the throttle-blip is either under-cooked or simply not there.

I shall refer to the dealer and report back...

I think you may have it there because the engine is meant to blip the throttle to mach the revs on the way down the box. 2008 MY Supercharged
Rimini Red / Jet
four zone climate
remote park heater
and no ugly kid windows.
magnus satis quod turpis satis

Axle, thanks. It's precisely that rev-matching throttle blip that seems to be missing.... That is, in the car as-is, the gearbox down-shifts without a smoothing 'heal and toe' blip on the gas (youngsters, ask a grown up...).

Completely off topic, but related to the probably-dead art of manual gearbox usage, I read an interview with Allan McNish recently where I'm sure he said he'd had to learn heal and toe down-changing only AFTER he'd graduated from F3...shows how quick he was from turn-in to apex...

I don't understand why people leave it to the car to do the blip. If you change down keep your constant throttle position and the revs will match almost perfectly, something that works in na/supercharged manuals too. The ecu will adjust the throttle plate so you don't blow the car up. 
07 Supercharged - Still breaking her in!

Boot soundproofing part 1 - http://www.fullfatrr.com/forum/topic15612.html
Custom exhaust - http://www.fullfatrr.com/forum/topic15296.html
18" wheels for Brembo equipped cars - http://www.fullfatrr.com/forum/topic15052.html

TASP, thanks (hope you don't mind the abbreviation )

Interestingly, even on the flat with a constant throttle - that is, neither coasting nor accelerating - the car, as-is, still seems to execute a lumpy down-shift, hence my sense that something may be amiss.

To answer your question, though, as 5.0 suggests one would reasonably aspire to well-calibrated blipping when the car is descending a hill. My old-fashioned view on car control is that a gear should be selected that allows descent speed to be reasonably constant without the need to brake the whole way down. Just be nice for the initial down-shifts to be as smooth as available in other product.

These are First World problems, granted....

This isnt official but this fix has worked on some other cars notably bmw and mercedes (and my range rover I think!) with fly by wire throttle.

To reset the gearbox programme and adaption:-

ignition on but DON'T start the engine. Now hold down the accelerator pedal to the bump stop and hold for 45 seconds. Turn off ignition, then turn on and start engine as normal.

Mine got a bit jerky after 4000 miles. Sweet as a nut now. Think it was the reset but Im not 100%!

Worth a go anyway. '14.5 SDV8 Nara Bronze for sale
'17 BMW 740e Msport Individual on order
'17 Jeep Grand Cherokee SRT 6.4 Hemi on order
'16 Bentley Continental GT V8S Mulliner Driving Spec
'07 Alfa 159 3.2 Q4
'05 Mini Cooper R50
'95 Volvo 850R modified to 400hp
'89 Jaguar TWR ed XJ-S V12 Convertible

Aeroresh,

Wow...I won't pry as to the source of this but I'm intrigued to give it a try, thank you!

Great car collection/history, btw.

The gearbox adaption reset is well known, but I've never had much luck with it. The iidtool for the l322 does a better job. I think it might be your fancy new 8 speed gearbox being too clever for itself. I hope it does go away though, I had similar issues and they just vanished, but my car isn't new so I wasn't too annoyed. 
07 Supercharged - Still breaking her in!

Boot soundproofing part 1 - http://www.fullfatrr.com/forum/topic15612.html
Custom exhaust - http://www.fullfatrr.com/forum/topic15296.html
18" wheels for Brembo equipped cars - http://www.fullfatrr.com/forum/topic15052.html