OK, I'm going to tread lightly, because I don't want to initiate a cascade of Azera bashing. So I'm going to do a "compliment sandwich". I love my Azeras. OUR Azeras. You guys will think this is really far out, but I actually bought MY Azera because I drove my wife's maybe two dozen times in two months and the single largest deciding factor was how GOOD my wife's car held turns and felt over bumps. Beautiful. The suspension relative to my '94 540, '96 XJ6, '96 Vanden Plas, '97 XJR, '98 S70, etc., was just perfect... quiet and firm, great in corners, without being harsh and without floating. I reminded myself of that deciding factor today - while I enjoyed a WONDERFUL drive to and from work in Thor. Great brakes, great suspension, great handling, all in all a genuine pleasure to drive. (OK Hyundai... do I get my free Genesis now? just kidding guys!)

The "lurch" of which I speak: when I pull in to the parking lot at work, there's a steep uphill right off the street (which is flat). It's a quiet part near downtown, and there's a stoplight maybe 50 yards prior to the lot, so I'm usually revving around 1500 under light throttle when I cruise into the parking lot.

Here is the hill I'm talking about: http://maps.google.com/?ie=UTF8&ll=35.7807...2778215557,,0,5

Turn the view to the left two or three notches to see the stoplight. It's the last block of this street before it terminates and it's always traffic-free and quiet even in rush hours.

So when I'm cruising up that hill, the car will slow, the Lambda starts to crank in some considerable torque... the car slows... where's the downshift? Waiting... car is slowing.......... motor is struggling not to stall........ BANG there it goes. Feels like it just went from 3rd to 1st. The transmission kicks, throws me back in the seat hard, the car lunges forward. Talking about waiting until 900RPM to shift, and it KICKS forward. Instead of feeling a bit too much resistance in the current gear it waits and "thinks about it". By the time it makes its decision to shift, the shift IS fast, but much too late, and much too severe. The car should feel the increasing torque and downshift a gear much sooner so it has time for rev matching before lockup.

The soggy slice of bread in this compliment sandwich: If you have your stereo on, even quietly, the Lambda makes the Azera feel like an inaudible rocket ship. It's more peppy and sprightly than even my '97 XJR... the XJR is like a locomotive but it does sport 322hp and 378ft-lbs, and mated to a 4-speed GM transmission and in a 4100 pound car, it is comparably fast 0-60 to the Azera. The Azera might even be a little faster. For a 265hp car to make numbers, and give you a feeling of power that equals or betters a 322hp car is a testament to the advances in technology, and Hyundai's great job with straight acceleration in this drivetrain. For a FWD car to be BOTH smoother AND faster than my Jags is quite an spectacular accomplishment. I never drove, and was never interested in a Lexus ES, because I don't care for FWD cars, but I get the sense I have ended up with an ES for half the price... I'm tempted to head over to a Lexus dealership and drive an ES and 'test it out' in the same conditions this weekend, just as a sanity check.

So... the transmission kick should a simple matter of programming, but I wonder, has anyone else experienced it? Do you know what I'm talking about? It doesn't seem to be a problem if I'm going faster, at higher throttle, but at low throttle it really doesn't want to downshift... waits too long. Is there a TCU EPROM upgrade that fixes it? Any input?

:beer: all :)

This post has been edited by andyman32: Jul 2 2008, 07:46 PM

:)

Were you using "Drive" or the shift-tronic feature when this happened?

There is a TSB listed that may pertain to your problem? :whistling:

It is 07-40-010

:amen:

"compliment sandwich".... have you been watching family guy or something?

Azera bashing ? Who would do such a thing :innocent:

Maybe you can change the name from Thor to Lurch :whistling:

This post has been edited by Brazzel: Jul 3 2008, 02:45 AM

LOL! I LOVE Family Guy... I know it inside and out :bwekk:

Looks like that TSB is on the mark Snaglepus. I was / am always in 'drive' and it is reproducible every morning I drive Thor. The workaround is to go a little faster up the hill, open the throttle a little more - the transmission seems to be more responsive to required downshifts the more open the throttle is, or, going fast enough, it just scoots up the hill without the need to downshift.

I know there was a "slow" shifting problem - too much time disengaged between gears - but didn't know this would also be part of it. I'll check the ATF level this weekend, I sure hope to heavens that's not the problem. I checked it at the last oil change.

This post has been edited by andyman32: Jul 3 2008, 06:56 AM

something good... something good... you look like snoopy.



To the on topic part. I notice mine sometimes lugs on the hill by my house. It doesnt do what yours does, but if I just blip the throttle it'll upshift and quit lugging.

This post has been edited by boostedfc3s: Jul 3 2008, 02:16 PM

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That's it... just don't punch the throttle, hold it even, as if you were cruising into your parking spot. The engine will load down. Wait until it shifts without changing throttle and see how hard it works before it decides to shift.

The more throttle, the less trouble it seems to have making up its mind...