I recently purchased a DS7 Crossback 2019 - 33000 miles.
I have a question about the auto box, I have the 1.6 225bhp and wondered if anyone else experiences the following.
When at a set of lights and have foot brake on, I can feel the box disengaging, fine. But then when I go to set off, if I press the accelerator immediately it feels like clunky, like it doesn’t engage quick enough, however, if I come off the brake and leave it a second or 2 it engages fine. Upon accelerating.
This isn’t fine. It’s supposed to be pulling constantly, not disconnecting. Something’s wrong with the transmission pressure if you’re experiencing these symptoms. Take it to a specialist to have the hydraulic fluid level checked.
The DS4 is my fourth car with the Eat8 (ATN8/EATN8) gearbox, and I’ve never had symptoms like yours. The gearbox has always been quick, with no waiting for a quick start.
When I pull up at junctions/traffic lights ect and if the ICE is running, the gearbox shifts down to 1st gear and holds in that gear unless I manually select N or P.
The car will pull forward if I take my foot off the brake.
Its the same in electric mode, there’s no actual gear showing on the display, just the “Ready” icon, the car pulls forward if I take my foot off the brake.
I initially thought this was not good for the car as the gearbox is always under load, but apparently that’s how it should be.
That’s helpful. I thought when you use the foot brake it essentially puts it into neutral, if I lift off foot brake it does creep but if I accelerate hard, it feels like hesitation of engagement.
However, if I pull up and use the handbrake and leave it in drive, there is no issue. I was hesitant to do this as I thought it was bad for the box (I had a ford power shift DCT a while back and that was garbage).
Could it be anything to do with the battery? It is going in to have it replaced next week as it doesn’t hold enough charge to support the stop start.
I tend to leave the car in “D” at junctions ect with my foot on the brake.
I was sometimes putting the car in “P” or “N” whilst at traffic lights but stopped when I heard this wasnt a good idea.
So these days its rare that I use “P” or “N” .
I just use the main brake when fully parking up.
On that note whats the difference between the parking brake and the main brake ?
There are alot of opinions on how to treat automatic boxes and here’s mine.
When i have stopped, I engage the parking brake, and slip lever to neutral, then when I pull away again, it’s into gear and parking brake off & throttle on.
As I’m getting on a bit, my reasoning is based on driving old auto boxes, if keeping in drive while stopped puts strain on the gearbox and engine, drinking fuel. However, my understanding is when the parking brake is applied the car will automatically put the gearbox into neutral, mimicking my behaviour, but old habit are not easy to drop - and it’s not doing any harm.
Also, remember, if the engine revs are high the gerabox willsnatch no matter what you do.
Thats exactly how I would of thought, but apparently putting the car in neutral , whether thats manually or by selecting “p” isnt good for an auto box.
I’ve driven loads of cars witjh an auto box, but never owned one until now, so I dont want to be doping something thats not good ?
I’ve Googled this so many times and cant find anything to say either way whats the best way to use an auto gearbox in regards to using “N” at junctions ect.
It seems to be a very evenly split opinion.
That’s very helpful. I can feel the box go into neutral when stopped at a set of lights with it left in Drive.
When I lift of the break, it re-engages after a second and then I can drive away. If I try to accelerate before engagement its a bit jerky, perhaps I am overthinking this but I was very nearly burned by the Ford power shift.
If I leave it drive and apply the ebrake, it doesn’t disengage into neutral so pulls away without hesitation, however, I worry this puts unnecessary load on the box.
I would normally, pull up, pop into neutral and use the ebrake.
I agree with what has been said but the consensus is split.
In our case, the concept of an AXN8/EAXN8 automatic transmission should be limited to a hydraulic transmission. Other manufacturers use dual-clutch solutions based on mechanical transmissions. Currently, Stellantis also offers such transmissions, the DCS7 (e.g., the DS No4 with 1.2), which are not hydraulic. These transmissions are used differently, but the driver considers both to be automatic transmissions.
That sounds a little bit different to what I see ?
If the car is in “D” with the ICE is running and I pull up to a set of lights or junction, the car drops down to 1st gear and stays in 1st gear until I start to pull off.
You can see 1st gear selected on the dash display.
If the car is running in hybrid or full electric when i pull up theres no gear shown on the dash but I can see the “READY” icon, so as soon as I start to release the foot brake the car starts to pull forward.
Having looked at it properly on the way home, it does stay in D1, but I can definitely feel something disengaging, looking online it says, that is could be the torque converter is locking / unlocking and then the jerk could be the mechanical take up, so no disengaging as I thought.
I have no warning lights and it feels fine otherwise, so I’m not really sure but I think we are good.
Disengaging at full stop and showing d1 at full stop is normal and its how its suppose to be… older automatic gearboxes while in full stop and while in D1 were under load, strain, and for those it was advisable to put in N or P if you are waiting for longer period of time…
New auto gearboxes, like EAT8 are having this auto feature where gearbox itself disengage so there is no load or strain while stationary. If you are anyhow waiting for more than 5-10-15 min, ideal steps should be, press the brake, put N, engage handbrake, release foot brake, put to P
This way you are assuring that while in N handbrake is holding -stopping the car instead of gearbox…
In such a situation, if someone rear-ends the car, the gearbox lock will be damaged. The gearbox will require repair. Never engage P except when getting out of the car.
If the handbrake is engaged, there is no need to engage P.
But if D1 is showing on the display, doesn’t that indicate that the gearbox under load in the in 1st gear, but the car is being held back from moving forward by having the footbrake pressed ?
Surely the gearbox is only disengaged if NO gear is showing on the display and the car is manually put into N or P ?
When 1st (D1) is showing on the display and you remove your foot off the brake, the car instantly starts to creep forward without the need to rev, so the gearbox must be engaged if 1st (D1) is showing on the display ?
@Jactac yes. Holding the car back on the foot brake leaves the car in gear ready to go - extra load on drivetrain. But when using the handbrake, the ECU’s will put the gearbox into nuetral, but it won’t change the display, that way, you (the driver) knows that to pull away you just need to press the accelerator, the gearbox will go into drive and the handbrake will release.
You know the car is in nuetral by the rear dipping down when you apply the handbrake when stopped this is because the front wheels are momentarily still pulling while the rear wheels are holding, the dip is when power to the front wheels is disengaged.
It’s possible I am being paranoid, having being burned by auto boxes before.
When I pull away from from stationary, the car creeps fine but when I go to accelerate, sometimes it feels like a little thump and then drives normally, this doesn’t happen if I use the ebrake.
Overall, driving is fine, no warning lights, shifts and pulls well (can feel it shift in lower gears, but not harsh).
Perhaps you are being a little paranoid, @33,000 miles the gearbox should still be okay. However, if you plan on keeping the car you may need to have an oil change at about 50,000. Stellantis state “Sealed for life” but don’t believe them! Other manufacturers using same gearbox probably say not. I’m a long way from 50k so not thinking about that yet.
The slight latency between increasing RPM and actual movement is due to the working principle of the Torque Converter. The transmission fluid inside the converter requires a brief moment to transfer the rotational power. This isn’t specific to the EAT8; in fact, older torque-converter transmissions had significantly more latency.
Furthermore, all modern gearboxes communicate constantly with the ECU and ABS modules. The transmission monitors brake pedal pressure and can effectively ‘disengage’ the engine from the load. You can observe this yourself: if you press the brake pedal only halfway while stationary, the idle RPM might stay slightly higher due to the load. However, pressing the pedal fully will cause the RPM to drop, signaling that the transmission has fully disengaged. It is also worth noting that dual-clutch gearboxes (like DSG, Powershift, or Stellantis’s new e-DCT6) are essentially automated manual transmissions. They generally require more careful operation compared to robust, fully automatic units like the EAT6/8 or ZF.