Shift control system for manually shiftable automatic transmission

A shift control system for an automatic transmission including a plurality of frictional engagement means adapted to be hydraulically engaged for setting a plurality of gear stages, and a shift lever for switching between an automatic mode in which a gear stage is set on the basis of the running state of a vehicle and a manual mode in which a gear stage is switched by manipulating said shift lever, said switching of a gear stage comprising changing a gear ratio between an input shaft and an output shaft of said transmission,

• the improvement comprising:
• shift detecting means for detecting that a gear stage should be selected for a shift in the manual;
• and
• shift start timing means for accelerating, when the shift in the manual mode is detected, a switching rate of the frictional engagement means which are switched for executing the detected shift.