I was wondering about this for a while. I have a 89 se with a auto tran, and sometimes for the fun of it I put the gear selector in first and floor the car and shift to second gear and than pop it in to third (or the "d" ). Does that do any harm to my car? If it does please let me know so i can quit. thanx

 

i do the same exact thing with a 90gxe..heh it is fun to do tho..

 

I wouldn't recommend it.

 

Why not? What could it do to the tranny?

 

i wouldn't recommed it, it's just bad. But if you find it fun let's see how much fun it is when you have to spend money on a new tranny!!!!!

 

As long as you shift before redline, the only harm you will suffer is gas milage.

 

And as long as you don't shift into reverse by accident. I've seen it done.

 

I really would not do it though, Because my friend had a 93 Max auto and he did that and now his tranny wont shift right, and some other things but he really needs a new tranny. But that is my opinion

 

Do you race? You just about have to shift down do beat any of those damn rice burner hondas. You get much more off the line power. So, if you do it right, nothing can happen. Your friend probably left the car in redline too long.

 

Shifting an Auto VG will not show any improvement in acceleration times, plus its a very inconsistant practice.....

 

i do that too.... kinda fun! hehe

 

I find that 1st gear engages quicker than D (this a problem? ) When i shift from Park to Drive, theres a short hesitation then it engages but when i shift from Park right down to 1st, that engages quicker. When im doing 3 point turns on crowded streets ill just go from Reverse right to 1 then up to Drive once im moving straight.

 

Shifting manually is fine as long as you are not really redlining it. When I do it, I still shift at around 3.2k-3.5k. Actually, its pretty funny because you WILL notice an improvement in acceleration times ,since the tranny is so slow and doesn't want to downshift sometimes, when floored (TC lag)! Seriously, a friend and I were testing out my '91 GXE and his '91 240sx (5spd dohc). I floored it and my Max inched forward ever so slowly, and then about 4-5 sec later it finally downshifted and took off. Now, doing it manually makes acceleration instantaneous and leaves no wait for it to downshift.

Quick question. When you guys are doing this manually, you aren't letting off the gas before shifting, right? Just making sure because thats add stress on the tranny. I was doing that for a couple days and then my mechanic friend explained everything to me. I thought it would be good to let off before shifting, and that it would be less stress but it is actually the opposite.

 

if you don't know for sure, don't answer. downshifting an automatic is BAD. there isn't that much of a difference in accel. if you want to accel faster, the trade off is a shorter tranny life (of an already very FRAGILE tranny). for all those who shift an auto, don't take this personally... if you do, you can call me an *ssh*le or what ever you want, but i'm just trying ot look out for those who are curios.

 

Thank you........


and also, no im not letting off the gas. Im not taking offense, but acceleration through gears is faster, you can run the rpm's higher, creating the ability to obtain faster speeds, quicker. Thats what I do.

 

I don't really see the advantage though......I can hit 5800+/- RPM in first and second in "D" by just flooring the gas....how is manual shifting that much different??? I mean the rev limit is only about 3-400 more RPM away...I doubt the VG is making that much more power in those 3-400 rpm??

if the purpose of manual shifting is to rev high in the powerband, since "most" of you haven't done any dyno testing to analyze the powerband/shiftpoints to begin with, whats the big advantage???

definently not flames, just an observation and $.02....

 

Your driving an automatic car. Regardless of how good of a "shifter" you think you are with your 3 gears plus OD, the car can only shift so fast and without a clutch you have very little control over it.
Your not speeding anything up, and with tries at the track you will realize how inconsistant this so called method actually is.

And shadow1198, if it takes a mechanic friend to tell you to stop letting go off the gas when you "shift", then i have a feeling you are not too familiar with the workings of a transmission leaving your advice a little misleading to newbies.

 

amen brotha


DA-MAX: amen to you too. powerband is the keyword. higher rpm does not mean quicker acceleration.

 

First off, I agree with Poorcollegeboy. Downshifting an auto IS bad! Were you asking if I did that? I certainly wasn't saying that and I definitely do not do it.

Maxse91, I see what you mean. I am definitely no expert on tranny's. Though, I didn't quite mean it actually makes your Maxima faster. In my case, my tranny is a b*tch sometimes and doesn't want to downshift. For example, say I am going 60+ mph and coming up to a stop, where I am going to turn. If I slow down and go through the turn without stopping, it doesn't seem to downshift and stays in 4th gear. So, 4th gear acceleration from say 15mph is not fun at all! Plus, it usually won't downshift in similar situations unless I press harder and basically make it go WOT, or come to a complete stop so it can go back into 1st. So, its not like shifting manually is going to drop 5sec off your 1/4 and give you 100hp or anything. It just so happens that, occasionally, doing so is a little faster than if my dumb tranny is left to do it. BTW, my tranny definitely isn't dying. I had it rebuilt about 1.5yrs ago. And when I say I shift it sometimes (I rarely do it), I don't downshift! If anything, I start from a stop doing 1-2-D.

 

At the beginning of the thread, it looked like a gathering of newbies

 

what do you mean by that, brotha??

 

Nothin, I was bein stupid and bored. Everyone at the beginning were newbies and I thought that was a strange coincidence. I wouldn't really know the difference at the time not having a permit or a license