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Manually shifting an Automatic

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Old 11-09-2004, 06:50 AM
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Manually shifting an Automatic

I noticed that when i floor it in drive, the car only takes it to 6100 rpm, but if i shift it myself, i can hold it to the rev limiter. I usually just take to 6500 or so which would be put it from 1st to 2nd at about 40 mph actually shifting it at like 6200 because it takes a while for it to register.


Anyone else notice this? I think this could help times because its more time in the rpm range that has the most power, i think that like 6100-6500 has more than like 4000-4400, am i wrong?
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Old 11-09-2004, 06:56 AM
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Go to the dyno section and do a bit of research.

In shrot, stock VQ's make most power between 5.2k-5.5k, and make about the same power at 4k as they do at ~6.5k.
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Old 11-09-2004, 06:59 AM
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Well i got a y-pipe , and basically cat-back exhaust. I did notice that the shift was much more pronounced, you could really feel the lunge of the new gear enguaging, it was beautiful.

I read that an intake will take off your low end, so that would probably be benificial if you had one of those.
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Old 11-09-2004, 07:02 AM
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Put one on and tell what you find. .
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Old 11-09-2004, 07:10 AM
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I could seriously use one lol, any donations?
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Old 11-09-2004, 07:48 AM
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PR CAI is basically half price right now through Cattman GB. Better low end at the expense of high-end.

~THT
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Old 11-09-2004, 10:20 AM
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if you have an automatic and you are shifting between "1" "2" and "D" while driving you are going to toast your transmission


my buddy had a habit of doing this and he went through 2 trannys in about a year and a half
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Old 11-09-2004, 10:33 AM
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Originally Posted by A Flood99
if you have an automatic and you are shifting between "1" "2" and "D" while driving you are going to toast your transmission


my buddy had a habit of doing this and he went through 2 trannys in about a year and a half
I've done this occasionally, sometimes more than others, but my tranny is still alive and well at 224k...
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Old 11-09-2004, 11:12 AM
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Not smart at all
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Old 11-09-2004, 11:28 AM
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Originally Posted by NmexMAX
I've done this occasionally, sometimes more than others, but my tranny is still alive and well at 224k...
the things some people say about manually shifting at WOT
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Old 11-09-2004, 12:00 PM
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I see no reason for it to be bad for my transmission, All its doing is staying in 1st for longer (400rpm longer), then 2nd and shifting just how it normally would at normal times.

You can go from gear 1 at 6500 rpm 40 mph, then gear 2 6500 at like 80-85, then gear 3 at 6500 at like 125 then 4th gear to get above 125 if you hold 3rd long enough to shift into enough power in 4th gear to continue accelleration.


Why do you think its bad, no one says why, there just like, yea thats horrible for it.
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Old 11-09-2004, 12:18 PM
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because the whole purpose of automatic is so u dont have to ,......the reason u can is incase u are going up a huge hill and need the power....towing....etc.
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Old 11-09-2004, 12:21 PM
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I manually shift from time to time. I haven't had a problem, what will blow out your tranny is if you go from say 2 to 1 that will cause your tranny to die on you quicker.
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Old 11-09-2004, 12:35 PM
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Originally Posted by A Flood99
if you have an automatic and you are shifting between "1" "2" and "D" while driving you are going to toast your transmission


my buddy had a habit of doing this and he went through 2 trannys in about a year and a half
I do this all the time.

9 years and 200k miles.

Still going.
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Old 11-09-2004, 12:43 PM
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I had a Grand AM GT it was a auto about 2 years ago (POS) anyway I manual shifted it sometimes and after awhile my trans. started to slip. Plus when I would go above 65 mph the trans. would make my car to jolt back and forth for a little then go away. Thats when I sold it and bought my 5sp max
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Old 11-09-2004, 12:55 PM
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mzmtg, wow i'm glad you're going strong with 200K

i just know that my friend has a 96 GLE and i would watch him "shift" his automatic at WOT and even when just mildly accelerating

and in about 5 months his transmission went out from buying the car (115K)....and after a rebuild he still kept at it, and it went out again about 15K later

now don't get me wrong, it could've been a weak tranny to begin with and then the rebuild could've been sub-par......but i have always been under the impression that those gears were for you to pick and not switch in and out of while the car is traveling down the road
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Old 11-09-2004, 12:56 PM
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also mzmtg........i'm sure you take care of your car better than most
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Old 11-09-2004, 01:06 PM
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Originally Posted by A Flood99
also mzmtg........i'm sure you take care of your car better than most

Not the trans, only ever changed the fluid twice

And I run the DR mod at the track.
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Old 11-09-2004, 01:13 PM
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hmm...i've been manually shifting my trans for about a year now with no problems. i guess as long as you aren't stupid enough to downshift to first above 5-10 mph then you should be fine.
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Old 11-09-2004, 01:18 PM
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Someone give a real reason other than "it wasnt meant for that" I think its exactly the same basic thing as the triptronicly shifting in auto lexus'.
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Old 11-09-2004, 01:48 PM
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Originally Posted by Andy13186
Someone give a real reason other than "it wasnt meant for that" I think its exactly the same basic thing as the triptronicly shifting in auto lexus'.
No one can give you a reason or a lead as to why manually shifting an automatic transmission at WOT vs. letting the car do it itself at WOT is going to blow up the transmission or not. They place one eventin their lives regarding a blown transmission and make a quick uneducated opinion about manually shifting causing the trouble.

<sarcasm>Cars with a tiptronic transmission blow up there transmissions all the time ya know?</sarcasm>

It makes no damn difference at WOT whether you decide to manually shift or not, the shift still happens electronically, only you are the brains of the shift-points. The redline on the Maxima is at 6,600rpms, the TC can easily handle that rpm without blowing itself to bits.
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Old 11-09-2004, 02:20 PM
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So, screamingVE you agree with me that it isnt bad, correct?

You can think of it as an extended rev limiter kinda
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Old 11-09-2004, 02:26 PM
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Originally Posted by Andy13186
So, screamingVE you agree with me that it isnt bad, correct?

You can think of it as an extended rev limiter kinda

I agree 100% that it isn't bad at WOT, but if you were to do it constantly at part throttle with engine speed above that of actual road speed, you'll end up created unwanted heat which in turn will eventually granade your transmission into bits and a rebuild is in order.
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Old 11-09-2004, 04:01 PM
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Is the shifter connected directly to the tranny or is it just like a big switch, I think that if it just acts like a big switch then youre thinking for the TCU instead of it desiding when to shift.
Oh, does anyone know if overdive is a totaly differant gear or is it just third gear?
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Old 11-09-2004, 04:25 PM
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I say overdrive is a totally diff gear. I never use it drivng around town..but i do use it to save gas on the highway. The car feels better driving without it. Feels less like a autotragic
 
Old 11-09-2004, 04:44 PM
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heat is always bad for the transmission and holding it in gear longer than normal would cause more heat in result.. more damage in the long run... am i right? i would say if you were going to make this a habit, install a tranny cooler just in case.
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Old 11-09-2004, 05:01 PM
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Not to get off the subject too much (or back on the subject depending on how you look at it) but how exactly do you 'shift' with an automatic? How good is the response RPM (gear shift wise) verses going purely automatic? From a red light, which drive do you have it in, etc etc?
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Old 11-09-2004, 05:12 PM
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I also like to shift my automagic. I really wish I had a 5 speed instead of this auto. Oh well at least I have a red max I plan to continue manually shifting until the autotragic fails then I will convert to a 5 speed
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Old 11-09-2004, 05:38 PM
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My freind had a 1997 honda accord shifted everyday in the auto in 1 yr tranny blew up, i love my Limited but its auto i would shift but if tranny blows up dont got money for 5 speed mayb later
 
Old 11-09-2004, 05:47 PM
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1 to 2 is fawkin bad, i know his cuz this is howi blow my tranny. your not even suppose to drive fast in those gears, those are made for hill climbing, wet slippery roads and maybe towing. dont do it, youll regret it, and it makes no diff. its all in your head
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Old 11-09-2004, 05:50 PM
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Originally Posted by Maxima_NRH
Not to get off the subject too much (or back on the subject depending on how you look at it) but how exactly do you 'shift' with an automatic? How good is the response RPM (gear shift wise) verses going purely automatic? From a red light, which drive do you have it in, etc etc?

Um from a dead stop WITHOUT manually doing it, just flooring it it would go to like 6100 rpm in all gears


From a stop Manually shifting it , Put overdrive off 1st if your going to race to above 120

Then put in 1st and floor it
When it passes 6400 rpm push shifter up 1 notch to 2nd and it will shift right after you do that

Leave in 2nd until like 6500 rpm at like 80

then push to drive(over drive off) which is 3rd i belive and take it to like 120 at 6500 rpm. then shift over drive on.(4th 120+)
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Old 11-09-2004, 05:52 PM
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Originally Posted by 2 Da Max
1 to 2 is fawkin bad, i know his cuz this is howi blow my tranny. your not even suppose to drive fast in those gears, those are made for hill climbing, wet slippery roads and maybe towing. dont do it, youll regret it, and it makes no diff. its all in your head

These gears are the same gears you use when you drive normally or floor it. we dont have like 2 transmissions lol, you are uninformed.
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Old 11-09-2004, 05:54 PM
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maybe i'm just being silly, but isnt the point of automatic transmissions not to shift?

If you're going to shift in your auto, you might as well press your foot down into the floor, where the imaginary cluth pedal is.

Seriously, i don't see any gain in doing this.
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Old 11-09-2004, 05:55 PM
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Originally Posted by tavarish
maybe i'm just being silly, but isnt the point of automatic transmissions not to shift?

If you're going to shift in your auto, you might as well press your foot down into the floor, where the imaginary cluth pedal is.

Seriously, i don't see any gain in doing this.

Um, you can take your gears to higher rpms where more power is (sometimes).
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Old 11-09-2004, 06:10 PM
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Originally Posted by aznprid972
heat is always bad for the transmission and holding it in gear longer than normal would cause more heat in result.. more damage in the long run... am i right? i would say if you were going to make this a habit, install a tranny cooler just in case.
you sir are correct if you hold the gear longer than needed at part throttle, but if your running WOT, the difference in manually shifting through the gates vs. letting the transmission think for itself is negligable. No excessive heat is created and the advantage would be to hold a gear longer, though a 4th generations powerband isn't making power above 5,500rpms. The only advantage you can take of gearing would be to keep O/D off to lock up your TQ converter at 3rd gear at WOT and hold it until redline (131mph).


For those earlier wondering at overdrive is, its a gear with a ratio less that a 1:1 direct ratio, meaning 4th gear in the POS Jacto-built unit
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Old 11-09-2004, 06:22 PM
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I always thought overdrive disenguaged 4th gear
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Old 11-09-2004, 07:07 PM
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Originally Posted by Andy13186
I always thought overdrive disenguaged 4th gear
Thats the overdrive on/off button
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Old 11-09-2004, 07:20 PM
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ahh, didnt read your 1st post right lol.
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Old 11-20-2004, 09:16 PM
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I’m not familiar with many car acronyms, what does WOT stand for?
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Old 11-20-2004, 09:18 PM
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