Hi, I had a question, does anybody downshift gears while accelerating or passing by a slow *** car. Sorry for the language, its just these days around my area there are a lot of cars that go extremely slow and it pisses me off. Basically on a traffic llight, I shift down to d2 or d1 sometimes. I accelerate to 4k rpm and shift to d. I get faster acceleration, I don't feel any jerkiness. So my question is it bad to downshift and shft in any case while the car is moving on automatic. So far I havent had any problems and I do it almost every day from the past 6 months or so. Also sometimes when I'm going down the hill, I just shift to neutral and let the car coast and when its time to accelerate, I shift to d, but I wait a couple of seconds for the gears to set.

 

 

It's an automatic it does shifting for you, no need to downshift. Your more likely to blow the tranny out as well.

LMAO Nmex

 

only when going uphill i downshift to 2, and when I'm going downhill i downshift to 1, otherwise unless ur car is stuck in the snow or something don't toggle between 2 and D on flat road cuz although you may not feel it there is a surge in RPM torque and that could seriously damage the tranny. If you need to speed up WOT would be safer than 2

 

do it and find out.

 

push the pedal half way down or more, the tranny will downshift for you

 

werd

 

Sometimes i use it to help brake but thats only if i have a fully loaded car. I wouldn't recommend it.

 

manually shifting the tranny will cause more problems than it is worth. I had a friend that had a Max and tried to drive an auto like a 5 speed a blew it out with 90k on it!!!!

 

i have a better question (dont me to hijack) but what happes if ur going lets say 60 and you drop it into first..??? or better yet into reverse... my buddies old mazda 626 just downshifted gear by gear....

 

I think from previous posts its determined that even when you shift the car out of drive.. you're not shifting it, your sending a message to the tranny and the tranny decides whether its safe or not to downshift, just like your right foot sends a message to a tranny at which time it also decides whether its safe or not to downshift. Thus it is no harder on your tranny than having a heavy foot on the pedal..

In the end your really not in control of your tranny at all, your tranny calls the shots and is programmed to keep its self safe.

 

Dude, Just Leave It In D1, Don't Ever Shift It In And Out Of Gears. I Blew A Tranny In An Auto Doing That For A While And Its Really Bad For The Trans Cause It Shifts Really Hard And Wears Out The Gears. Torque Converter Takes A Beating And Wears Out Much Faster, And Then Its Replacement Time. Make Sure Your Fluids Fresh, And Add Conditioners When You Change It Too. Good Luck

 

Hmmm, looks like you want more involvement in your daily driving. You want something for your hand to do while driving. And you want better acceleration. Well, have I got a solution for you....


GET A MANUAL TRANNY !!!!

You'll get all of the above, and you'll feel good too! It seems to me that you're not the kind of people who'd be satisfied with an auto tranny. Nothing wrong with that, that's why both types of tranny is still available. Auto is great for most people, but some folks just want (and need) more. You can always switch back to auto later when you have three kids and six grandchildren.

 

In the beginning your not gonna have any problems, but down the line your tranny is gonna be in bad shape, do a 5spd swap if you wanna be able to control your shifts

 

WTF?!?! Is your car broken, Why would you need to downshift to 2? Firstly your car should have enough grunt 2ndly it should auto kickdown anyway Going down a hill at best you could turn off you o/d but changing down a gear is pretty crazy .. thats what your brakes are for?

Downshifting from D > 2nd is fine if you rev match ... but still shouldnt do it

 

Shifting into 2 is good when you go downhill in traffic , this way you can brake with your engine. Or when you go uphill loaded with 5 passengers you can turn the overdrive off.
But to accelerate quickly just use the auto kickdown by pressing all the way on the accelerator pedal.

 

is turning of OD the same as downshifting? I always do that and only that when i want instant passing power.

 

Yes, pressing the OD button is basically shifting from 4th to 3rd gear.

I think this one's OK to do as often as you please, since the ratio between 4th and 3rd is pretty small, and won't hurt the tranny much if at all. After all it won't take much prodding of the gas pedal to get the tranny to do this on its own!

 

I only downshift when I am going down hills and don't want to frequently brake to stop from hitting the bumper of the car in front of me. Shifting down while passing just makes more noise and sounds like your showing off or something.