i read that if youve got an automatic to get going faster start off in 2nd gear then once you hit 30miles(50km) switch it to drive and it should give you an advantage any one else heard of this?
could this damage the cars tranny at all?

 

You heard wrong. Just leave it in D and floor it. None of that other crap makes a difference. AND SWITCHING O/D OFF DOESNT DO A DAMN THING!!!(except lock out 4th gear)


Sorry to yell, but some folks just dont get it.

 

I started a post a while ago about how to race an auto. I got a TON of replies, good and bad, it gave me a headache. I said to start off in First then....well lets not get into that. If you wanna search for my post type in "How to Race an Auto! Look !" If its still there.

If you floor it in D off the line, than you will probubly shoot from 1st gear to 3rd and you'll feel it. Youve probubly already done it.

Leaving it in D will elimate you having to shift an akward automatic shifter, and your an auto, so chances are you dont have experiance with shifting, and could screw up.

So be safe and leave it in D, its much easier.

Hope this helps.

 

Mzmtg and Craig Mack have got it down, leave the car in DRIVE. People who try to upshift are either very stupid or pretending they have a stick-shift. Like I've said over and over, those gears were not intended for that purpose - your car is not a steptronic. Try racing another Maxima that does the upshifting thing. I have and we were the same the whole way - except I didn't look stupid driving and paid more attention to the road. Just trying to help .

 

The only way that manually shifting will probably help you when racing your auto is if you are not WOT...in which case you shouldn't be racing in the first place. If you are WOT and do not let up on it, then your car will be shifting between 5500 and 6200 RPMs anyway...without the driver messing it up. And like what was already said, you can pay more attention to the road.

 

... anyway, I don't know why you guys insist on saying 'D' is your best bet. It will NOT give you the gains of starting off in '1' (no, not '2'). It will NOT. And if you don't beleive me, I'd be very happy to race any of you while you keep it in 'D' and I manually shift. Anyway, this topic is exhausting, just do a search...

 

... anyway, I don't know why you guys insist on saying 'D' is your best bet. It will NOT give you the gains of starting off in '1' (no, not '2'). It will NOT. And if you don't beleive me, I'd be very happy to race any of you while you keep it in 'D' and I manually shift. Anyway, this topic is exhausting, just do a search...

 

i read all of that on maximadriver.com and when you start out in 2nd you can tell the difference you pull out alot faster

 

i read all of that on maximadriver.com and when you start out in 2nd you can tell the difference you pull out alot faster

 

can someone please explain to me how to start in 2nd gear with an auto....

 

I tested the theory of which is better, manually shifting or leaving it in Drive, at the track last time. I can say from my experience, manually shifting is better. I got my best time of 15.5 when I manually shifted. The one time that I left it in Drive, I got a 16.0 flat. However, the 16.0 run was during the day when it was very hot and the 15.5 run was later at night when it was cooler. So, even if I did a few more runs leaving it in Drive, I think the best I could do is maybe 15.7-15.9, somewhere around there. So, that should tell you something. I think unless you have a VB upgrade, you will be faster manually shifting. That's from my experience.

 

Can someone explain why manually shifting is "faster"? The only reason it would help is if you are waiting to get to over 6200 RPMs before shifting. You are not really manually shifting anything as the tranny is still doing the shifting, you are just telling it the earliest point at which it can shift. Just some thoughts.

 

You can't. What you are doing is allowing the tranny to decide when to shift from 1st to 2nd and then telling it at the earliest point at which it can shift from 2nd to 3rd. You are still starting in 1st, but "manually" shifting from 2nd to 3rd.

For those that say "manually" shifting is faster, at approximately what RPM do you "shift"?