1st gear in an automatic?
1st gear in an automatic?
Does anyone know why our cars have to be at a complete dead stop in order for it to be in first gear when we want to re-accelerate? For instance, if im rolling up to a stop sign or whatever and am under 10mph, the car will stay in 3rd gear unless i drop my speed to 2 or 3 mph. It's the main drawback of having an automatic. In every other car ive driven, the car will downshift back to 1st when you drop your speed to a little less than 10 mph 
I am going to take a guess as I personally do not know the answer:
1. The Maxima is a bit slow to downshift if I remember correctly,
2. Probably for torque and inertia reasons. Meaning, that it takes quite a bit of force to get the car moving just like that, so first gear is selected.
3. Also going to guess for fuel efficiency as well, why use more gas to move the car when it is already in motion, you know, Newton's laws.
Someone else please chime in?
1. The Maxima is a bit slow to downshift if I remember correctly,
2. Probably for torque and inertia reasons. Meaning, that it takes quite a bit of force to get the car moving just like that, so first gear is selected.
3. Also going to guess for fuel efficiency as well, why use more gas to move the car when it is already in motion, you know, Newton's laws.
Someone else please chime in?
how do you know the car is in 3rd at 10MPH? It's not. It's likely you're in 2nd gear with a locked torque converter at that speed. Do our cars downshift a bit late? yes they do.
If you're worried about the shift points, have you checked your trans fluid level and condition?
One thing I do, (if I'm driving at speeds under 40) is turn the overdrive OFF. This way, the torque converter never locks and I get better low-end "feel" when driving at low speeds. Just have to remember to hit the o/d button again to turn it back on when going faster than 45 MPH
If you're worried about the shift points, have you checked your trans fluid level and condition?
One thing I do, (if I'm driving at speeds under 40) is turn the overdrive OFF. This way, the torque converter never locks and I get better low-end "feel" when driving at low speeds. Just have to remember to hit the o/d button again to turn it back on when going faster than 45 MPH
Last edited by Amerikaner83; Mar 14, 2013 at 08:34 AM.
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Posts: 539
how do you know the car is in 3rd at 10MPH? It's not. It's likely you're in 2nd gear with a locked torque converter at that speed. Do our cars downshift a bit late? yes they do.
If you're worried about the shift points, have you checked your trans fluid level and condition?
One thing I do, (if I'm driving at speeds under 40) is turn the overdrive OFF. This way, the torque converter never locks and I get better low-end "feel" when driving at low speeds. Just have to remember to hit the o/d button again to turn it back on when going faster than 45 MPH
If you're worried about the shift points, have you checked your trans fluid level and condition?
One thing I do, (if I'm driving at speeds under 40) is turn the overdrive OFF. This way, the torque converter never locks and I get better low-end "feel" when driving at low speeds. Just have to remember to hit the o/d button again to turn it back on when going faster than 45 MPH
First thing I thought was O/D off......nice!
well you could just just drop the shifter into first? (match revs?) Of course ONLY at the correct speed
I occasionally do that if I dont feel like stopping all the way and am in need of the power/torque from first gear. Y-pipe just shipped and KS is getting replaced this weekend so hopefully I get some low end power back!
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