or is "drive" good enough? also, how many extra rpms does tree shifting squeeze out for you?

depends on when you shift. If you time it right, you can get the auto to shift each gear at red line. Much better than just keeping it in D

btw, it's called manual shifting

I personally feel that my car picks up alot faster when I manually shift.

didn't people get better 1/4 mile times with manual shifting it at 6200 rpm instead of redline?....the max hp for the 3.5 liter is 5800rpm, and redline is 6600rpms...so you get better times shifing it a little it after max hp rather then redlin...right?

You can't shift EXACTLY at what ever rpms you want, it's just around a general vicinity. The VQ handles pretty well in higher rpms, with the exception of the 4th gen w/OUT the MEVI

Heh heh...you typoed shift to **** and it cut it out Kinda funny...

fixed

No because if you shift at 5800 it will take you lower in the powerband and cause you car to lose time. If you shift at redline it will bring you car deeper into the powerband making your trap speeds higher and ET's lower

For 1/4 mile runs, CarTest2000 says the best shift points for the automagic are:

1-2: 6600rpm
2-3: 6400rpm

until i drive a stick, I'll call it "tree-shifting." Gate-shifting, tree-shifting .. who writes the books on this terminology??

cause my 2k1 doesn't have the mercedes look a like "tree" shifter panel

2000-2001's are drive by wire too, right?

i'm a little confused with the term. But the 2k-2k1 gas pedal is connected to the throttle by cable, while the 2k2-2k3 is electronic. I'm assuming that drive by wire is the electronic, so no it is not.

no

From my experience the manual shifting in autos makes a difference. My buddy's 99 heavily modded max runs dead even or sometimes 1/3 of a car slower than my 2k2 auto when i put in D. Once I start manually shifting at around 6200-6300, (since the computer takes a fraction of a second to shift), it shifts perfectly at red line, and I am able to pull one car length or even little more on him. I had like 8 different runs with him and all proved that manually shifting makes a difference. Your car doesnt shift at 6200 RPMs, which makes you loose some power to the wheels.
Also break torque your car, that makes a big difference too