hi guys, i street often, pretty much everyweekend. and i am scared for my tranny cause we all know how automatics can go out. i dont ever do neutral drops, never have and never will and i dont think the previous owner did either (he was an older gentleman). sometimes when i street race when already going, lets say 30 or 40 mphs, if someone revs at me, i will put her in neutral and then rev also but after that i let off the gas completely and put her back in drive, that doesnt hurt the tranny any does it? also i learned this from other automatic street racers, they will do something called "running your gears". when you are a dead stop (like at a stoplight or waiting for the flagger to drop his hands), they put their car in the lowest gear possbible (like on our maximas, it is D, 2, and then 1). well, they say if you go on 1, it doesnt shift to next gear at redline or shifts at next gear late as possible (6000 rpm or whatever you car says). and if it doesnt shift to next gear at redline then you do it manuelly. well, i tried this, and the first race at stop light, i raced normally, it was me (i also had 2 other pple in car) and a blue civic si (manuel tranny). i did the power braking technique (where you rev to like 1 or 2000 rpm and hold down the brake) and when the light hit green he was about 1/4 car ahead of me but i quickly gained and beat him. i decided to run him again using the "running gears" technique. so at the light, i put her in 1st and also did the power braking. the light hit green and oh man did i feel the torque kick, i was pushed back in my seat a little and when it redlined i manuelly put her in 2nd (d, 2, 1 remember, i put her in 2) and this time the si didnt even had a chance from the start i was easily 2 cars ahead and by the end of race (about 90) i was about 3. and when i hit like 80 i put her back in d drive so i could coast. well does that hurt the tranny any? just to recap what "running gears is", at stop, put in 1, then after it redlines, put her in 2, then after that put her back in d to coast. also sometimes "running the gear" could mean if you already going like 40-60 mphs and you want a quick rpm kicker, you take her out of drive and into 2nd and that makes the rpm kick alot higher then gun it. that works good highway i found out coming from the street races to home. any input would be appreciated thanks.

 

im new..so what da hell is a neutral drop..and ive also been shifting from 1 - 2 - D ..it may help a little but i think it messes up the tranny

 

A neutral drop is when you put it in neutral and rev it and while your foot is still down on the accelerator you dump it into drive

 

ive done that neurtal drop countless times...i thought u get more jump out of the car

 

well i shift that way aswell in both my old and new car... i feel it helps a little... never had a chance like u though to have something to compare to rightaway.. but it does not hurt the tranny or engine... as long as u dont go over the red line... another thing u could do is also when u put the car in 1st put the O/D (overdrive) off so this way after u shift from 2 to D u are actually shifting to 3 and then u press the button again to engage the O/D and u go into 4th... also when on the highway and u wanna "downshift" it is better to press the O/D button than put it in 2nd because its like u skipping a whole gear (O/D) well i am no authority to listen to about hurting the tranny but i asked this ques a few times before on the forum and the answer i got was basically u are just telling the computer when to shift the car instead of it doing it on its own... it is still shifting itself so no harm is done... just keep under red line...

 

if not now, it damn sure will be dead in short time!!!!

 

yeah, the 1,2, and d does give a little more kick and looks like i am not the only one doing it. i dont on plan on doing it too much, maybe only on the weekend when i street race (hehe). but lately my tranny has kind of been sluggish but i think that is due the cold weather but then again, it could be a sign of a dieing tranny, who the hell nows but one thing for sure. if the tranny does die, i am going to get it rebuilt then sell the max, then save up for a supra (hehe, i can dream, cant i?)