back when my parents had a sentra... and it was pretty much a junker... I used to use OD to give it more ooomp on the highway when I needed it.

Sometimes when climbing a slight incline and I'm going like 70-80 the car begins to lose speed. Or sometimes when I just need a little extra zip to get by "someone" who for some reason as you are trying to pass them speeds up with you (I hate those people... you know who you are )...

Anyhow what basically happens in both instances is the engine jumps from whatever nice rpms it was revving at 3000 to about 4 or 5... If i'm going uphill I pretty much keep it off till I near the apex, and then click in back on.

if i'm passing.. I flick OD off real quick letting the engine rev at higher speeds for a few seconds and then reengage the OD (which combined with the faster rev gives you a quick speed boost ).

My question is.. is this a bad thing to do? like would I harm my xb if I did it (it doesn't redline the engine) . I didn't mind doing it on the sentra since it was a junker (though it would still run fine were it not for the accidents it got into [mostly my parents' ]). But my box is so shiny and new... (i'm trying to keep it away from harm).

 

Overdrive is just the top gear in the transmission. Turning it off is just downshifting a gear. Besides burning a little more fuel, this shouldn't cause any damage.

-Justin