Hi, I was wondering the shift gears, When do you exactly use the 3 next to D in the shift part of your car? My friend said, you use it when you are going up hills.

 

just leave it in D , you will be fine going uphill and downhill.

 

slap your friend and leave it in D

 

To clarify, moving from D to 3 will just force the car to shift no higher than 3rd gear. For example, you're going up a hill and you car's in 4th, you want some more oomph so you throw it over to 3, and the car will downshift. However, it is just as easy to push the gas harder to cause the car to automatically downshift without leaving D. That's why most everyone on this site will just tell you to leave it in Drive and give it more gas.

 

Is there damage to the tranny if I throw it into 3 while moving?

 

Nothing significant. There's one particularly annoying hill around here that, even when I push my pedal in pretty dang far, the car won't downshift. I'll throw it into 3 at that point. Some will argue that there is a small amoung of excess wear, but it's fairly common practice. You'll be fine.

 

Cool, I've been wondering about that.

 

You will be fine in "D" for the most part. The only time you need to be in 3rd while going up a large hill is if you notice the transmission shifting alot between 3rd and D. If it keeps shifting back and forth, put it in 3rd gear.