foOlishwunx

Hi, im will be buying a tc very soon. I noticed that on the auto tranny, you can toggle the shifter left and right on Drive3. Im assuming this is overdrive on/off? and keeping the shifter to the left keeps it in 3rd gear for extra boost? What happens if im in 4th gear and shift overdrive off? will it shift back to 3rd instantly? How does this affect the tranny? What about shifting back and fortht through all the gears while in drive?
Which position is it recommend that you keep the shifter in? (left or right) or doesnt matter?
Does anyone have full explanation on this? THANKS! )

bbengies

yeah i was wondering the same thing...
i know in 3 it feels more stronger to the wheel
havent heard any different on the tranny (everything is stock under the hood)
i like the feel, i am curious too to know if it is bad

SquallLHeart

leave it in D.

yes.. shifting it to 3 will force the tranny to shift down and turn off overdrive... which is what it does.

going to 3 is fine if you want a small boost... but leaving it there? that's just wasting money and gas..

and don't do any unnecessary shifting.... you're just causing unnecessary wear.

draxcaliber

if you put the shifter in overdrive, it will use all forward gears as you drive. if you put in in d3 or lower, it will only use the gears up to that gear indicated. you would use this to limit the use of upper gears like if you were say at a speed where the car can't decide which gear to be in.
you can shift up and down through all the forward gears as you drive, but its not going to yield a performance gain. it is not a manumatic, just keep it in overdrive and if you want it to go fast, put the pedal to the metal.

you would use lower gears to engine brake when going down a hill also.

SquallLHeart

yea... the ecu will actually know if you want to go faster and will automatically shift down to 3 if you push down on the gas alot.

ADRdesignCo

^+1 in agreeance.

brown_squad

if you floor the gas...wouldnt the car downshift anyway? (not sure here) so theres really no point in putting it in d3 if you wanted extra boost....just floor the gas till kingdom come!

people say to use the low gears for engine breaking....their right because thats what theyre used for...

foOlishwunx

I always knew manual downshifting on an auto is not a good idea. However for this car, they made toggling 3rd and Overdrive so easy. If I kept the car in 3rd while merging onto highway, then shifting to overdrive once I reached the desired speed, would this be the intended use of this function? how about it being safe for the car to do on a daily basis?

Also, if im already in Overdrive and I shift to 3rd for a boost, does it shift instantly? This way i can control and know exactly wen then boost is coming. I will accelerate in 3rd for a few secs, then shift back to overdrive.

Im just trying to figure out how much use scion intended for this to be, and how safe it is for the tranny. Also, i know well u can just go get a manual, but im trying to figure this out for the auto. THANKS ^^

draxcaliber

yes, the car is designed to do just that. shifting to 3rd from o/d won't hurt the car, but don't try going to 2nd. but the better way to make the trans shift when you want it to is to lift your foot off the gas for a second and then push it all th way down. the car will understand that you want it to downshift and accelerate faster versus if you have your foot half way on the gas, and then push it to the floor, it will think you want to speed up smoothly.

paul34

Non-tiptronic auto trannies aren't designed to be shifted on request. If you keep forcing the transmission to shift, you're wearing it out more than usual and will eventually kill it early.

Autos are autos... just step on the throttle more and it will downshift by itself... or just get a manual :D

I think the use of these lower "gears" on an auto are for things like climbing hills for a long time and to prevent automatic tranny gear-hunting.

You won't really get too much engine braking with a torque converter anyway.

EnderSavesTheDay

I don't recommend it, but it's convenient for taking corners. Yea but don't do it (I found metal flakes in my tranny oil).

draxcaliber

straigt from cartalk

Q: Is it hard on an automatic transmission to use the shift lever like a manual, shifting from first, to second, etc., as if it is a manual? I know some models of Chrysler Sebrings have a "manual shift" feature - can you do this on other models also without messing up the transmission?

A: If it has a manual shift lever, go for it. If it does not then don't get into the habit.
(by CarTalk8788185 Ask Now ) Other Answers

SquallLHeart

and we don't... so no.

toeveryhour

iTrader: (3)

No, we don't have that option. If you have an automatic, drive it like one (keep it in drive). If you want to shift and crap, you should have bought a manual.

brownKIDDnate

X2. i see people who shift auto as either they wish they had a manual or they dont know how to drive a manual

paul34

yup, then try to make up excuses like "yea, its .00001 seconds faster, though"

Do any of the Toyotas have tiptronics? I don't even recall seeing any Toyota with this overhyped feature, which is a good thing IMO.

brownKIDDnate

well the actual tipTRONIC is on Volkswagens but i have seen it on nissans, infinities, bmw, mercedes, peugeots, jaguar, and renaults. thats all i can think of now

hunterUnknown

iTrader: (1)

you know, this has been talked about so many times already.

D is the 4th gear. if you go into 3, you'll obviously be using only 3 gears. D is only called overdrive because of the ratio its running.

and for the record, while shifting it yourself is about 99% of the time completely unnecessary, it will essentially have the same effect as you stepping on the pedal harder, as that induces a downshift.

also, i heavily autocrossed my automatic, and that tranny will take a beating for sure without a hitch. 40k miles at the time and running very strong.

EnderSavesTheDay

Oh yea, I downshift into 3rd on the freeway sometimes when I'm about to change lanes in traffic. It keeps me in a good power band so when I see a decent opening I can zoom right out without causing too much commotion.


But, again, I found METAL FLAKEs in my oil (NOT A GOOD THING, it will mess up my tranny if I don't do something about it soon), so I'm gonna need to replace/clean my tranny oil (change oil, drive around for a bit, change it again to get it as clean as possible w/o damaging the transmission by the common flushing technique) and not mess with my tranny anymore.

Make sure if you find yourself in a situation where you need control of your RPMs you're in a good range to shift-high RPMs/near redline will eventually mess up the auto tranny.

Yes I wish I had gotten a manual, but that was not my choice to make.

Also, if you watch the Transporter 2, he manually shifts the 6spd auto-tranny off the Audi A8 w12....

draxcaliber

and we all know that movies are 100% real all the way with no camara tricks, special effects, or any kind of exagerration whatsoever! lol :-p