Well here is my automatic experience and you can take it for what it is worth. With my 12 years of owining my 92 Trans Am (325 HP with chip programmer) I was able to reprogram my rev limiter and my SHIFT POINTS. The reason I highlighted the shift points is that the whole point of doing that is to get your car to shift to the next gear at the point when you have just hit the peak hp for the rpm's of that specific gear.

Now how this relates to my new automatic Xb? Well the same methedology applies except I have yet to find a chip programmer for thises vehicles. (bummer but hey I don't really use my Xb for racing everyone I see now do I... that's what my TA is for) I would say that if you want to manually shift your automatic tranny, then do some research and find out what the top of the powerband is for each gear. Then you will know when to shift the car at what RPM's for each gear. (when you decide that you want to drive around in psyco racing mode ) Otherwise, I would leave your auto in auto mode and let the tranny do it's job. After all it is set up to do its job in the most economical and efficient way possible.

Just because some of us choose to drive automatics, does not mean that we can not find ways to make using the automatic more enjoyable. So will my automatic be faster than a manual version if all things are considered equal? Of course not, but that does not mean that I can not have fun driving my automatic by shifting it on my own when I feel like it.

Engine braking? Can be good for long downhill stretches if you are worried that you are having to break too much.(to prevent brake overheating) But in general if you are going down hill and you take your foot off the gas and the vehicle does not slow down enough for you...then use the brakes...they are much cheaper in the long run than a tranny is.

Downshifting to L? Wow that must be some whopping big hill you are driving down but it is not going to hurt your car to do it that is unless your rpm's are screaming already in 2nd. But then you really wouldn't want to down shift at that point now would you?

My 2 cents and then some.

-Fez

 

As far as downshifting and engine braking, you're forgetting the other time when they are very useful, which is also when the auto is at its most useful - in traffic

 

If the last post was in reference to my post.... Here is my thought. In traffic, I would use the brakes to slow down the vehicle. You should not overheat them in stop and go traffic unless you are having to slam on the breaks repeatedly from hight speed. In the case of traffic...I would use my brakes over the downshifting because wear and tear on brake pads is much easier to repair than wear and tear on my transmission. After all they are both parts that have limited life to them. Each time you use each one, you lessen its life. Of course you won't kill your tranny doing this but I would be willing to bet that you will require transmission work much sooner than the person that does not downshift each gear manually in an auto. You will notice that when you just use your brakes, your rps do not fly up. That is because you are not causeing your transmission to engage while slowing. Each time you engae your A/T maunally, you are causing it to do work it would not have done had you just used the brakes (or hopefully coasted to slow saving wear on the tranny and the brakes)

Either way, wear and tear is just that. All actions have a reaction and I would simply rather replace some fairly inexpensive break pads then to have to have tranny work sooner than later.

-Fez

 

But look at it this way. If traffic is going 10-30 mph, i can put it in second and control the car's speed completely with the gas pedal. There's no need to brake and it's not over-revving the engine, it's just keeping it from shifting to an easier gear that will then coast more and then will require me to brake more, when I wouldn't have to brake at all when 2nd gear is holding the car right in the speed range I need. Also, all that braking leads to more traffic slowdowns, IMO. One person brakes and it causes a chain reaction that then causes that slinky effect of slowing down and speeding up.

Technically, it's keeping the auto tranny from shifting MORE times which may end up being beneficial in the long run.

If it wasn't meant to be used, there'd only be PRN & D...

 

How about you get a hold of Summit. They might possibly have reference to a company with a shiftkit. Or you can meet me at my school and my tranny instructor and I can build you a shift kit. LOL.

I would just call Summit. I mean c'mon, they have shift kits for caveliers, they might possibly know of one for the tC.

 

exactly my thoughts i sometimes just keep it in 2nd on my auto when im driving home towards DC, just so much easier. no need to break at all.

 

You know...I just think it's funny that there are so many people that think an automatic transmission is not for racing, or cannot be used to both upshift AND downshift! That is what a transmission is for! To shift!
It's just that some people choose to shift when they want to with the automatic, and others choose to let the automatic transmission do it for them. It simply means that the people with automatics like to have that choice, instead of having a manual transmission that you HAVE to shift all the time.
My husband drag races, and stands firmly by an automatic transmission to do so! Not that you can't drive a manual transmission to drag race a car, but there is the fact that it can take longer to shift using a clutch, than the automatic transmission. (You physically let off the gas, push in the clutch, shift, let out the clutch, and step on the gas at each shift point). With the automatic transmission, you don't have to let off the gas at all, and it is a simple hand movement, and you are in the next gear if you choose to go up through the gears on your automatic OR you can let it shift for you and be lazy when you feel like it!
The automatic transmission is also much more dependable for consistency from one race to the next. You can definately win races with consistency, rather than "breaking out" because you ran faster than your dial-in time. It is much harder to run consistent times with a manual transmission...not to mention the extra work it requires.
You all with automatic transmissions should look at your owner's manuals, and refer to the information about shift points! It's VERY interesting to see how fast you can go in each gear without causing any damage before shifting. So what if you have 4 gears instead of 5! You can still go just as fast!

 

i was suprised to see this thread again when i got on here today

 

best thread ever........

 

Do most of you guys keep your AT in "3" or "D" when doing basic driving?

 

imo, anyone can do whatever they want with their car. however, a manual is designed to shift manual and an automatic is designed to shift for you. also, the transmission on an auto is not made for the abuse. it may not do any damage now, but in the long run, you'll be fixin the transmission at maybe 60k rather than say 150k or whatever it may be. slowly but surely, the transmission will slip. i rather shift and abuse a manual transmission and have to change say the clutch and flywheel instead of the whole automatic transmission.

anyone can do whatever they want with their cars. if i had an auto though, i wouldn't bother shifting myself unless it was tiptronic or something.

i used to shift manually in my automatic accord, rarely too. and only after a little awhile it got really bad. transmission began to slip. i think if you were going to shift the auto manually, get a shift kit, or dont do it often. its not worth the damage to the transmission. for those who do not believe it doesn't do any damage to shift an auto manually, just keep doing it and you will see. and since you guys want your transmission to break so early, i suggest you guys put it in neutral, rev that sucka high and drop it into d3 or d4.

 

If you're concerned about racing your auto, there's really no reason (at the moment) to upshift your AT, it'll shift at the right points for you better and faster than you can (usually). Downshifting however, is really convenient, especially on the freeway (which is how i got pulled over and got a speeding ticket). Your choices are to double tap on the gas pedal and hold it down far enough until it down shifts, or shift it yourself. I find shifting it down myself feels smoother and quicker. But that's just my opinion ;).

Sean

 

Since the power window is "automatic", does that mean I should only roll it all the way down?

 

double tap gas pedal?

 

When he said that, the first thing I thought of was my days at the arcade playing that racing game where you double tap the gas pedal to turbo. Good times.

 

do u shift down for going up hills? is there more torque at lower gears?

 

I can only speak for the Box, but the Grade Logic is very good, it doesn't shift a lot on hills. It'll go into 3rd and hold it until you've crested the top of the hill unlike many cars that will try to go into O/D and then back out over and over.

 

with the automatic, you get the best of both worlds.

 

This thread should be locked already. Vastly more misinformation than information.

The tC does not have overdrive, and the original question was from a tC owner. The tC's automatic does not like to be manually downshifted for an engine braking effect. It will eventually downshift when you manually select a lower gear, but it waits until the car has already slowed down anyway for a smooth shift. So engine braking is not a very good option in the tC unless you are already at a stop and you want to use engine braking in 1st or 2nd to keep the car from going too fast down a steep hill or something. Even then, you're probably better off using the brakes and ABS. Last I checked brake pads were cheaper than transmissions... where do you want the wear and tear on your car to be?

A long time ago automatics were built with semi-manual valve shifters that would force the transmission into whatever gear you selected, regardless of your speed. That was a TRUE shiftable automatic - you could redline it just by droping a gear or two without even changing your speed. The tC has this drive by wire monkey business that keeps that from being much of an option.

Had I known its auto works this way I probably would have gotten a manual. This is my first automatic car I've had in years, my last was a 1973 mach 1 that had the semi-manual valve shifter I referenced above and in my ignorance I thought automatics still worked that way. What a disappointment.

 

... wow