does it hurt the engine/transmission of an xa to downshift in an automatic?

here's the reasoning for downshifting aside from the fact it makes it seem like youve got a stick when you really dont... it saves you from pouncing on the break pedal every 5 seconds.

so does it hurt the car more to "downshift" to "2"?

 

no it's not bad for the engine/tranny and it's good for the brakes

 

The xa and xb already downshift for you. I know it does cause i can feel it, hear it from the exhaust, and if you watch the tach the gauge jumps as if you were in a manual. I think there was a thread about it somewhere here. There really isn't a need to do it manually. If I seem a little angry I am not, just don't know how else to say this without typing a billion letters lol.

 

one thing I was taught when I started driving a five speed last year.

gears are for going, brakes are for stoping.

ya, you can turn off OD in traffic but unless there's an emergency to stop for, it's a waste basically. mostly because you're messing with the clutches that do the work for you, in a manual you contolling the clutch makes the diff in downshifting.

and brake pads and rotors are replaceable for a reason.

 

it'll be cheaper to fix the brakes then it will be the engine and transmission

 

Everyone has their own driving style but downshifting is necessary in many situations.

gears for going and brakes for stopping is the most retarded thing I've ever heard. whoever taught you is not a very experienced driver, at least not of the spirited or performance driving style.

back to the original question, downshifting an automatic is not going to hurt it and it will save the brakes. especially on a long downhill. The auto will not downshift into an unsafe rom either. so you can safely drop in into 2nd when slowing down and it will downshift when it's ready to.

~mike~

 

I refering to engine braking, which is what the original poster was asking about. an automatic doesn't drive like a stick period.

 

thanks for your input that has nothing to do with the poster's question.

 

all the bickering is not needed here

 

ok... basically i have two sides to the coin...

poster some-what satisfied. there is a bit of give and take, but overall it does not do damage to the engine (which does answer my question)

 

No, you'll not hurt your engine. Unlike a manual tranny which can mechanically over-rev the engine when down shifting into too low a gear at too high a speed....which the rev-limiter can do nothing about....the ECU for an automatic will not allow a down shift until the appropriate speed is reached...even if you select a lower gear.

There's no real advantage to doing this though. The tranny will down shift on it's own, though at a much lower rpm than you might do it. This is to make the down shift soft and smooth. In theory, it may be hurting your MPG a bit to do it yourself.

The only time manually down shifting might be worth it, is if you're descending down a long, steep hill. Turning off over-drive to allow the tranny to hold 3rd gear, or even 2nd depending how fast you want to go, will allow some engine-braking. This will help you to control your descent speed and keep you from potentially over-heating your brakes.

 

or when your brakes fail

 

Oh yeah....that too.

 

I completely agree!

 

Things never change do they ! ! ! !

 

Like vague and unhelpful responses?

 

The only time you should ever downshift an auto tranny is when going down a long steep hill and you don't want to sit on the brakes for too long. There is no sence in shifting your auto tranny on a daily basis for no reason, you will most likely do more harm then good. Doing it every once in a while is ok. It's automatic for a reason...

 

from experience, i don't think it hurts the tranny. for one, my xa has 211,000 miles on it and running on the stock tranny.
Its become a habit, but whenever im taking a turn onto a street where i know i will be accellerating i down shift from 3rd to 2nd gear. I don't do it so my car sounds like an manual or anything. Its for the purpose that my car will then start in second gear as i come out of the turn and actually have some power instead of being in 3rd when im out of the turn then as i gas it, then it shifts from 3rd to 2nd and does that annoying jump. just shifts a bit slower.

but for hurting the tranny, i don't believe it is. just dont be shifting into first gear when you're moving.
well thats why i love toyotas, all about endurance baby.

 

211k miles!? That's the most I've heard of on an xA.

 

Good to know the tranny will last 211K even with downshifting. Mine should last 400K plus. The only time I downshift is to hold a gear up to redline when passing.