ive maunally shifted my auto , 83600 miles on it. I maunally down shift to, there is a area in the owners manual that disscusses it, engine braking, but just make sure you do it at the right time, not to high in RPM or speed. I guess thats why my first set of brakes lasted roughlt 78000 miles, drums are still good. The xB is still running like a charm, i only maunally shift now when i want to take off faster.

 

Somehow I think Scion left that tidbit of driving technique out of the drivers manual.

 

lol ya i dont know why.....('')

 

why not just get the third peddle?

if your gonna go through all the hassle of shifting an auto why bother with the auto? Save yourself the couple hundred bucks and get the stick. with the left over cash you can get an exhaust intake and shortshifter and have a fun car.

 

because we have the best we can manually shift when we want to or not when we don't

i used to drive a 5spd S-10(about 50k) and sometimes i just wouldn't go where i wanted to because of the 5spd. conversly i never get tired of driving the toaster because it's an auto that i can shift around if i feel like not becasue it's the only option.

 

I wonder if manually shifting an auto trans earned its bad reputation in the pre-electronic-transmission days. These days, isn't the selector just another input into the transmission computer, whose programming presumably protects the mechanicals and hydraulics from damage? Maybe the parking pawl is still mechanical, so you still don't want to throw it into "P" while in motion.

I use the "O/D off" button a lot, for engine braking on hills and when slowing down, and to avoid the annoying 4-3 downshift lag that seems forever when you're merging. I use the "2" position in parking garages and lots, and on streets with speed bumps (we have lots of them here).

 

With today's technology in electronically controlled trannys, manually shifting an auto trans is not going to do any major damage to the tranny itself. Most modern autos do contain failsafes to prevent "ID10T" errors, such as downshifting into a lower gear and over-revving the engine. Is there any DRAMATIC gain in using this technique? No. The nature of an automatic tranny is going to keep you from the same abilities you would have with a manual transmission. In some cases, this is a good thing, as it is much more difficult to make mistakes that could cause damage to the engine, such as an accidental 5th to 2nd downshift which would send the motor sailing unhappily up to the rev limiter. The car's computer maintains overall control of converter lockup and exact shift points whereas the manual allows for its namesake...full manual control of the drivetrain including gear selection and clutch engagement.
My suggestion: If you enjoy manually shifting your auto, then by all means, do it. Just do so with common sense. Even though your computer can protect the car from you in some cases, it doesn't mean go out and put the poor tranny through the ringer by doing neutral drops on every corner.