Downshifting an automatic, Is it bad? Options

[YellowTwo]

Somebody told me that downshifting in an automatic is bad for the transmission because it forces it or something.... I have never heard this and I don't know why the manufacturers would let you do it if it's bad for the car. Any ideas on whether this is fact or fiction?

[shid]

What do you mean downshifting? Like, carefully applying the gas and a slight break in a way to tell the ECU to downshift? Or to actually move the shift bar to 2 and L?

[Andason]

just get nos

[macavely]

it's not bad for the tranny if you fallow the speed
example if your in 4th and doing 80 don't shift into second.. but you can put it in to N to slow down quicker.. look in your owners manuel it tells you when you can at what speeds you can shift into 2nd and L..

i been shifting into N and D while driving for the last 4 years with no problem at all.. you just have to know how to do it right..

[lagos]

the idea of and automatic is so that you dont have to do any shifting.
the car should be kept in drive at all times and L and 2nd should only be used as driected by your owners manual.

if you want to shift then trade your car in for a manual or swap in a manual tranny. then you can do all the down shifiting you want.

[tim86]

i shift all the time with my automatic... like said, just follow the speeds... I dont go to L unless im under 20 mph and when you shift, youll be around 3k rpms

[Digndoug]

just like lagos said, why both shifting, there made so you dont have to, its not going to help to much i mean it ight let you keep if in a gear a lil longer, but our cars hit there max perfomance kinda earlie, so theres no point... or Get a man

[macavely]

well and auto is not ment to be in D all the time.. its just that people with them are really lazy... but after studying automatic tranny and know how everthing works.. I started shifting into N when braking... it really casues the trany to have a lot less stress and last you a lot longer..

[Akimbo]

I shift to neutral at stops. But I don't think I'd downshift. I'll check the owners manual

[FallenHero]

you can, it's just like a manual. It helps you save your brakes.

Jon

[Supersprynt]

shifting and putting ur auto in neutral at stop lights and stuff only wears down your transmission quicker, its not recommended as its designed to be AUTOMATIC!

[celicarocker]

so we have conflicting opinions here... when breaking, should you slap it in neutral or not? i always thought no cuz it would cause more stress on the tranny... but im engine dumb, so who knows...

[Consynx]

an automatic in D at a stop light is like a manual at a stop light(but on verge of letting clutch grip)...so it would seem better to have it in D.
as for breaking, N would stop a forward press, but it's meaningless because when breaking an auto has a safety neutral thing that automatically goes to the same circumstance as at a full stop.

Now, shifting into L is generally retarded unless towing something, like the manual suggests. but a 2nd gear wouldn't see irrational...i mean, if u need to slow down quicker at least, not accelerate.
the tranny would take more of a beating, but the brakes would take less...it's your choice

[lagos]

thats funny cause i dont every put my clutch in when braking. its better to keep the car in gear (or D) because you also get some amount of engine braking.

everyone who owns a manual can tell you that the more shifting you do, the more wear and tear you put on the clutch/tranny. the same is true for an automatic. they are designed to be left in drive at all times, L, 2nd are not ment for everyday driving conditions.

[YellowTwo]

Well the people who told me it was bad for the tranny said something about it forcing the gears in the tranny to stop moving in order to downshift....

I don't know but to me they sounded like they didn't know what they were talking about. I think lagos is probably right in saying it is designed to be kept in drive. I'll have to check the owners manual and see what it has to say....

This post has been edited by 6gencelicasrule: Mar 25, 2004 - 1:16 AM

[Uppitycracker]

[macavely]

[snadman]

Eh, I do it lots. And unless you have a shiftkit or other type of performance modification to your auto tranny, even if you do slip it into 2nd when you're going 80, it won't shift down...not til you're around 60-65 range. I shift a lot and really don't care. My tranny's fine, been driving like this for 20k miles and it has 125k. I know that if I just leave it in drive it'll be ok and shift smoothly, and if I wanna get on it I can...but I also have upgraded the Torque converter.

I say if you really wanna downshift, then do it...just make sure you aren't mashing the gas as this would defeat the purpose of using downshifting to stop quicker...as you would be trying to accelerate while you're enigne is braking...not good. If you are just wanting to downshift to pass people or whatnot, then just mash it to the ground...it will downshift for you. If you are just wanting to shift when your are trying to accellerate quicker (ie: drag) then do it...I do it all the time when I have to drive my Celi. Just shift to the next gear within 500rpm or so of redline and it will shift just as it hits the redline. Nomrally you can get about 40 out of first gear, 75 out of 2nd, and after that it's all dependent on a lot of things.

I must agree, driving a manual is much more fun though...I love my WRX.

This post has been edited by snadman: Mar 25, 2004 - 4:16 PM

[neoklis]

The automatic transmission on the 6g is an old school/old type one. They are ment to be used simply and downshifting and in general, racing and stressing it is not a good thing. The new steptronic and tip tronic type of transmissions are very different though. I consider them far more superior than the manual type. I believe in the near future all cars will be having this type of transmissions.

[abatardi]