owners manual claims drive 3 on auto is ok

[rsbs98gt]

My owners manual for my 98 gt 2.4 claims that it is ok to drive with auto transmission in drive gear 3 at the expense of fuel economy but it provides much better acceleration!! My question is does anyone else practice this and how much harm can come to tranny after extended driving in this manner?

[Molson]

ya, you can use D3 for intown etc, D(4) is overdrive, for hwy use.

[PontiacGT2K]

It won't hurt the transmission at all. It'll just hurt your fuel economy. Why would you do this?
It doesn't help acceleration that much, and since when was driving 45mph+ in 3rd gear a good thing?
Civic ownders think it's cool to roll around in 1st or 2nd gear....grand am owners joined that club? :-(
They give us a 4th gear for a reason, use it. When you're drag racing, put it in 3 but flip to 4 when you're at the shift point, otherwise just drive normally.

[PontiacGT]

there is no 4th gear. it's 3 gears plus OD. my 83 dodge ram is the same way, with a stick though...and ya, driving in 3rd would be retarded in my opinion. you dont see performance increases from that, all that you are gonna notice is that your engine rpms are huge after like 70 mph lol.

[schizm99]

I have never used overdrive in town. Always placed it in 3rd gear and actually got better fuel economy...In my believe an engine doesn't burn efficiently until 1800 rpm's

[aaron]

How exactly does the shifting work in an automatic car when you try to do it manually, I know its kind of basic but I don't understand it.

If you drive with it in first, will the car ever shift on its own, or will it stay in first until you shift out into second?

If you're racing, would you start in first, go into second, into third, and so on? Or do you just let the comptuer shift for you, I don't completely understand how it works.

[2Dambad]

Originally posted by aaron
How exactly does the shifting work in an automatic car when you try to do it manually, I know its kind of basic but I don't understand it.

If you drive with it in first, will the car ever shift on its own, or will it stay in first until you shift out into second?

If you're racing, would you start in first, go into second, into third, and so on? Or do you just let the comptuer shift for you, I don't completely understand how it works.

When you put your car in 1st gear, that is wear it is staying until you move the gear shifter. Almost the same for second and third. It wont upshift as speed increases, but it will downshift when you slow down.

If your racing legally at a track (because street racing is illegal), put it in 3rd, power brake a little, drop the brake and hammer the gas. Let the car shift, there is no way you can do it faster or more consistantly than the computer can.

[PACE]

I manually shift my car all the time.....I like running around @ 2500 to 3500 RPM's as opposed to 1500. I just drop in into 1st and shift when I need to.......

If you are driving at 45 mph and you want to step on it it takes about 1.5 seconds for the auto transmission to recognise the need to shift.....then down shift.....then build up speed to get to a decent powerband......

OR

YOu can be cruising in 2nd with the RPM's around 2500 and if you need to step on it your already in you power band....no lag!

Auto Tranny Shift Lag SUCKS!!!!

[The Old Guy]

Originally posted by 2Dambad
If your racing legally at a track (because street racing is illegal), put it in 3rd, power brake a little, drop the brake and hammer the gas. Let the car shift, there is no way you can do it faster or more consistantly than the computer can.

Actually that changes a little if you have an SE. I run at the track weekly so I've tried shifting every way possible. What works the best in an SE because of the final gear ratio is to start in 2nd and let it shift from first to 2nd automatically and then hold it in second and manually shift to 3rd at about 5800 RPM. By the time it shifts you're just barely below red line. In numerous runs I see a .05 sec difference or better as opposed to just putting it in 3rd......but remember, that's on an SE. The GTs shift points are set a little higher.

What you'll see is your ET goes down, but so does your trap speed....but trap speed doesn't count on the track.