Shifting with an automatic....
 

I have a 1998 Accord EX-LI4... I was playing around a bit, and i put my car in "1" while i was at a stoplight... once it turned green i floored it.... The acceleration was soo much faster than if i had just left it in D4, in order to shift i usually just push the gear selector in 2, D3 etc..... anyway, my question is, is it harmful to the tranny to shift in an automatic car?

RE: Shifting with an automatic....
 

The reason it accelerated faster was that you were pushing more RPM's than regular. As for harm to engine, it will definately put more strain on your engine and transmission but as long as you don't make a habit of it, Iwouldn't worry about tearing up anything.

RE: Shifting with an automatic....
 

NO.

Comeon dude, it's an auto for a reason. And the real reason for the 1, 2 gear is if the vehicle is in adverse conditions such as snow and/or ice, as well as climbing or going down hills in the winter time, the user would not burn out his brakes, since the engine brakes and locks the gears.

And remember how your instructor said to brake to a complete stop before changing gears? There's also another reason for that. Since you cannot disengage the clutch, when you change gears when the engine is fully engaged, revving, and in transit, you are crunching gears. No gears = no tranny = no going anywhere fast.

Treat your auto nicely...please.

RE: Shifting with an automatic....
 

hell if you did that, might as well get a manual

RE: Shifting with an automatic....
 

[sm=gears.gif]

RE: Shifting with an automatic....
 

As for the engine i wouldnt worry to much on putting stress on it. But the tranny inn other words is a whole diffferent story. you got to treat the autos nicely if you want long life out of it.

RE: Shifting with an automatic....
 

wow again... 03 ur wrong... the reason those are there is to restrict the usage of gears... in 1 it redlines 1 and then u have to shift to 2... if u put it in 2 it will redline 1 and 2 and wont shift to 3... if u put it in 3 it wont go into overdrive... and D4 is normal... trannys fail because of bad enginering engines fail because of gross missuse... ur trany is DESIGNED for u to be able to shift it like that... it actualy has a entire set of bands and clutches JUST to activate the 2 and 1 gear selectors... it makes the tranny stronger while ur in those gears for engine braking and high RPM usage... i personaly wouldent romp on a car unless it was in one of these gears... ur tranny isent designed for performance in D4 only in the lower gears... and to make ur tranny last longer... just take care of it... running it up everyonce in a while is actualy good... it gets the line pressure up and lets the tranny fill in all the crevices that might not be used normaly... (just as a note... i have owned a car with a weak tranny... i babyed it in 1 tranny and took it in for a new one and was told it was starved... i got the new one... and i beat the **** out of it and it lasted 40K miles till i traded it in and as far as i know it works just fine to this day...)

RE: Shifting with an automatic....
 

Thank you Legion!! I knew I wasn't wrong to start with.

RE: Shifting with an automatic....
 

Did I ever say you were wrong? I just don't recommend shifting with the automatic....its an auto for a reason.

And legion....I'm explaning why the gears are there...not how they are/can be used.

EDIT- So you're saying that the user can shift to 1 romp out to 5000 rpm then shift to 2 then to D3 then to D w/o any damage? Kinda shady if you ask me...won't some parts (clutch?) take a beating?

RE: Shifting with an automatic....
 

He never said he went to 5000 rpms. But don't take offense to what I said. I was second guessing myself after your post and got confused. It's all good.