[chrisanthony14]

Hey guys i have auto lx

I'm just wondering if putting your car in neutral down hills or on straight aways and then switch back to D after would do anything bad to your transmission. The reason i'm asking because I heard alot of ppl saying that its not good and some saying it would save on gass.

Thanks ,

chris

 

[Jeffescortlx]

Leave it in drive.

 

[juggalo]

i do that all the time only if the hill is long and straight. i even put it in regular drive when goin up steep hills in the city or on the freeway to keep my tranny from bouncing between 3rd, 4th, and OD. i even do it when i'm passing someone on the freeway to keep my motor from hittin that nasty flat spot when i hit the gas. people "assume" that just cuz it's an automatic that u can't manualy shift while in motion. as long as u know when to shift at what speed it won't harm the tranny. just don't downshift into L at high speeds cuz L is actually 1st gear. it's also a good idea to downshift while driving in the snow cuz it will slow ur car down, hold the traction, and keep the wheels from locking up.

 

[chrisanthony14]

i do that all the time only if the hill is long and straight. i even put it in regular drive when goin up steep hills in the city or on the freeway to keep my tranny from bouncing between 3rd, 4th, and OD. i even do it when i'm passing someone on the freeway to keep my motor from hittin that nasty flat spot when i hit the gas. people "assume" that just cuz it's an automatic that u can't manualy shift while in motion. as long as u know when to shift at what speed it won't harm the tranny. just don't downshift into L at high speeds cuz L is actually 1st gear. it's also a good idea to downshift while driving in the snow cuz it will slow ur car down, hold the traction, and keep the wheels from locking up.

downshifting meaning downshifting to N rite in snow rite?

 

[denisond3]

I do a good bit of manual shifting myself - mostly putting it into Drive instead of OverDrive when on suburban/city streets - to save on the 4-3-4- shifting. The only reservation I would have about putting it into Neutral then shifting back into Drive, is that I wouldnt do that at high speed, unless I brought the engine speed up to about what it would be after its in gear again.
As far as saving gas - I dont think it would make a difference, unless you lived in an area with miles & miles of gentle downgrades. I used to put the car into neutral when descending the last 10 or 15 miles on I-90 heading eastbound down into LaCrosse WI.

Driving in snow I would probably leave it in Drive, not in Overdrive, for slightly better control of what the drive wheels are doing.

 

[juggalo]

downshifting meaning downshifting to N rite in snow rite?

when i say downshift, i mean going from 4th to 3rd or in our case which is the same thing (D) to D.

The only reservation I would have about putting it into Neutral then shifting back into Drive, is that I wouldnt do that at high speed, unless I brought the engine speed up to about what it would be after its in gear again.
As far as saving gas - I dont think it would make a difference, unless you lived in an area with miles & miles of gentle downgrades.

the thing about shifting it from neutral back into drive is if the ecu knows what speed the car is traveling, it will know what gear to put it in. if i'm goin about 50mph down a 2 mile hill, i'll put it in neutral then back into drive and it will go right into 4th gear. it's ok to do that. and yeah it does save a little bit of gas doin that cuz ur puttin the engine at a much lower speed than what it would be in 4th gear goin down hill. this is one of the reasons why the automatics don't have as much MPG ratings as the manuals cuz most people don't think that u CAN manualy shift in an automatic. it even says it in the owners manual. U CAN MANUALY SHIFT IN AN AUTOMATIC!

 

[racethisescort89]

buy a 5 spd.. then its all up to your control even more!

 

[juggalo]

:roll:

 

[chrisanthony14]

thank you guys for the confirmation..my confusion has been layed to rest. lol