Automatic Transmission Question

[joey_corleone82]

Forgive my lack of knowledge when it comes to cars. I was wondering, I have a 2001 GT automatic trans. According to the manual it can operate as a 3 speed or a 4 speed, depending on how you have the overdrive set. When I'm driving around day to day I just leave overdrive on, put it in D and go about my business. However, if I'm out cruising on a nice night just having a good time, sometimes I'll cruise around in 2nd gear, mainly because it drives the RPM's to about 2-3k when I'm about cruising speed (35-40MPH) and it makes my Magnaflow catbacks really sound great. It also seems to get good jump in second gear.

If I need to get going quick from a dead stop or am just playing around, I'll manually start out in 1st gear, then shift it up to 2nd, occasionally up to D (3rd gear with overdrive off) In the manual it says this is OK to do this.

Now my question. Is it OK to downshift my automatic transmission from a higher gear to a lower gear? Is it damaging or bad for the car?? All it says in the manual is that to downshift "press the accelerator to the floor" hahah and it will auto downshift. Sometimes I want to try it if I say want a quick burst of speed. Thanks guys

- Joey

 

[2000fordstanggt]

well i used to all the time. i could skirt 2nd pretty good too going from 1st to 2nd and since my brakes were f***** for awhile i would always downshift into 2nd from about 40. my thought was to put a 5 speed in if something ever happened. sorry i didnt answer your question, but i just wanted to say youre not the only one.

 

[CobraRed_96_GT]

i did this all the time, technically it goes into a suedo neutral before downshifting so you should be fine. Now that i have a kit in my new tranny that's designed for this tho, it does straight shifts which causes more heat (especially w/ the stall TC if 1st gear) but i have a huge tranny cooler out front thats works wonders. Only problem w/ this kit that lets you directly select 1-4 gears is it'll do it what ever you tell it to, 4th down to 1st at 80mph - it'll do it if you tell it to. I say go ahead, my rule for 3-2 shift is it's always fine under 40mph. The 1-2 and especially any 2-1 shift should be used rarely since this is a great ratio change for a stock tranny.
You should definitly get a tranny cooler asap either way. These are my opinions

 

[Rusty67]

If yer going to shift from 3rd to 2nd with the shifter then rev the engine if the RPMs are going to change significantly. You gota time the rev so that it makes the shift easier on the transmission, not harder. Not doing this wont kill the transmissoin but anything to make your tranny's life easier.

I definately agree on the cooler for the trans, you should get one if yer going to keep yer auto trans in the car. It will prolong the life of the trans and increase its length of optimal performance.