Automatics- Is a 2nd gear boost possible?

[shallowreef]

I have heard this from a number of people that when i'm driving my car to drop it from drive to second (while doing like 35mph)and floor it and you will get a serious boost. I say its B.S., but before i make up my mind i wanted to hear from you guys if this is true or not. If it is true how do you do it? and doesn't beat the hell out of your transmission? it sounds a lot like doing a neutral drop.

 

[Mike97gt]

thats a forced downshift. it's not awfull but i don't recomend doing it a lot.

get yourself a tourqe converter, 4.10 gears and do the j-mod and you will not have to do that.

plus it's not a boost, the forced downshift is just putting you intot he sweet spot in the power band instead of being at 3k rpms or worse that a suto might downshift to at certain speeds.

 

[ironmedic]

yeah autos seem to like superchargers and turbos. when i had my WRX, the owners taught me that the big advantage of owning an automatic with a turbo is the boost drop off between shifts is very low due to the tranny shifting on its own.

 

[triggz]

downshifting manually also engages a band which allows for engine-braking, so you may feel a 'boost' which is actually just the engine pulling against that band. stock valve-bodied autos will put more power to the ground and be faster in D.

you wont hurt your car(99+) downshifting manually for fun, but be aware thats all its for. downshifting will cause extra heat in the tranny though- and high temps are what kills autos quick.

 

[Cantslowdown]

I would get a cooler if you want to do that alot.. But I would think if you want to shift gears alot like that i would build up a tranny..

 

[Barrier]

Meh using those gears to downshift and whatnot are fine... I had a guy once compare it to an elbow. Using your elbow to eat more efficiently puts wear on your elbow, but that's what it's made for

 

[DarrinB]

Meh using those gears to downshift and whatnot are fine... I had a guy once compare it to an elbow. Using your elbow to eat more efficiently puts wear on your elbow, but that's what it's made for

If you have a transmission thats built to do that then what you say is true. The problem is that manual first uses the reverse band and manual 2nd uses the overdrive band. If you have much modification to the rest of the car and none to the tranny then the bands may be slow to apply and will slip and burn up quick. With no mods to the tranny to fix it, it will even happen on a stock engine over less timethan you think. That is not the reason or use for those gear choices and it was not designed to do that.
I don't think thats fine. I have seen the insides of too many trannys that were burnt up by being run beyond their intended limits. The overdrive bands are almost always cooked. I throw all of the old bands away, but if I remember I will take a pic of one and post it.
Darrin

 

[back_in_black]

I don't know about you guys, but when I mash my gas pedal my tranny automatically downshifts to 2nd and all hell breaks loose!

 

[ProCharger GT]

I don't know about you guys, but when I mash my gas pedal my tranny automatically downshifts to 2nd and all hell breaks loose!

:Word:

 

[03ghoststang]

all i know is that when any pedal mashing or manual shifting is done here that O/D band is disengaged manually so i dont blow it up, but since i have a trans cooler with gears and a predator tune with the tranny part of things modified i would also say that all hell breaks loose

 

[sgarlic]

It's for passing, and it's fine for your transmission, if it weren't, they wouldn't be designed to do that. It's for passing people. Just drive and enjoy it.

Anyways, get a tranny cooler if you haven't already. You don't need one for anything relating to this post, but you should have one anyway.

 

[DarrinB]

The automatic downshift from the normal drive position is designed for passing. Manual 2nd is designed for starting out on slippery roads or for engine braking. Manual first is designed for when you need even more engine braking. Please take the time to read your owners manual and it will clearly spell that out for you.
I tear into several of these in a week. I actually don't mind that there are a lot of people out there that think its ok, its good for job security. So if you guys want to do power on manual second downshifts and fry your overdrive bands then more power to you. Just please keep my contact info to help you out when you start slipping in 4th and need a transmission built.

Thanks
Darrin