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Location:
Brisbane
Registered:
May 2002
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Driving an Auto like a Manual...
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Sun, 13 April 2003 00:30
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Hey Guys, just a quick one, how bad is it to drive your auto car like a manual (coming up to a corner, drop it to 2nd (doing about 40kph) to get some engine braking). Is it worse if the car is dropping back through 2 gears, ie 4th->2nd?
What exactly does it stress / break (planetary gears?) and how long can you expect an auto gearbox to last under abuse (light abuse and hard). Its not like I compression lock it into 1st to lock the rear wheels or anything, I just thought it would be something interesting to find out so I can tell my friends to shut up when I'm driving (heres hoping I'm right) or modify my driving style (not that I do it alll the time, only when I'm in the mood) 
Cheers
Wilbo
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Location:
Sydney
Registered:
May 2002
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Location:
Brisbane
Registered:
November 2002
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Re: Driving an Auto like a Manual...
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Sun, 13 April 2003 00:50
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Personally I wouldn't do it. Generally autos are designed to be autos... and hence aren't really made for manual work.
The shifter is generally there so that you can lock it in a gear.. for example first... when you're towing up a hill or something.
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Location:
Melbourne
Registered:
May 2002
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Re: Driving an Auto like a Manual...
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Sun, 13 April 2003 02:34
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I drove my AE92 like that for about 2 years...
Then coasting down a hill at about 55-60km/h, I put it into 2nd to slow the car down without using the brakes...
Big grinding noise, could feel it thru the floor and pedals, pulled over, stopped the car. It took a fair bit of cranking and finally fired up, noise gone. Continued driving to the movies... The smell when I got out of the car was terrifying, the dipstick was covered in silverey liquid and particles...
Car worked fine for about a week after that, then it started to slip out of gear when slowing down from >70km/h, then it did it EVERY time I slowed down, the speedo needle would drop to the floor and rise up when i pumped the gas, and gear engaged again.
The auto blew up later...
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Location:
Melbourne
Registered:
May 2002
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Re: Driving an Auto like a Manual...
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Sun, 13 April 2003 02:57
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Hmm thats why i bought a manual.
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Location:
Sydney
Registered:
May 2002
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Re: Driving an Auto like a Manual...
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Sun, 13 April 2003 10:31
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yeah always play it safe unless your 110% sure u know what you;re doing
In my manual it says i can downshift to engine brake
and i asked someone on toymods if its ok.....and thats where i got the pre 198X thingo
and i do it everyday and i havent gotten 1 hiccup yet in about a year of doing it
But that doesnt mean u should do it
Sus it out first
Ta
Mani
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Location:
Montrose, VIC
Registered:
May 2002
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Re: Driving an Auto like a Manual...
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Sun, 13 April 2003 13:08
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Depends a LOT on the auto and just how brutal you are with it! Yes you CAN kill them very quickly, bit with some inlink of care, they'll usually get over it for a long time. Word of advice - fit a cooler!
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Registered:
August 2002
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Re: Driving an Auto like a Manual...
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Sun, 13 April 2003 13:15
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Toasted my auto in my old car in this fashion
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Location:
Brisbane
Registered:
May 2002
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Re: Driving an Auto like a Manual...
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Mon, 14 April 2003 00:48
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Yeah it says in the manual "la de la de dah, you can down shift to achieve a braking effect" but I don't think they are saying "feel free to abuse your unbreakable auto gearbox"!
Like I said I don't do it all the time, I was just curious as to how bad it actually was for the box (mine gets an oil change about every 10k-15k as well so its pretty well looked after).
So far all these beautiful stories aren't to comforting!
Cheers
Wilbo
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Location:
adelaide
Registered:
May 2002
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Re: Driving an Auto like a Manual...
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Mon, 14 April 2003 05:36
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yep two mates of mine have dropped their trannies doing this down-changing method in weak mid-90's plastic cars.. slipping just got worse then eventually Drive felt like Neutral...
On the other hand another friends '96 pulsar has been abused like hell for the last couple of years and the trans in that steel feels pretty tight and no noises. But still thats not an excuse to do it, but when uve gotta hear the engine winding down why not just slip it back into 2nd ... hehe.
I do it sometimes when driving my parents VN commodore, just because it weighs a hole heap and has a new(fully sic) exhaust system, so it gets nice pops and crackies if i feather the accelerator pedal the right way ... 
Yes raping the auto trans will eventually kill it, but ive seen oldschool autos lasting a fair while.. commodores are ok but they tend to then stick in gears after abuse.. for example a mates VH commonwhore doesbnt change into 2nd until the car hits around 60kph, even if its in Drive. and thats pretty fuckin loud when a 202 has to hit around 4500rpm to get INTO 2nd auto gear..
Its so funny talking to him about fuel consumption..
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Location:
Brisbane
Registered:
July 2002
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Re: Driving an Auto like a Manual...
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Mon, 14 April 2003 06:49
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Hmmm ... I would have thought it'd be bad ...
Otherwise, everyone would be doing it and that would make modern day sequential gear shifters (ie. BMW M3, Mistsubishi FTO etc) REDUNDANT. 
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Location:
Sydney
Registered:
May 2002
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Re: Driving an Auto like a Manual...
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Mon, 14 April 2003 07:35
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well ill tell u this
My mate in his 199X astina did it to his ..... and he stuffed his gearbox..... He wasnt meant to do it..... after about a year its rooted
IN my manual it says i can downshift
Ive been doing it for a year.....and no problems at all (knock on wood)
I use it for engine braking AND just downshifting for more acceleration
Haro.... "tiptronics" in modern cars is electronically controlled.......the thing we're talking about is mechanically controlled
TA
Mani
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Location:
Brisbane
Registered:
July 2002
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Re: Driving an Auto like a Manual...
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Mon, 14 April 2003 08:19
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Just joking ... guess what I meant to say was that the motion is so similar but there's probably a good reason why ppl buy a car with tiptronic if they want to be constantly playing with the gear stick.
Hmmm ... guess the moral is that if you want to drive an auto like a manual, either get a manual car or do a manual swap. 
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