La ChroniK

I have heard much debate as to whether shifting up and down between gear 1, 2 and 3 and to Drive is bad, what do you guys think. I have been doing it lately and the transmission seems to react fine. My car is a ford fairmont EbII 93 model. The reason i started doing it is a change in driving, using the gears to slow down in stead of always using my brakes. I've found its a huge help and it woudld seem as though the brakes will last alot longer.

I consulted with my uncle who has been working on cars for 30-40 years and he reckons its fine. He says the gears were designed to be used for towing, slowing down and what not. What are the views of you guys on this topic????

LunaticSVT

A traditional automatic can be shifted manually. It merely locks out the higher gears and is slow to respond to shift changes compared to a manual.

STROKEXD

Heard that it does cause pre-mature wear on bands and clutches, but have always done it myself and never had a problem.

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cjard

my 0.02:

an auto box is going to shift auto anyway, no matter what you do with the stick. moving the stick just gives the box permission to change (when it feels like it)

newer autos here (in the uk) dont change unless it's safe to do so, so if youre doin 90, and you whack it in 1st, it'll carry on in D until it get sto a safe speed to shift to 1st..

the other 0.01 i have on the subject is; why would you use a $2000 transmission to slow a car down instead of a set of $40 brake pads? you could burn through 50 sets of pads before you spent the same amount of money as a knackered transmission

La ChroniK

The whole point in finding out this information is so that i know i can manually shift the auto without any problems. Every now and then i enjoy shifting up and down the gears, and with the added bonus of prolonging brake pad life- Why not do it? The beauty is though, i can still relax with the auto trans when im tired or when i just want to cruise?

bradford

If it was so bad for an Automatic Transmission to be sometimes or often Shifted Manually...Then why would Ford[and ever other Car Manufacturer]build them with a set up that allows you to do so??? If this was bad , they would have probably just gave you Park,Reverse,and Drive Gear to chose from on your T-Bar or Column would'nt they???

fordfreak ef

get a 5 sp dude!!!!!!!! you will never go auto again.....until 65+!!!!!!!!!

La ChroniK

I have thought about manual, but i mean, auto is good coz you can chill about it when tired, and i like to have that option. Also, you can still make auto's go good so im not too fussed about it, there always seems to be a constant battle between auto and manual, i think both are great :).

needturbo6

yeh im sick of people goin "ive got a manual and im SIK so GET a MANUAL!!! and yes i had a T5 5 speed EFi XF with a few mods and it was a very fun car but they also have their downsides, just like an auto.
my auto shifts VERY quick when i want it too... and is very cruisy after a hard day at work. yeh the first gear is pretty long but a cam swap should sort that out to a degree.

but yeh definitly agree, they wouldnt giv you acess to manually shift up or down if it would damage the tranny.





Auto is cruisy, you can drink, eat, change cd, etc. much easier...

LunaticSVT

I njoy the t56 in the Cobra over the auto in the Excursion.