Is it bad to drive while engaged in 3 instead of D all the time? Not just for Lancers, but for all cars that's equipped with automatic transmission?

 

depends on the speed your going, some people may want to shift down to 3rd then back up to D (4th) between like 60 and 80 to pass someone, ive used it a few times, little quicker, but not like a manual, the only time i drop down to L or 2 is when im in snow

 

not really it just keeps overdrive from being engaged. It will eat up more gas but you will have a more favorable gear for accelerating as over drive is smaller ratio than 1:1 (typically .75:1).

Just becarefull when going faster than 70 or so as your RPM's will start getting high and you are putting undo stress on your engine.

 

point - match - guru! Unless of course you love going over 70, in which case use D, but I would go against shifting from 3 to d and back down to 3, trying to manually shift an auto is bad for the tranny, premature wear of the belts means you'll be gettin some slippage down the line... but if its within warranty for the powertrain, shift away and make em pay!

 

I shift from 3 to D at 80 to 100 when rapidly accelerating. That's where the power is guys, shifting earlier puts you in the ****tier D gear which will have to keep over driving to accelerate quickly.
Though when driving normally I leave it in D.

 

ythe only time ive used it is when im accelerating from 0 up to move a little quicker, i wouldnt shift down while im already in d, personally i dont even see a good use for the whole thing, but whatever

 

wait, we have overdrive?

 

yes the 4th gear on our car is an overdrive gear (in definition if the gearing ratio is smaller than 1:1 it is overdrive, else it is underdrive).

 

oh ok.. i was surprised when u said we have overdrive at first coz usually overdrive has a button.. hehe but that explains the L,2,3,D.. alot of other autos have just L,2,D and overdrive if i can recall.. and by the way guru, u have an auto or 5spd?

 

i have an auto that is why i have been learning so much about it. hahah I am also in an auto tranny rebuilding class right now so.... if you have any questions please ask I will do my best to answer.

 

oh forreal?!?! since u have an auto, were u able to fit the RRM FMIC on your car? if so, did u need custom piping or are u running w/out the FMIC and just pushing low boost levels?

 

Just so you guys know you can hit the gas and the car will downshift to third by itself. it probablly won't hit redline but it saves the wear on the tranny. the only time you should shift an auto is when racing from a dead stop. Start in 1(L) and when you hit redline pop it up to 2 and so on. I don't recomend doing this often because you will blow a seal. I've done it in 2 cars.

 

i am running the rrm non intercooled at 6 psi (or whatever is stock). it is awsome.


Droping to 3 is ok when you are going up a hill and you dont want to have your tranny constantly hunting for a gear. if you want to lock out overdrive droping to 3 is ok but it should only be used in hill climbing (or decending) and not in a daily driving situation.

 

yea i always wondered why when i was already in 4th gear doing 70 and i floor it even more to pass, it revs high and accelerates and then drops back down to low rpms and back into 4th gear.