I have already asked this in the "driving techniques" section, but i guess no one read there, so i will ask it here. lol



this may sound retarded. but please bear with me

when drag racing an auto, starting at 1 and shifting your way up. Do you have to take your foot off the gas when shifting gears?


(ive never raced my car, and have no intention of doing so, im just curious)


thanks

 

I don't think you have to, you dont when you drive it normally and when I had an auto mustang it didnt require that you took your foot off, jsut make sure you shift before you hit redline, I think that's all that matters

 

if you wanna shorten the life of your car by about 10 years then yes you do Although if youd like to drive home just put it in D and race

 

No you dont have to. Remember an auto only tightens a band around a drum when it shifts, nothing else really. The torque converter is made to allow the rpm drop from the load change.

 

Thank you for clarifying that for me. It is what i assumed, but a friend mentioned that i could ruin my transmission my not taking my foot off.

And you all know once ONE person says something, it freaks you out......just on the off chance they are right. lol.


Thanks lads

 

Keep it in D and let it fly...

 

with manually shifting an auto you can push it harder than the ECU would, so i can shift later; as in right before the redline.

 

how the hell do you manually shift an auto?!?!?! i always stomp on the gas in D and pray!

 

if your trying to drag an auto lancer just put it in D. You can allways reset ecu and let it re-learn. my auto will shift at about 6100 in any gear if I mash on it.... I trained it to do so. haha. Only time I use the 1-3 gear sets is coasting through traffic ill put it in 1.... wont have to use brakes as much or if Im messin around ill keep it in 3 to have the power there. but of course put it in D once you get going fast enouph.

 

start in 1, work your way up. and whatever you do......dont downshift.
yeh mine will change gear around 6000 also if i whack on the gas.

I just heard that starting in first gets you off the line quicker.

 

my shifts like at 5800 but i also got the random low idle, so i idle about ~550, and i've had random low idle in both the factory ecu and the re-call replacement ecu... but the car runs great aslong as the air filter is dry... lol. also, you can down shift, just becareful, the ecu is smart enuff not to just go from D to 1 at 60mph. i got curious and messed around with it. it will generally downshift into 1st about 25mph... also, when u hit redline, you will just hit fuel cut, i'm not suggesting leaving it and first and boucing off it, but when you hear a wierd sound at the top of the gear just get off the gas!

 

so i DO need to take my foot off the gas when shifting????

 

no, since theres no clutch, theres no need to take the foot off, if you do, you'll just slow down a bit

 

I STILL HAVE NO IDEA HOWS THIS IS POSSIBLE!!! AHHH! so you guys r saying if i'm in the 1-3 gears (right below D) i can race in this gear set and it will be faster or atleast get off the line quicker? and that you can go from D to 3 while driving slow? some1 tell meh!

 

i always thought that you CAN'T downshift in an auto, at all. because it will trash the transmission.
And ive tried both methods of shifting. and NOT taking my foot of the gas works perfect, i have a smooth shift and i keep my speed.

when i take my foot of the gas, the car jumps, the shift sounds terrible, and the RPM jumps everywhere, so im asuming its not the right way to do it