Originally posted by cwa107
I love people who think they can manually shift a regular autotranny. OK, let me 'splain something - IT'S AN AUTOMATIC. Rowing the shifter between D1-D2-D3-OD, whatever, does nothing but limit what the top gear is that the tranny will shift into. Not only is this an incredible waste of time, but it can be damaging because transaxles (i.e. FWD transmissions) are exceedingly fragile. They don't like being beaten and they are not designed to be "manually shifted". The only reason those "gears" are there is so that you can use the engine for braking if you're coming down a huge hill or are going up a hill and don't want to tranny shifting into OD. Those of you that have automatics are best advised to baby your transmission. If you don't it WILL eventually break.
A friend of mine works at a small transmission shop. The owners love you guys - by that I mean, those of you who drive your automatic four-cylinder cars as though it were a sports car, or better yet, modify it so that it's putting out more power than the transaxle was designed to handle (BTW, most automatics are designed to fit a variety of engines, and many times, bone stock cars are already overburdening the transaxle). If you really want to modify, street race or autocross your car, the first thing you need to do is put in an MTX - otherwise you're wasting your time (and eventually a whole lotta money). Thankfully Honda's transaxles are better than most. You should see the number of Fords/Mazdas sitting outside of this guy's shop.
Anyway, I hope I save at least one of you some time, money and frustration. Rebuilt automatics are not fun, they seldom work right and the car is never the same again. Replacing the entire unit with a solid, new automatic is the best option, but it will cost you a small fortune (better to just get a new car). This is why I spent so much time jumping up and down at the Honda dealer demanding an EX with a 5-spd (sort of hard to find since the EX's tend to be the top of the line). I just hope Honda eventually decides to put a manual option in the Accord V-6 four-door by the time my lease is up.
i agree with you but i have a question. if manual shifting is so bad(i also believe it) why does honda recommend it in the manual? it just doesn't make any sense. and for the people out there tring to act like they have a manual, please get a 5-spd and you'll be much happy. just keep it in d3 for city driving and d4 for highway use...:thumbup: