I usually start in D3 to accerlate and then shift to D4 when it's ready. Makes it a little more fun to drive. But it does affect my tranny a little -- sometimes it doesn't always feel like it went completely to D4, even though the shifter is firmly seated there.

 

I downshift to D3 when making hard stops. The manual recommends this to reduce break wear, and it makes for quicker stops with minimal "diving". I do find I get worse fuel economy when doing this often.

I also used to occasionally downshift to D3 when I was expecting to make a pass and knew a downshift was inevitable. I found it made for faster and more predictable response to hard acceleration.

I have a question regarding the practice of downshifting to D3. Sometimes when I would downshift the revs would get well above the 4000 rpm range and would stay there for a fairly prolonged period of time. Is this bad for the engine or tranny? I would tend to think not because you could conceivably drive the car in D3 all the time. However, lets just say you were doing 200 in D3 at about 6000 rpm for more than a moment. I would tend to think this could be damaging, even though it is still technically within the limits of the engine.

 

it's called automatic for a reason hehe. have fun and let the car shift for you

 

For anyone who wants to drive their auto like a stick, remember this: a manual tranny has a direct mechanical connection between the engine and tranny, so holding anything under redline won't hurt much. But an auto tranny has the torque converter, which, as many of you may know, is a big drum of fluid that get whipped into a frenzy when you accelerate. The pressure created when you rev the engine forces the blade on the transmission side to start turning. Now, what do you think the fluid pressure is gonna look like when you hold first gear and your doing 6500 rpm at 25 mph? Yep, you're making an ATF whip cream topping. Over time, this breaks down the fluid to the point it's black instead of red and then you've got trouble.

 

OK, first off DO NOT go from 1-2-3-4 because you will throw off your timing like a mofo. Also do not go from 3-2-1 because u will **** up the car and the gears.

 

I work with D4 and D3 only.
On very rare occasions I may downshift to 2nd when trying to stop in a hurry. But only when the RPMs are very low.

If you really want a manual you could just swap in a CL-S 6speed tranny. (I'm gonna as soon as I have the ca$h.)

 

so lets say
from 0 - x ill drive in D3

what speed or whats the most my rpm can be (and stay there for a few secs) before i shift up to normal D .. was thinkin about doin this so vtec had a chance to kick in for more than a split second

 

Yeah good question lilflip, when I am in D3 when should I switch to D4?

Or should I ever drive in D3? Guys are saying for turns, etc.

Help me out guys!

 

Why would you bother "manually" shifting your automatic when the same effect can be easily achived by depressing the gas pedal? The only reason the gear selector is there is for climbing and decending steep hills. This way if you're ascending a hill, you can keep the tranny from going into overdrive and if you're descending, you can use the engine for braking.

Man, I swear I've read this same ignorant thread a million times before. Bottom line is, if you want a manual, buy a manual. Otherwise, deal with the fact that you have an automatic and don't beat it unless you like replacing transmissions.

 

The first thing you have to understand is what exactly all the manual lever positions do, then maybe you'll understand it better. 1st means only first gear, 2nd is usually 2nd on honda's and only second so you can actually take off out of 2nd gear if you have it in manual 2nd i believe that's if your in the snow so you don't spin the tires as easily. Now if you start off in manual 1st upshift to manual 2nd it will shift to 2nd onces the govonor pressure inside the tranny surpasses the throttle pressure. Now d3 is third, but it will downshift and upshift just like d4, with overdrive lockout so in other words it won't shift into overdrive. So if you don't want it shifting to overdrive drive in d3 and you will still start off in 1st from a stop and automatically shift through the gears like normal. There is no beneifiet or down effects of manually shifting your tranny. If your doing it for acceleration it's pointless, because your tranny is designed to hold shifts under maximum throttle pressure to about redline. If your going 80 and want to slow down faster manually downshifting is fine provided your not going to fast for a certain gear i.e. I wouldn't reccomend downshifting to 2nd until you get below 50. Downshifting provides engine braking. Other manufactures have more clutches applied when you downshift to take stress off parts if you deside to manualy downshift, but honda trannys are a completly different design and use clutchpacks to hold a gear directly it's basically a manual tranny with clutches. Also to clear something else up your torque converter is basically standing still at higher rpms because it's reached stall speed so it's not making much heat there because it's not slipping anymore however at higher rpms your torque converter is still spinning your pump at the same speed as your engine becase that part of the touque converter is always spinning with the engine but all excess pressure is bled off from pressure regulator valve so your not just building up pressure otherwise you'd ballon your converter and take out your crankshaft. Hopefully that clears things up.