[toofast4you]

Hi, i own an atx cougar . ha, now heres my question. Since i dont have a manual i like to put the car into the 1st and then shift to 2nd and then drive. I do that a lot when i drive. A friend told me tho that if i keep doing that, i will break my atx tranny? now is this true? or am i ok if i shift it like that?

 

[h8beingbored]

i think you should let the automatic tranny do the shifting for you . . . thats what it is designed to do

 

[unisys12]

I have heard that it will damage the tranny also. But for everyone that has said this to me, when I asked "How?" they don't give a straight answer. My thought is, "If using the manual gears would damage the tranny in some way, they would not put them there."

I don't exactly shift mine like a manual, such as you do, but when I am in the twisties I do change my own gears with no ill effects.

 

[Keliente]

All you're doing is stressing the transmission more than it needs. It's called AUTOMATIC for a reason, because it shifts AUTOMATICALLY. The car's computer knows exactly when to shift it; compensating for how hard you're laying on the throttle, if you're going uphill, downhill, cruising on the highway or gunning it at a stoplight. Not to mention that it looks mad ghey when people shift automatics.

 

[BrantlyJ]

Originally posted by: unisys12
I have heard that it will damage the tranny also. But for everyone that has said this to me, when I asked "How?" they don't give a straight answer. My thought is, "If using the manual gears would damage the tranny in some way, they would not put them there."

I don't exactly shift mine like a manual, such as you do, but when I am in the twisties I do change my own gears with no ill effects.

The manual tells you exactly why those two gears are there. 2nd is for going down a step hill and you want to use your engine as a brake instead of using the standard brakes and possably overheating and warping them. 1st is for climbing large hills or for when you need a little extra tourqe and don't want the tranny to shift out of first gear.

This is not some shifttronic tranny or what ever they call them. You will do nothing but decrease the life of your tranny as all it will do is cause it to heat up the fluid and torch it. All the while giving you a false sense of you actually having a manual while you do your ricer shifting.

 

[unisys12]

Originally posted by: BrantlyJ

The manual tells you exactly why those two gears are there. 2nd is for going down a step hill and you want to use your engine as a brake instead of using the standard brakes and possibly overheating and warping them. 1st is for climbing large hills or for when you need a little extra torque and don't want the tranny to shift out of first gear.

This is not some shifttronic tranny or what ever they call them. You will do nothing but decrease the life of your tranny as all it will do is cause it to heat up the fluid and torch it. All the while giving you a false sense of you actually having a manual while you do your ricer shifting.

There is this thing out there on the market that you might not have heard of. It is called a Tranny Cooler. There is also some great fluids out there, like Mobil 1 Syn. Would you believe both of these have proven to drastically reduce ATF temps.

As for it being an electronically controlled unit and we should all bow to the cause, well that is just plain simple... well I wont go there. Come on. You can't truly claim that as a reason. If that is your argument, then I hope you don't have a chip in your car. Nor thinking of buying one, because your PCM was programmed a certain way for a reason.

I hear ya on the overheating issue's, but... I think you will have to give me something a little better then yawl's claims to ghey and rice. Sorry.

 

[BrantlyJ]

Originally posted by: unisys12

Originally posted by: BrantlyJ

The manual tells you exactly why those two gears are there. 2nd is for going down a step hill and you want to use your engine as a brake instead of using the standard brakes and possibly overheating and warping them. 1st is for climbing large hills or for when you need a little extra torque and don't want the tranny to shift out of first gear.

This is not some shifttronic tranny or what ever they call them. You will do nothing but decrease the life of your tranny as all it will do is cause it to heat up the fluid and torch it. All the while giving you a false sense of you actually having a manual while you do your ricer shifting.

There is this thing out there on the market that you might not have heard of. It is called a Tranny Cooler. There is also some great fluids out there, like Mobil 1 Syn. Would you believe both of these have proven to drastically reduce ATF temps.

As for it being an electronically controlled unit and we should all bow to the cause, well that is just plain simple... well I wont go there. Come on. You can't truly claim that as a reason. If that is your argument, then I hope you don't have a chip in your car. Nor thinking of buying one, because your PCM was programmed a certain way for a reason.

I hear ya on the overheating issue's, but... I think you will have to give me something a little better then yawl's claims to ghey and rice. Sorry.

ok, you install your tranny cooler and put the car in first and go driving around for an hour. Then we'll see how goot that cooler and syn fluid works. a cooler only cools so much. once you exceed the capacity of the cooler it becomes useless. You need facts and figures?? I can provide them as I spec. coolers for hydraulic systems. I also know fluids. What to know about them also? If your gonna be a smart ass you better make sure your ass is smarter than the one your dealing with.:stupid:

It's called an automatic for a reason. shifting back and forth between 1st and 2nd (those are the only two gears available to you) is useless. If you can prove to me in some way that manualy shifting an automatic transmission in normal driving is benifcial I will retract all statments.

Untill then your a poser pretending your car is something it's not.

Good Day!

 

[FastCougar]

First, let's keep this discussion civil!

Second, in reply to this statement:

Originally posted by: BrantlyJ
If you can prove to me in some way that manually shifting an automatic transmission in normal driving is beneficial I will retract all statements.

I will often start off in second gear when it's wet outside of it my wife/child are in the car. I do this because 1st provides too much torque to the front wheels and in the rain causes the wheels to slip. When it's not raining, the wife doesn't like the way I take off at lights because of the torquey nature of the 2.5L down low. So, rather than feather the gas pedal in 1st, I simply start in 2nd ... I find myself liking the smoother acceleration better and if I'm not in a hurry, I will often do this without anybody in the car. Needless to say, it also helps when there is snow/ice on the roads and you have to come to a stop. Starting in second will allow for more traction in low-traction situations.

 

[Keliente]

That would be the right way to shift an automatic, if you have to. However I don't think that toofast4you is utitlizing his transmission in that way - it sounds more like he is trying to feign manual shifting

 

[BrantlyJ]

Originally posted by: FastCougar
First, let's keep this discussion civil!

Second, in reply to this statement:

Originally posted by: BrantlyJ
If you can prove to me in some way that manually shifting an automatic transmission in normal driving is beneficial I will retract all statements.

I will often start off in second gear when it's wet outside of it my wife/child are in the car. I do this because 1st provides too much torque to the front wheels and in the rain causes the wheels to slip. When it's not raining, the wife doesn't like the way I take off at lights because of the torquey nature of the 2.5L down low. So, rather than feather the gas pedal in 1st, I simply start in 2nd ... I find myself liking the smoother acceleration better and if I'm not in a hurry, I will often do this without anybody in the car. Needless to say, it also helps when there is snow/ice on the roads and you have to come to a stop. Starting in second will allow for more traction in low-traction situations.

Again your taking a situation where an ATX does just fine on it's own and your applying your own habits. If your spining your tires in the rain either you have really bad tires or your being very heavy with your foot. I can be on glare ice with my parents F-150 with an empty box and empty gas tanks with bald tires and still not spin them. But then again I grew up in MN so I learned how to deal with stuff like that.
There is absolutly no need to downshift in wet weather. Really don't need to feather either. Just a slow smooth foot pressure should be fine. No need to take off like a rocket at EVERY light.
I do agree about downshifting on ice though. I used to do that in my Beretta. Although now with my traction control I don't worry about it to much.

 

[CougarSVT]

I'm not sure about anyone else but I used to drive my ATX like it was a manual and sadly enough at 62,220 miles my tranny went out. It was either from the five break stands I did or all the wanna be manual trans. racing I did, You can guess which one it most likely was.

 

[unisys12]

Originally posted by: BrantlyJ
ok, you install your tranny cooler and put the car in first and go driving around for an hour. Then we'll see how goot that cooler and syn fluid works. a cooler only cools so much. once you exceed the capacity of the cooler it becomes useless. You need facts and figures?? I can provide them as I spec. coolers for hydraulic systems. I also know fluids. What to know about them also? If your gonna be a smart ass you better make sure your ass is smarter than the one your dealing with.:stupid:

It's called an automatic for a reason. shifting back and forth between 1st and 2nd (those are the only two gears available to you) is useless. If you can prove to me in some way that manualy shifting an automatic transmission in normal driving is benifcial I will retract all statments.

Untill then your a poser pretending your car is something it's not.

Good Day!

I agree with FastCougar in the fact that this should be a civil discussion/debate and not an argument.

Noone said anything about driving their car around for an hour in first gear. I seriously don't think anyone around here is that stupid. I would have to say that I drive my ATX just like everyone else does about 99% of the time. The only reason I entertained this question/thread was because this is something that I would like to know. I have studied ATX's for awhile now, so failures intrigue me.

I totally agree with you on your statements about coolers.

But no, 1st and 2nd is not all that is available to someone driving an ATX. Yes, there is of course 1st and 2nd, but there is also 3rd unlocked (having O/D turning off), 3rd locked (turning O/D on) and 4th.

But anyway... With that said, I can see there is no end here, so I agree to disagree with you. Our views are different and we can leave it at that.

 

[slomoe]

I too have screwed around with manual shifting the auto.. IMO it does pretty much what a chip would do. A chip changes shift points, if you hold first gear untill about 5900 rpm then shift to 2nd it will hold for about 300 rpm longer than if you let it shift by itself. It only works if you do it at the perfect time though, otherwise it shifts like normal or you hit the rev limiter. It probably is bad for the tranny because its shifting at a higher RPM and putting higher stress on the TC, but wouldnt a chip then also be bad?

There is also another reason to shift manually.. if you leave it in 2nd and come to a stop it will stay in 2nd. You can start in 2nd gear which is great for when the roads are slick and you dont have traction control

:edit: just read the above posts so you all know about starting in 2nd already lol