What is the power button for?

[unique7]

After reading this thread:
GEN 3: 93 Camry: power button next gear shifter

It made me wonder what it is for? I have only used it couple of times to see if it does anything, but I never feel any difference in the cars performance.

Does it like automatically give a little bit of power to the car?
Is it for going up hills since the 4 cylinder 92-97's are horrible at going up them.

How much extra petrol does it use if any?

Oh yeah, what does the ETC on it stand for?

[Albuynp Ryeno]

The power button just makes the car shift in a higher rpm. I would leave it in normal mode unless you need it. (for drag racing from a start or if your in heavy traffic and need to floor the car to switch lanes)

As for going up hills, push the o/d button. Once o/d is off, the car will switch out of 4th gear and go into 3rd.

[bigbird]

it is a kind of "sport" mode. it makes makes the tranny more sensitive and quicker to down shift and holds shifts longer to redline. thats about it. it uses more gas 1. because you drive harder because you think its faster...and 2. because you spend more time in high rpms.

[dans01camry]

Definitely turn the overdrive off when climbing a hill as it puts alot more stress on both the engine and the transmission. Even if it doesn't pop out of overdrive automatically I would do it anyway just as cheap insurance.

[RichieRichJP]

Seriously, this question is asked at least every week...

[Eye8Pussies]

time to keep on searching to find out the answer... :