I love driving in 1st and 2nd gear in my Auto Camry. Bad ?

[TravisAe86]

Yea so I like exploring and paying with my car and I always drive the car in D...its a auto what else lol. But I took notice of the 1st and 2nd gear choose and decided to explore it some.

I love it...

The engine feel 5x more powerful and the car sound sweet when it hit higher RPM, and the pull these gears give make the car feel wonderful. Its accelerates much faster and the engine is more responsive to pedal input. If I wanna do a quick run/take off. I put the car in first floor it and before it hits red line, shift the gear into second and ditto for 2nd into drive. The car is much faster and loves to rev. Makes the 2.2l come alive. This almost fills the emptiness of wishing the car was stick but keeps the easy use of a auto. Its fun too.

I always inspect of the car after this and make sure all is fine and it always is. But is this effecting the car in anyway? I always do it and the car is fine. No problems what so ever.

Also...could someone explain the use of the 1st and 2nd gear. Why would we ever need it D is enough.

[cruisn76]

THey give you the option of 1st or 2nd gear for steep inclines ie mountains... or if towing a small load. Your auto gearbox is not really meant for switching around at 1st and 2nd on a consistent basis. It makes no difference if you floor the pedal at the light in D (drive) or manual switching from 1st, 2nd, D then O/D ON. Just more gearbox wear that is not needed on a older car.

If you like the manual shifting get a 5spd !!!

[TravisAe86]

Originally Posted by cruisn76

THey give you the option of 1st or 2nd gear for steep inclines ie mountains... or if towing a small load. Your auto gearbox is not really meant for switching around at 1st and 2nd on a consistent basis. It makes no difference if you floor the pedal at the light in D (drive) or manual switching from 1st, 2nd, D then O/D ON. Just more gearbox wear that is not needed on a older car.

If you like the manual shifting get a 5spd !!!

I guess your right. But the car can take it and theres no need to baby my 18 year old car. I drive it like i stole it and its fun. Drivin it in D after is boring. I dont do it consistently, just when I'm in the mood for a lil fun. Trust me its much more involving then D. The trans is fine and I ALWAYS check to make sure it is. Anything out the ordinarily, any little sound ANYTHING draws my attention. The trans (well the trans on my car) is strong and in its 18 years of work hasn't even and hasn't shown any signs on giving its up to the job. Cars wear just from using them. If I was driving a more expensive car i would understand your point.


Getting a 5spd would be a headache. I like the fun of a manual....but don't wanna live with it...

[73sport]

A Couple of thoughts
- how do you know anything is fine until you inspect it? We are talking the inside and you can't see it?

Beyond that - It's not like its going to make a good trans go bad and may help a worn trans (one which slips) stay alive. Because the shift points are higher and internal line pressure is higher it reduces the odds of it slipping and burning up clutch packs which also helps it run cooloer.

I bought mine with 142,000 Miles - manually shift it all the time for braking and control. No need to ride the brakes all the way down the hill if the some engine braking will do. In the corners you have more control in lower gears so I shift down.

It has 218,000 on it now and the fluid is cherry red and smells just like new from a jug. Mines a V6 and I run it hard. Undeniably all these 15 year old cars will fail at some point. So +1 for enjoying it will it's alive!

[bigbird]

to be honest, if your only doing it every once in a while then its not gonna hurt it that much if any. the "driving like stolen" will damage something it before your manual shifting will. what may cause damage is down shifting manually under throttle.

[zythr]

The car can take it for now, but I'm guessing you want this car to "die" so you can get another one, otherwise you would be content on how it drives even if it is in "D".

[the_professional]

Manually Shifting of course is not good for your tranny.
& it prolly just feels faster, rather than being faster. Your bound to get the same acceleration w/ ECT in D.
It's still going the same speed. I check it out by comparing times.

Flooring it in D & Flooring it in 1 the car will still maintain the same acceleration, nothing changes.
We all know that where our Camry's and cars in general (unless you got the money to dish out on some really really expensive quick auto shifting german auto, & I mean expensive like Bugattis) Automatics loose their time when shifting. IMO i think manually shifting the auto & flooring an auto will yield the same results. Just from my own experimentation.

[JCamry94]

Shifting from first to second will cause your tranny to slip in due time. Good luck!

[flyeri]

These (and most all) automobiles built today are made to get their maximum life being operated moderately and normal driving speeds. While some are built to romp with thier high output engines the rest of the drive lines are built to take this higher torque and stresses. Our Camrys are not made for this and continued hard driving will take it's toll. 35 years ago my father told me this and 1 year and $600 out of my pocket to rebuild a transmission I started to believe him.

[bigbird]

Originally Posted by the_professional

Manually Shifting of course is not good for your tranny.
& it prolly just feels faster, rather than being faster. Your bound to get the same acceleration w/ ECT in D.
It's still going the same speed. I check it out by comparing times.

Flooring it in D & Flooring it in 1 the car will still maintain the same acceleration, nothing changes.
We all know that where our Camry's and cars in general (unless you got the money to dish out on some really really expensive quick auto shifting german auto, & I mean expensive like Bugattis) Automatics loose their time when shifting. IMO i think manually shifting the auto & flooring an auto will yield the same results. Just from my own experimentation.

i was gonna chime in on the ECT feature but all i know that its true of the 1mz, but someone with a 5s would know better if thats the case here. personally i dont see the point in doing it, yeah it may feel a little more like a manual but the "possible" problems and the fact that your really not making it faster would cause me to play it safe, especially with alot of miles on the car.

[the_professional]

Originally Posted by bigbird

i was gonna chime in on the ECT feature but all i know that its true of the 1mz, but someone with a 5s would know better if thats the case here. personally i dont see the point in doing it, yeah it may feel a little more like a manual but the "possible" problems and the fact that your really not making it faster would cause me to play it safe, especially with alot of miles on the car.

100% Right, it would be much better to go easier on the transmission once mileage goes up, as the transmission gears are already worn, stressing out the torque converter by making the transmission 'slip' from gear to gear manually. With ECT ON there is a noticeable difference, even with the 5SFE, I am able to bring the 5SFE closer to Red line, full WOT I can get it to 5500~ RPM. Regular WOT I get it around 5000-5300 RPM IIRC. For me there is a definate difference between ECT ON/OFF. Of course it's not a magical button & no increased power, BUT it hold shifts better & it has proven it's function to me on such a high revving 4 cylinder.

Like I said, I really doubt any time is gained thru Manually Shifting an AUTO, comparing to Drive w/ ECT. Travis, when we do meet up, we could put this to the test.

[73sport]

All,
You might wanna take a look at the facts - -
This is the A541E trans shift points for the 1MZ so others may differ, but the shift points are not mapped the same between "D" to Manual.

Compare D to the L2 and L1 shift points. Low gear clearly uses more of the upper RPM than the Governments imposed shift points for mass produced autos needing a higher EPA. . .

My time at a major Transmission shop for 5 years says the most probable fault you induce by manually shifting an Auto trans is worn our shift linkage not an expired transmission. Its going to actuate the same mechanisms to shift regardless of D or M. Presure and shift points will change. Of course I'm not advocating you do 85 and shove it into low gear or other acts of senselessness. . .
An example is this: I leave my house, drive flat for 1/2 mile. Pull a long grade where the engine is still warming. Its just enough speed to grab 3rd which is lugging a cold engine. I routinely pull it into 2nd. I speed match on most downshifts before long corners for control and pick the gear that fits the job. Things that kill a worn trans are N-drops at partial to full throttle. That breaks stuff!
Anyway - enough said on my part.

Regards, 73

Take a look at the A541E manual page 67.

[WISHYWASHY]

something i'd do to a rental or a leased car.

[bigbird]

not quite sure what relivance that has but thoes numbers are really close, your talking about a 5 mph differance at most. but none of that matters because the only real reason to use manual mode is at WOT, in which case just wait till redline. unless of course your ECT feature wont allow that then youll have to manually shift. if your driving around normally and manual shifting you not doing anything but wasting gas and pretending its cool.

the tranny's natural shift points do differ in lower shifter positions, most notably is the 2nd position where the 1-2 shift takes longer. that a pretty cool little document you got there man. i like that.

[cruisn76]

Originally Posted by 73sport

A Couple of thoughts
- how do you know anything is fine until you inspect it? We are talking the inside and you can't see it?

Beyond that - It's not like its going to make a good trans go bad and may help a worn trans (one which slips) stay alive. Because the shift points are higher and internal line pressure is higher it reduces the odds of it slipping and burning up clutch packs which also helps it run cooloer.

I bought mine with 142,000 Miles - manually shift it all the time for braking and control. No need to ride the brakes all the way down the hill if the some engine braking will do. In the corners you have more control in lower gears so I shift down.

It has 218,000 on it now and the fluid is cherry red and smells just like new from a jug. Mines a V6 and I run it hard. Undeniably all these 15 year old cars will fail at some point. So +1 for enjoying it will it's alive!

There was one fellow on here that use to throw the car into neutral and cruise and then throw it back into D and he ultimately F'ed his tranny. He replaced it twice IIRC doing the same stunt. I think BIGBIRD might remember that story.

So, do it as you like. Just a warning.