The ECT button raises the shift points of the trans allowing the engine to rev higher before shifting. It is something of a “performance” enhancement.

 

I would like to know too, honestly I don't think it does much of anything. If you floor it either way the acceleration feels the same. If you don't floor it then the shift is much later and doesn't feel smooth. If in ETC power it shifts at 4000 RPM I think that feels much slower than if it shifted at 4000 RPM in normal mode. I honestly think its a big gimmick.

 

the ECT (electronically controlled transmisson) adjusts the transmission shift points to shift at a higher RPM when in "power mode"

 

Well, its not a very good perfomance feature; when i used it the shift did not feel good, it felt as if the car was lunging.

 

Well, it's not a very good performance car either, so it looks like it's a wash:lol:

 

I guess the only thing I have noticed with it is that it is more responsive when you need to drop a gear if you're not flooring it. Either mode when floored my Avalon shifts at 5800 RPM probably, not even red line. And no it is definatley not a performance car at all.

 

the car behaves differently with it on, shifts at a lower throttle position, say 65% instead of 75% (not real numbers, just example). it also will keep the engine reving higher for longer, for instance if you floor it and let off the gas, the engine will linger at the higher RPM to provide the power instead of upshifting right away. while cruising it makes no difference, just during acceleration. Personally, i DO notice a difference with it on, the car is decently fast for what it is, but i havent used it in a while since gas prices shot back out of this world.:disappoin

My best friend thought that was the traction control button and used to drive fast with it on in the rain to try and get it to turn on. well little did he know that his car didnt even have traction control on it!

 

I drove with it on today and I have noticed a little difference actually. With very little throttle pressure it'll still shift very late, it is much harder to keep RPMS under say 3000. So I do think it would affect gas mileage a little. It is much more responsive, it down shifts much better than normal mode. It is definatley more noticed when you are only going light on the pedal. If you have a lead foot like me, both modes will probably feel fairly similar.

 

I notice a heck of a difference. The first time I drove my car with it off after having it on for a while, I was like "oh, that's not good at all, my car feels sluggish for what its been doing" then found out the button was off. It makes a difference... drive with it off usually now with gas prices too. I've shown some people up with my girl, and they are amazed at the "luxury sedan with some power".

 

Seems like some of you might have left the Overdrive gear on, turning it off will improve performance slightly. I actually find at least on the 2004 model the transmission shifts very early shifting the moment it gets to 3000 rpm. If you floor it really hard you're not likely to notice a difference, if your gentle you should notice the difference.

 

Even though the mid 90s avalons arent really performance cars i think it could be a performance tuners dream. it has a v6 not a 4 banger and there is a ton of room in the engine compartment and its easy for me to work on and i see alot of space where add-ons could fit. i also noticed it is a true four cam engine (one for intake one for exhuast on both sides). im not a tuner but im wondering if that could be an advantage over a DOHC if the cams were changed out for performance ones? also i noticed that a short ram intake should be very effective in the car becuase you can put a ram and it will go straight in with no bends which means it will have least possible restriction. there are other reasons i have but as far as the ECT goes i noticed a big time difference with it on even when flooring it (it will get to 6k rpms on and about 5.7k rpm normal) and yes the downshift is lovley.

 

Jegan_V i dont know if you have seen gas prices lately, or know how a transmission works, but ALL cars will be noticeably faster with overdrive off. it changes the gear ratios closer to engine speed. overdrive is meant to improve gas mileage and have the engine rev lower, consequently providing less power in those cars that make power higher up in the power band. either way, with OD off your engine WILL rev higher that WILL in turn, make more power.

King, cams would make a difference in any car, i dont know exactly how much it would help, especially when comparing the cost and difficulty of doing a computer based mod and/or intake and exhaust. you would get more bang for a lot less money and work. if you want to do a ram intake, i suggest cold air intake, and if you remove the battery and drivers headlight, there is a great access to a good cold air spot that ends up behiend where the drivers fog light would be. i am thinking about fabbing an intake up that goes there exactly. so feel free to try it out. just watch out for big puddles.

sorry, i did read it wrong, but was mostly trying to state why most people leave it on.

 

Jegan_V i dont know if you have seen gas prices lately, or know how a transmission works, but ALL cars will be noticeably faster with overdrive off. it changes the gear ratios closer to engine speed. overdrive is meant to improve gas mileage and have the engine rev lower, consequently providing less power in those cars that make power higher up in the power band. either way, with OD off your engine WILL rev higher that WILL in turn, make more power.

If you read my post carefully you would have noticed I said "Seems like some of you might have left the Overdrive gear on,turning it off will improve performance slightly."

 

I dont think the amount of power you would gain would be worth the gas. Way too much money lately going to my tank.

 

see my only thing abbout the cold air intakes is that you have to be careful of weather and other things and im not sold on the idea that they are so much better than a short ram that it would be worth the worry of debris and water (especially becuase i live in ohio)but i do know the difference between ram and stock is quite noticeable and there is no worries (unless i screw up the installation... i am human lol) but i know that performance cams on anything do wonders i was just curious to see if there was an advantage to having four of them instead of normal dual overhead cams... most likley not.

 

Ect

What years and models have these?I have a 2000 XL I bought used and I don't any on mine.

 

I think only on Gen 1. I have 95 XL and its got it! :loove:

 

only the gen 1 avalons have these....they were common on older toyotas/lexuses
after the gen 1 avalon and gen 4 camry they started to stop being put in the cars

 

i can see the arguments of both sides of the 4 cam argument, but i would side on the fact that if you installed performance cams, that the performance difference would almost already be there. the cams would have to be the same specs and all, i just see it as more of an opportunity to fine tune the engine. (switch out different cams and have custom specs for intake and exhaust cams seperately) i could be very wrong, but those are my views.

I am a fan of short rams only because of their ease of install. i had one on my last car and it sounded great. the lesson i learned, make a heat shield of some sort. i think it would help. our 1st gens have all that insulation under the hood and it also keeps the heat in and thats all you would be sucking in, hot air. less restricted hot air.

 

good points...

 

Back to the ECT button, I have learned over the past week it does use a little more gas. It dropped me maybe 2 MPG. I have also noticed when gradually accelerating to lower speeds, normal mode feels faster because it doesn't seem to drag along on one gear, and I swear to god 3000 RPM first gear in normal mode feels faster than accelerating to 3000 RPM in ECT pwr mode. Almost feels like normal mode is more torquey but ECT has more high end RPM power. On the highway however, it down shifts much quicker for better passing power.

 

I also see a big difference in performance with the ECT button on.

This post reminds me that it's time for a Chevron Techron treatment.

In the past after running Techron through, my '95 XL (153k miles) performed as if the ECT button were on when it was off. With ECT on it was as if someone came along and added horsepower to the engine when I wasn't paying attention lol.

I like Chevron gas but it's just way too expensive now so I buy "rotgut reg-lur" at ARCO, use STP gas treatment every other fillup and Chevron Techron Fuel System Cleaner at every oil change. I get 26/29 mpg doing those things and lots of zip from the Avy.

 

good reminder, especially with these gas prices

 

ETC and gas mileage

I once ran a test on my '96. I ran three tanks with ETC OFF, and then 3 tanks with ETC ON. All driving was comparable - all city driving, just driving to work, errands around town, etc. There was only a 0.4 diff in gas mileage (22.9 VS 22.5). So I just leave it on all the time. The little bit of extra performance is worth a couple of extra dollars a month to me.

 

i feel the response, also does anyone feel the motor kick in after 3-4krpm? i feel mines kicking in meaning more power, but for the ect to change in a high rpm is not true it changes when ever depends how much gas u give.

 

peak torque is at 4500 rpm, a little before then, and a more so afterwards, the avy is a beast.