Driving an automatic VY as a manual

[MAG00]

Hey guys,
The other day a few mates and myself just started talking about using an automatic as a "semi-manual" by using the 1, 2 and 3 gears on the shifter.
The question came up whether or not it was actually good for the car to use the gear selector and move through the gears manually? Does it damage the transmission?

Thanks

[GEN3RATD]

its not the best idea. ive been told upshifting is fine but downshifting will pwn your gearbox pretty quick

[Guzzler]

I would like to know the same question? and if your doing a burnout is it better to select 1st or drive. I know it sound dumb but all my cars have been manual.

[GEN3RATD]

as i said, im fairly sure upshifting is fine but downshifting will rape your box. if you wanted to change gears you should have got a manual IMO

[acarmody]

It won't hurt the gearbox unless you up or down-shift at dumb RPMs.

As for doing burnouts it won't help to put it in 1st and red-line it. The ECU will still shift it to 2nd gear when the revs get too high.

[m1lky]

You can't really up or downshift at dumb rpms because the ecu won't let you. I was under the impression that downshifting was a good idea. They recommend it on steep hills or towing so you don't pwn your brakes.

If you were doing burnouts which is illegal (blah blah blah, I know most of us have done them) I'd probably go for drive, more speed = more smoke

[VK SL 3800]

I used to work with a bloke who drove his VY SS like this constantly, in the time i worked with him he had 3 autos through the car. All under warranty at the time. I think the results of driving like that speaks for itself.

[m1lky]

Wow! 3 autos in how long? That's ridiculous, surely there was another factor.

To the op make sure your tranny fluid is at the right level and clean. I've been told by multiple people that this is the main cause of auto tranny issues.

[wraith]

It's an automatic. If you wanted to shift it yourself then buy a manual. The auto has been calibrated to shift at exactly the right point at it's peak torque. Getting a couple hundred rpm out of it will do nothing but increase wear.

[acarmody]

Wow! 3 autos in how long? That's ridiculous, surely there was another factor.

To the op make sure your tranny fluid is at the right level and clean. I've been told by multiple people that this is the main cause of auto tranny issues.

Of course there was another factor, its the stupid driver behind the wheel.

[VK SL 3800]

Wow! 3 autos in how long? That's ridiculous, surely there was another factor.

To the op make sure your tranny fluid is at the right level and clean. I've been told by multiple people that this is the main cause of auto tranny issues.

Abit over a year, i have no idea what else he did to the poor thing but it cant have been real good. We all told him to stop doing it but every single day he would leave and you could just hear him doing it, oh well!

[m1lky]

In reality it's just like owning a tiptronic. But obviously ringing it out isnt going to be good for it whether it's in drive or another gear

[Vt_vic]

ist is for towing, 2nd is for hills i think and 3rd has more power for overtaking and i also know someone with a vyss who done this constantly and is currently ****ed his 3rd box and is now doing a conversion

[304runner]

I would like to know the same question? and if your doing a burnout is it better to select 1st or drive. I know it sound dumb but all my cars have been manual.

Think about it.. When you car has come to a stop and your about to do a "burn-out" does it start off in 2nd? Its in 1st gear until you let off the throttle regardless. Having it in first will do nothing, its going to be in first when your in "D" the entire time your spinning the wheels and it will only change when your off the brake and picking up forward momentum... Im yet to see a stock AUTO snap into 2nd gear mid spin...lol

[SS Manual]

I wouldn't be using the gears unless towing down a steep hill or similar.

[Morticia]

Ive seen so many people break their auto doing this. its not worth the pain replacing the transmission. Upshifting is fine, down shifting is a bad idea unless at low revs.

in lay man's terms the transmission has a butler that helps you grab the next gear and down shifting at high revs breaks the butler.

[Drewie]

Only a few situations I downshift, maybe 4th to 3rd when overtaking on the highway rather than a savage forced kick down via the accelerater, but I guess that is really not using the auto as a brake just aids for a quick overtake, maybe if I am in very hilly country and about to start a long winding decent I might change down a gear at the start of the decent but usually a gentle downshift. I would definetely not use the auto as a full manual or you will soon bugger it up, just use it wisely in situations where it is required. The boxes in our cars are not like some of the newer DSG autos that are in some of the newer euro cars, they are a completely different set-up and can be safely shifted up and down like a manual.

[TMM]

You can do a hard downshift manually but only if you bring up the throttle. By giving it some throttle it increases the line pressure which makes the shift faster, causing less slip and less heat. It also allows the engine to bring up the revs rather then the drive line having to spin up the engine.

If you downshift on an automatic without blipping the throttle it'll break the gearbox quick smart.

The only time you should manually select a gear is if you are towing something heavy (you should always cruise in 3rd with a heavy load because it's a 1:1 ratio and will cause less strain then 4th), going up a very long hill where the gearbox will constantly hunt around for gears, or going down a long hill where you don't want to cook your brakes.

[TrikkBen]

You can't really up or downshift at dumb rpms because the ecu won't let you. I was under the impression that downshifting was a good idea. They recommend it on steep hills or towing so you don't pwn your brakes.

If you were doing burnouts which is illegal (blah blah blah, I know most of us have done them) I'd probably go for drive, more speed = more smoke

With any other gearbox you would be right, but the 4l60e is a POS.. When they were introduced the police were told to use the gears to slow down to save costs on replacing brakes. When this happened they started splattering the sprags in them. Easentialy it is a ~3mm thick disk with teeth that have to slow the whole car down.

[TrikkBen]

This is what happens when downshifting a 4l60/e...

Left is a broken one, right is a new one. Essentially that piece is given the job of slowing the weight of the car down when you downshift. Deffinately blipping the throttle would help this to not happen but you have to get it right.

[colgf]

I have never heard so much CR.P in my life! If GMH didnt want you to use the Automatic intermediate forward gears then they wouldnt have put them on the gear selector in the first place!! Like any machinery , as long as it isnt abused it will last a long long time. I have been driving GMH Automatic vehicles for 45 years & never had a mechanical problem with manually down or upshifting & the fluid has always been reasonably clean at change intervals....... I like driving semi -automatically, it's fun & you feel more involved with the vehicle..

[TrikkBen]

What's the saying "pics or it didn't happen"

See above... that is out of my first box, before I had one made custom to stop it happening. The 4l60e is te biggest piece of shit around don't care what anyone says.. I have proof.

[MAG00]

Glad to see I spurred some discussion
Just went out for a drive and upshifted manually, seemed quite jerky unless I put some throttle behind it.
I will never downshift with it, I figured that was just stupid, to downshift I just chuck it back up into drive, brake and let the computer downshift it.

Keep up the discussion

[Ignited-SV6]

Read your Holden manual. It will explain how to use it.

For the sake of the conversation with your mates, don't use it like a manual gearbox - or as the pic above shows, you'll screw your gearbox.

Also, never hold revs in N and slam it into D to do a burnout - I did that in my mums VT many years ago and the gearbox literally went BOOM.

[TrikkBen]

Read your Holden manual. It will explain how to use it.

For the sake of the conversation with your mates, don't use it like a manual gearbox - or as the pic above shows, you'll screw your gearbox.

Also, never hold revs in N and slam it into D to do a burnout - I did that in my mums VT many years ago and the gearbox literally went BOOM.

Hahahaha

"it was all like Bam Bam Bam Bam Bam Bam Bam and drop into D for maximum respect"