Transmission & Differential - Automatic Shifting?

When in (D) Drive would i hurt the Tranz if i switch it to D3 or 2 when is it good
to use them, does anyone know any side tricks to this, let me know, thanks!

i do it with my auto but im not to worried about it because im gunna be getting a new motor and tranny soon so i dontn worry too much....i downshift when i want to pull awa from my friend and his 89 hatch...ive explored different way like letting off the gas and such....normaly i just drop it to 2 or d3 and put it to it....it allows you to shift at higher rpm...ive done my share of N drops aswell...my tranny is keeping up with the abuse

my buddy does it all the time for passing and **** if he wants to take off. 03 civic coupe lx

we will see how it holds up thoug h i guess.

i did that with my other civic but i had a stock exhaust on it and it just created a lot of back pressure and didnt do **** for me, but with the exhaust it helped.

i wouldn't recommend doing it at all. a friend did that a lot but stopped after he had to replace his tranny.

hmmm... It shouldnt be bad as long as you dont go from park and throw it into gear. I dont think it will really help you with acceleration much... when you stomp it, it actually downshifts to get you power. Plus with manually doing it you are more likely to redline since there is a slight delay when doing it manually.

Yo man, back in the day when I rocked the 88 Camry, I shifted the auto all the time. It had 180K miles on it and the transmission was perfect according to Midas. I figured I was just doing what the car was going to do anyway, just at a little higher RPMS................some faggot at Toyota made the damn thing shift at 2500 RPM all the time. They've advanced a bit, bless them.

my friends eclipse couldnt handle it. he had to get whole new tranny. cost him well over a grand to get that **** together again. i told him if shifts that new tranny like that, than im goin to consider him a dumb***...... as of tha last time i seen him, he is now officially a dumb***!

what do you guys think about putting the car into N at long stops at lights (A/T)? and shifting to d3 when it's neighborhood driving/stop and go driving?

its definetly not good to shift 1...2...D3...D4 on a consistent basis. I've seen at least three trannys go by doing it, but if you down shift once in a while you should be fine

shifting into neutral at stop lights wouldnt hurt it. it would probly be better cuz you dont need to keep your foot on the brake unless your on a hill. when i had an auto, i shifted into neutral all the time at stoplights, and in my manual now i leave it in neutral at stops so that it doesnt wear out the throwout bearing as fast.

The only reason to shift into D2 or D3 is if your pulling a load or something like that. For normal driving, it is unneccisary. The transmission's computer is designed to shift the transmission at the optimal time depending on the throttle position, IE if your full throttle it will shift at the top of the power band. Also, the computer will most likely shift faster than you can move the lever. When you move the lever, you basically tell the computer when to change gears. When the computer changes gears, it does it automatically and the computer can do things much faster than you.

around town I tend to leave my car in D3, distance/highway driving I'm in D4... i only use D2 when dealing with getting going on a hill in the snow...

it's not good to do it constantly, but the D3-D4 shift shouldn't mess anything up, as it just changes the final drive gearing...


the Low or 2 position keeps the motor in 2nd gear

The Civic auto tranny isn't designed for max performance or economy. It's designed for decent economy and more convenience. Shifting it manually won't get you to accelerate much faster, if at all. Most can't manually select for 1st, so you miss the torque that gear offers for the holeshot. Most autos will rev outto near redline if you have the accelerator slammed to the floor, and they will automatically downshift when you accelerate to pass. The only times you really might want to select gears manually is when starting off and traction is scarce (snow or ice) so D2 or D3 may send less traction-breaking torque to the wheels...OR, when coming down a steepgrade (in the mountains) and you don't want to roast your brakes trying to keep it down at a sensible speed.

Beating on an auto tranny with neutral drops and the like will not just damage the tranny. You can also destroy your axles, CV joints, crank, differential, mounts, and probably several other components. If you want to accelerate faster, build your motor. You may even be able to build the tranny a little with better clutches, ratios, valving, cooler, and/or fluid. A good manual would still generally be a better choice for a performance build though.

ORIGINAL: jason_hann53

shifting into neutral at stop lights wouldnt hurt it. it would probly be better cuz you dont need to keep your foot on the brake unless your on a hill. when i had an auto, i shifted into neutral all the time at stoplights, and in my manual now i leave it in neutral at stops so that it doesnt wear out the throwout bearing as fast.


Actually, I've read that putting it in neutral at long stops (ie, stop lights, railroad crossings, what have you) is actuall better for the transmission than leaving it in gear since it allows the tranny to cool down a little. Just dont' get too aggressive when you go to pull away and do a neutral drop. Neutral drops will destroy your transmission!

ORIGINAL: reaper2022

ORIGINAL: jason_hann53

shifting into neutral at stop lights wouldnt hurt it. it would probly be better cuz you dont need to keep your foot on the brake unless your on a hill. when i had an auto, i shifted into neutral all the time at stoplights, and in my manual now i leave it in neutral at stops so that it doesnt wear out the throwout bearing as fast.


Actually, I've read that putting it in neutral at long stops (ie, stop lights, railroad crossings, what have you) is actuall better for the transmission than leaving it in gear since it allows the tranny to cool down a little. Just dont' get too aggressive when you go to pull away and do a neutral drop. Neutral drops will destroy your transmission!


This is true. It also helps to keep your engine's oil pressure up a little. Long idling can be tough on an engine. Doing the same with a manual actually does help the clutch assembly and throwout bearing too. If you ever disassemble one you'll see how.

ORIGINAL: Kommando


You may even be able to build the tranny a little with better clutches, ratios, valving, cooler, and/or fluid. A good manual would still generally be a better choice for a performance build though.


What is the easiest build you can do to make your auto tranny better?

Depending on how you want to use the car, rebuilding the tranny with better clutches and ideal ratios would be a start. Experimenting with different fluids might get you better acceleration and firmer shifts. If you're running it really hard, a big tranny cooler would help with longevity. It still won't perform as well as a good manual setup with a limited-slip diff though.

When you rebuild the an automatic trans, you want to install more and better clutches. What you can do is is replace the stock clutches with more clutches and steel plates so they can "grab" better. You may also want to use a better clutch material. However, I don't think many people build civic transmissions for high performance. I'm actually not even sure if you can easily find parts for a performance rebuild. You are much better off using a manual trans if your hopes are for high performance. I think that Pete's trans was wearing out quickly after his turbo build. He eventually swapped in a manual trans.