Hi,

I'm driving an automatic '98 Honda Civic LX, its a hand me down from my brother. I'm manually downshifting and upshifting on the car, well as much as u can do with an automatic anyways. I'm not abusing the car, I'm never downshifting it into the redline (i don't even think the car would let me).

I have 2 questions: 1) has anybody in these forums driven an automatic Civic like this? 2) how will the Civic's transmission hold up?

Welcome!


No I dont drive mine like that and no, stop doing it. It doesnt do you any good.

yes it does me plenty of good b/c i get to rev the engine higher while not having to go super fast and get tickets.

btw, anybody have any objective proof of how sturdy or not sturdy the civic's automatic transmission is. comments like 'don't do it' and 'stop it' are nice but i'd like something more objective and reasonable.

Yea I wouldn't do it anymore I had a 97 Accord before I got my hatch and i did that the tranny only lasted for like 4 months I went through 3 rebuilds and man that gets real old real fast.

sorry usmc2b2004 but i'm calling BS.

Thats aiight Youll find out But yea if you want to shift it GET A 5 SPEED.

read my post again bozo, the car's a hand me down. i got it for free. i'm trying to extract as much fun out of the car as possible.

don't they teach u how to read in the marines?

No need to get feisty but auto tranny's arent designed to do all of that. It wears it out. That is one of the reasons why it only shifts at 4-4.5 rpm. Mind you, most honda auto trannys can re- enter earths atmosphere but an auto tranny in general is fragile. I also killed my auto tranny from actually doing that. No lie. I used it constantly in 3rd going up and downhills. The "spider" gear is what was trashed in it. Its the gear that engages the 1-4 gears automatically. It even had metal shavings in it.

The rebuild costed me $2,300.

Yea well thats just dumb automatics are "grocery Getters" not racers.

okay, thanks. at least that was a rational answer.

look my car was an auto and the kid that had it before me did this constantly.. it works wonders on my car...actually i have to do it now.. cause the gears wont go in the spider gear.. i hit 60 in first because it slipps the tranny sooo much.. my friend used to do this in his bronco... ur auto downshifting is not for racing..or getting ur car to "jake brake" if ur trying to slow down like that think of it as ur just putting more stress on the gears... if u would like i will let you drive my civic well.. if i can even drive it.. and then u can see how much it will hurt ur car.. dont abuse the car just because it was free to you..someone might want it cheap..and they dont want a pos car... please be reasonable.. "your civic is ur friend..dont abuse the relationship"-mxs

ORIGINAL: my_hidden_romance

"your civic is ur friend..dont abuse the relationship"-mxs


Hey, that quote is actually from Street Sniper, and I credited him properly ;)

sorry.. street snipers quote!! i was pulling it off the top of my head!

its a stupid idea and it will ruin your transmission.

i love these comments people leave (sarcasm), they are so unhelpful. btw, a lot of things will 'ruin a transmission'.

the reason why i asked this is b/c i found some links that say its okay to do it and i just wanted some verification of that but all i get is knucklehead responses like 'don't do it b/c its bad' or 'you're ruining ur transmission', stuff retards can come up with no evidence whatsoever.

but the links below seem to say its okay for a person to shift an automatic manually as long as a person isn't abusive with it, just like using a manual, if a person is abusive to the car using a manual, that's going to 'ruin the transmission' also (ever hear of an f-ed up clutch?!?):

http://www.canadiandriver.com/articles/jk/030806.htm

http://www.startribune.com/131/story/163720.html

You posted on here to get an answer to your question, but then you get an answer that you don't like and get pissed? That doesn't make any sense. If you think that its OK for you to do that, go right ahead. I doubt that anyone on here cares if you blow your trans or not. THey are giving thier advice/opinions. Listen to it if you want, ignore it if you don't like it. Don't come crying back here if your trans blows.

There is a reason why automatics are called automatic's It was not made for you to shift it yourself, thats what a 5 speed is for.

exactly what i have to say.. thank u for reading my mind and agreeing agent:)...

you dont wanna hear what we have to say get off our forum.. you are going to break teeth on ur tranny.. HERE WHAT AN ANSWER

YES its perfectly fine to do to ur ricer transmission..hell throw a cup of rice in ur gas tank ull increase ur gas mileage... dont come around if u dont want to hear whats best for ur car... now ur welcome here..but not when u argue with our responses....GO TO THE HONDA DEALER.. ASK THEM IF IT WILL KILL UR TRANNY..they will say the same thing as everyone of us here who has put wrench time in to our civics would say

i'm pissed b/c the answers s*ck, they're one sentence answers and give NO EVIDENCE or explanation. i just want some knowledge no simpleton answers that a 12 yr old can write.

well i've seen plenty of f-ed up clutches, does that mean shifting a manual is bad for the transmission? no, but if u shift ur civic abusively and aggressively and are human (ie miss gear occastionally) then ur going to f up ur manual. there's a proper way and an improper way. and i suspect there's a proper way and an improper way for shifting an automatic.

hey marineboy, then why is there a '2', D3 and D4 on an automatic. if automatics weren't made to be shifted AT ALL then why don't they just have PNRD?

D1 and D2 are there in order to allow you to pull a load. If your pulling something you are going to want to be in a lower gear to have more torque. D3 is there incase you don't want your car to shift into overdrive.

ORIGINAL: xuimod

i'm pissed b/c the answers s*ck, they're one sentence answers and give NO EVIDENCE or explanation. i just want some knowledge no simpleton answers that a 12 yr old can write.


Fine, go do your own research then.

And it's so CUTE how you went back and edited bigger bold type into your posts....

yeah, i did it just for you. LOL.

To answer the first question: nope never driven a civic like that let alone any automatic.
and the second question: well as long as your not abusing your tranny I think you should be fine. I spent about 3 hours looking online trying to find something saying that it will kill your tranny if you shift manually with an automatic. Mainly I found the only reasons people do it is for carrying a load, going up mountains and decelerating going back down the mountain.

gotta include first and second are for when the climate is bad.. or u get stuck and dont want ur car reving in to second or 3rd... just to spin.. i want it in something low to keep the tires down..

I highly suggest you calm yourself. Its clear to me you have chosen you answer before you started this thread. Go ahead, shift your auto trans......when you blow it blame those links you posted. If you would like to remain a member on this website I highly suggest you read the rules/regulations. We do not want to have to limit your access on our honda civic site.

just telling u from personal experience that u will kill your tranny.. yess you can kill a tranny in a clutch too... answer me this.. are u going to be doing this all the time?? even when ur not in ur racing mode.. and will u be doing high way or stop and go?.. lets assume that u go to manually shift ur auto at redline of 4.5rpms... thats going to put you about at 35.. now ur tranny will have to take that speed of ur gears and pop its self to the next gear... the difference in the 5 speed and the auto is the 5 speed when u hit the clutch it takes that speed off the tranny till you can put it perfectly on the other gear... if you do this in an auto it will knock ur transmissions gears out of line..

now.. if ur doing this as a highway driving car.. this will not be good for the fact of you will eventually have to run in to d4..or else ur car will get ****ty gas mileage in drive 3 and u will not have any power at all.... a car stuck in one heavy gear is bound to over heat..leaving you stranded.. if not over heat over exert its self and pull a belt.. 4th is there to keep ur car from having to have a high rev the whole time ur driving.. it gives you ur gas mileage...

ORIGINAL: xuimod


I have 2 questions: 1) has anybody in these forums driven an automatic Civic like this? 2) how will the Civic's transmission hold up?




1. The answer has been had, 3 people saying your transmission will not take this abuse 2 of which have either messed up a honda automatic transmission like this or have to deal with a honda automatic that has had this done.

2. It may hold for a while but they are not designed to handle the stress of this on a regular basis. You can supply all the links you want but I for one know the stuff first hand and not from reading some second hand web info that I am not sure of. Civic's are not performance cars no matter how you look at it. Some have pep but not one civic is bred and born for performance other than a civic type r which for one does not have a auto transmission and 2 dont even get sold in the U.S.


Look I am all about welcoming new members with open arms but the tone you have taken with regular members that are both answering your questions and trying to help is totally un-called for. If you dont agree with the answers you get there is no need to attack people by calling them names, lashing out, and acting like a dis-respectfull 12 year old in the process. If this is the kind of member you plan to be just go ahead and tell us and we will make sure you find your way off this forum. The people here whole heartedly try an help people w/o any preset agenda of there own so you can be a part of that or you can move on.

Well anyway, welcome to the site hope you like it but be warned anymore name calling, trash talking, or insults out of you will result in action taken by me the staff to assure you do not disrupt the forum with anymore

Agreed^

Who the hell is this dude??? What kind of moron: 1st of all asks that question, 2nd treats people who are trying to help him that way. One of the purposes of these forums are for SERIOUS car enthusiasts to get help. By just reading what you have posted so far, you just sound like some punk kid who thinks his automatic Civic is cool. You will probably put a sound system in it that will rattle and sound like crap, a fart can, cool "R RACING" stickers, and get laughed at by anyone who knows anything abuot cars. You are the kind of people that gives Honda a bad name and rice reputation. If he hasn't been banned I vote to ban.

Update people, I've been manually shifting the automatic and its been perfectly fine. In addition, I've done extensive research and others have said it is fine as well. Proof below.

http://groups.google.com/group/rec.autos.tech/browse_thread/thread/4db0531aff9c9e0b/5a4afec9d94a77a6?lnk=st&q=manually+shift+automatic+transmission&rnum=76&hl=en#5a4afec9d94a77a6

http://groups.google.com/group/alt.autos.volvo/browse_thread/thread/2a194c485a5f1b78/30abf2e69f0ea765?lnk=st&q=safe+to+manually+shift++automatic+transmission&rnum=47&hl=en#30abf2e69f0ea765

http://groups.google.com/group/rec.autos.makers.ford.explorer/browse_thread/thread/c273e5ca81ffa35b/d52a01ebb068ae33?lnk=st&q=safe+to+manually+shift++automatic+transmission&rnum=78&hl=en#d52a01ebb068ae33

http://groups.google.com/group/alt.autos.toyota.trucks/browse_thread/thread/d02884b4cc6f195/ceebf0aa5cec8131?lnk=st&q=manually+shift+automatic+transmission&rnum=249&hl=en#ceebf0aa5cec8131

ORIGINAL: my_hidden_romance


just telling u from personal experience that u will kill your tranny.. yess you can kill a tranny in a clutch too... answer me this.. are u going to be doing this all the time?? even when ur not in ur racing mode.. and will u be doing high way or stop and go?.. lets assume that u go to manually shift ur auto at redline of 4.5rpms... thats going to put you about at 35.. now ur tranny will have to take that speed of ur gears and pop its self to the next gear... the difference in the 5 speed and the auto is the 5 speed when u hit the clutch it takes that speed off the tranny till you can put it perfectly on the other gear... if you do this in an auto it will knock ur transmissions gears out of line..

now.. if ur doing this as a highway driving car.. this will not be good for the fact of you will eventually have to run in to d4..or else ur car will get ****ty gas mileage in drive 3 and u will not have any power at all.... a car stuck in one heavy gear is bound to over heat..leaving you stranded.. if not over heat over exert its self and pull a belt.. 4th is there to keep ur car from having to have a high rev the whole time ur driving.. it gives you ur gas mileage...



Honestly, I really never race the Civic (its a weak as hell, 106hp LX). I only downshift when there's slow-a$$ traffic or I'm driving in the city (also slow traffic). Also, I never do it when I'm at highway speeds. In other words, I don't think I'm being abusive to the tranny.

For example, today, I was a few cars behind a school bus that was making its stops. Of course, the line of cars was slow as hell. So I downshifted to '2', so the slow traffic wouldn't seem so boring (at least I could hear and feel the engine rev to higher rpm's). And I do the same in the city, I just leave it in '2' so I can hear the engine rev while I'm carefully negotiating city traffic. Once I get away from the city, I 'shift' from '2' to '3'.

ORIGINAL: md420


ORIGINAL: xuimod


I have 2 questions: 1) has anybody in these forums driven an automatic Civic like this? 2) how will the Civic's transmission hold up?




1. The answer has been had, 3 people saying your transmission will not take this abuse 2 of which have either messed up a honda automatic transmission like this or have to deal with a honda automatic that has had this done.

2. It may hold for a while but they are not designed to handle the stress of this on a regular basis. You can supply all the links you want but I for one know the stuff first hand and not from reading some second hand web info that I am not sure of. Civic's are not performance cars no matter how you look at it. Some have pep but not one civic is bred and born for performance other than a civic type r which for one does not have a auto transmission and 2 dont even get sold in the U.S.


Look I am all about welcoming new members with open arms but the tone you have taken with regular members that are both answering your questions and trying to help is totally un-called for. If you dont agree with the answers you get there is no need to attack people by calling them names, lashing out, and acting like a dis-respectfull 12 year old in the process. If this is the kind of member you plan to be just go ahead and tell us and we will make sure you find your way off this forum. The people here whole heartedly try an help people w/o any preset agenda of there own so you can be a part of that or you can move on.

Well anyway, welcome to the site hope you like it but be warned anymore name calling, trash talking, or insults out of you will result in action taken by me the staff to assure you do not disrupt the forum with anymore



The civic tranny is not designed to handle an enormous 106hp engine downshifting? Please, I find that hard to believe.

If that's true, then why do people put Superchargers and Turbochargers on automatic Civics? Are you trying to tell me the stress 'manually shifting an automatic' (puts on the torque converter) is greater than the (extra) stress of a Supercharger or Turbo? That sounds illogical.

ORIGINAL: cowboy45


Who the hell is this dude??? What kind of moron: 1st of all asks that question, 2nd treats people who are trying to help him that way. One of the purposes of these forums are for SERIOUS car enthusiasts to get help. By just reading what you have posted so far, you just sound like some punk kid who thinks his automatic Civic is cool. You will probably put a sound system in it that will rattle and sound like crap, a fart can, cool "R RACING" stickers, and get laughed at by anyone who knows anything abuot cars. You are the kind of people that gives Honda a bad name and rice reputation. If he hasn't been banned I vote to ban.


Its me, your Dad. Stop downloading so much porn, your Mom would be ashamed.

Your gone

http://www.hondacivicforum.com/upfiles/1537/49EC2AC07A2A44FC90CA9FAF55E5C175.gif