What is better , Driving in "D" or "OD" at the town....?
In town, D
If you'll be driving for more than 5 minutes at 45mph or greater, OD (city or freeway)
This helps reduce wear on the OD band, which is notoriously weak from the factory.
In stop and go traffic it is said that it is better to drive in D because there is no need to put added stress on your OD band.
I pretty much drive in D all of the time unless I'm doing 60 or more for an extended period of time. The exhaust note sounds so sweet when the car's reving that high cruising. My tranny's been on it's way out for a while so I'm not worried about destroying it. The motor is going to be rebuilt or replaced eventually so I'm not worried about running those kinds of rpms with that either. But if you want to your stuff to last, do just what Eric said.
heres one for ya..
got in a g match on weather or not its okay to drive with your hand resting on the shifter... (5 speed)
ive never had any issues with doing it and its a habbit i have...
I don't see how that would mess with anything, I do it all the time. Maybe if you have fat hands?
It stresses the shift forks.
At work we have to constantly remind the truck drivers not to do this. It has an effect on trans life in trucks, I have no knowledge about what it does the the T-5's in our cars.
i always drive with my hand on the shifter, just habit i guess, and i have never had any problems.
I only use OD if I'm going more than 65 or 70mph for any length of time, and I have 3.45 gears. I don't like lugging my engine, and I think it's probably bad for the trans if you use OD at slower speeds, too. Then there's the annoying hunting back & forth between 3rd & 4th. Leave OD for the freeways.
On a manual transmission, the shift fork rides in a machined groove in the synchronizer sleeve. The fork is stationary, while the sleeve spins with the shaft it rides on. When you shift, the fork moves forward or backward, pushing the spinning sleeve into engagement with whichever gear is being selected. Using the shifter for a hand-rest causes it to push against the groove continuously, causing accelerated wear. This will cause the trans to shift only partially into gear, then jump out of gear under decelerative or accelerative force, depending on how lucky you are. The only fix is to replace the fork & sleeve, and this costs big money. This is one reason shifter stops are such a good idea. When properly adjusted, they keep the shifter from moving too far, minimizing wear on the fork & sleeve. I don't know if shifter stops are installed on a factory T-5 shifter, or which gear would be affected, but on a Fiat 124 5-speed, it definitely causes it to jump out of 4th gear as soon as you engage the clutch.
i must be an odd ball. I alway put it in od no matter what speed. The only time i use lower gears is in the winter for going down hill.
never had a problem.
i guess the only wierd thing about my tranny is the fact that it does not like to leave od. when i slow down,,, it tends to struggle a lot to downshift,,, it kind of groans and grummbles its way out of od to a lower gear. Ive always had that wierd problem on this car even with the original tranny.
I always drive in "D" :D , of course I have a C6 trans in my LS. :giggle: :giggle:
My V6 would go into OD around 42 MPH at light throttle and upon decelerating would go back into third at 35. This is done to preserve the OD band I believe. My Demon with the Transgo shifts to OD at 47 and will back into 3rd at 42.