Why not simply have Park, Reverse, N, and D on the stick?
I have never, ever deliberately driven in 2nd or 1st. Once in awhile (like today) I shift too fast from park and get in 2nd accidentally. Trying to accelerate quickly from a dead stop in 2nd is always fun at a red light. :smack:
Couldn’t they simplify the automatic transmission design if they eliminated the manual shifting into 2nd and 1st?
Is this just a hold over from the manual transmission days of fifty years ago?
You must not drive on a lot of hills.
If you drive on steep hills, it’s always recommended to use engine braking to slow your descent.
I had to do this in the hills around Sonoma - very steep and winding, and in “D,” the car would descend way too fast. Putting it in 2nd made the trip much safer.
Yup, hills. Engine braking is still needed.
I only drive on flat roads or very mild inclines. Thankfully the mountains are hundreds of miles away from me. I have driven through the Smoky mountains going to Nashville. But the Interstate never gets all that steep. D and cruise control all the way.
I guess we’re stuck with those extra gears then.
Why don’t they build automatic transmission computers with digital clinometers that do whatever the 1 and 2 do, mechanically?
You also have never lived where snow falls. The lower gears are required to pull out of a snow rut.
We’re not stuck with those extra gears. They are vital when needed, and a large portion of this country lives where they are occasionally needed.
Millions of cars are still built with manual transmissions. Including V8s.
If you’re on an Interstate going 70 to 80 mph or faster at the top of a hill or mountain, the thing might shift into second, depending on the incline, and tear itself apart.
Anyway, I’d rather have to replace the brakes than the transmission.
I’ve lived and driven in snowy areas my whole life and I’ve never used a low gear on an automatic transmission.
They probably could do something like that, but the driver is better at knowing the situation and reacting in the best way possible. Just like cruise control doesn’t know when you’re approaching a hill, an automatic transmission isn’t going to know when you’re about to head down a steep hill or near the bottom with a clear run out.
The car doesn’t know how fast you want to go. Sometimes you may want to use engine braking going down hill, other times you might not. Sometimes the best design is achieved by letting the user choose how they want to operate a device rather than forcing them in to pre-programmed paths. That goes for machinery, cars, planes, software, musical instruments etc.
ETA: Or what they said.
Actually, my Hyundai does not have 1 or 2. It does have a setting off “D” where you can switch down gears. You also use it to go back up.
Seems like it’d be trivial to only have it shift when safe. I think modern cars already have overrides that prevent this from happening even if you manually shift into 1 or 2 at freeway speeds.
Err, the same argument could be made for manual transmission cars, but millions still choose automatics. What makes 1 or 2 that different from 3, 4, 5, 6? In all cases you’re giving up control for convenience, and folks don’t seem to mind.
You’re very lucky. I’ve needed to use them in many winters.
How would that help? Putting an automatic in one of the lower gear modes just prevents the transmission from shifting past that gear-- your car will still start out in first regardless. Furthermore, if you’re stuck in snow you want to start out in a higher gear in order to limit wheel spin. That’s what cars with winter transmission modes do.
I don’t know about modern Fords, but 20 years ago and more, Drive 2 meant Fords would start in second, ideal in snowy situations in my part of the world.
Yeah, I believe that depends on your car. The automatics I’ve had seemed to start in first no matter what, but they were all Chevys. “1” would keep it in first. “2” would limit it to first and second.
Anyhow, those 1 and 2 settings are very useful for hills where you want to use engine braking to keep your speed reasonable rather than riding your brake.
Overdrive is another weird button. It used to be a position on the stick in the 80’s. My last van it was a button and the owners manual said leave it off except for on highways.
Newer van (2000) the manual is opposite. It’s still a button. Except, the manual says leave it on except for heavily congested traffic. I haven’t turned overdrive off in years.
What, no “Tow/Haul” button? Got one on my PU.
I guess I can’t say it’s universally true, but I’m pretty sure every old slushbox I’ve driven doesn’t allow you to force a higher gear. Newer electronic controlled “semi-automatics” often do, though.
Except that engine braking causes no appreciable wear and tear on your engine and transmission, whereas riding your brakes down a long incline causes tons of extra brake wear and causes them to lose performance and possibly even fail as they heat up.
I feel like the lower gears in mountain driving also give much greater control when cornering. I never use breaks when driving mountains.