# Why do modern cars still have 2 and 1 on the stick? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [June 3, 2013, 11:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-modern-cars-still-have-2-and-1-on-the-stick/660081 "2013-06-03T23:57:59Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 6\ **Page:** 5
**Author:** ![Magiver](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/4491bb/32.png) [@Magiver](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Magiver)\ **Post date:** [June 10, 2013, 2:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-modern-cars-still-have-2-and-1-on-the-stick/660081/81 "2013-06-10T14:49:16Z")
> [@Rick](#): > > Nope, depending on the model a conventional 4, 5, 6, or 8 speed Depends where you live. They use a CVT in their home country version of the Elantra hybrid. I suspect they will show up in the US. Seems like a simpler transmission to make but who knows. ---
**Author:** ![Machine\_Elf](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/82dd89/32.png) [@Machine\_Elf](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Machine_Elf)\ **Post date:** [June 10, 2013, 2:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-modern-cars-still-have-2-and-1-on-the-stick/660081/82 "2013-06-10T14:52:11Z")
> [@Renee](#): > > What’s the procedure for downshifting a regular automatic? I’ve only owned standard transmissions or 4WD vehicles since I started driving. If I was in a regular automatic, and needed to downshift for a steep hill, do I just do it? Stop first? Shift to neutral and let off the gas, then shift down? There’s no clutch. I feel like I’m missing a step. Slow to a suitable speed before selecting a lower gear; you do not want to select second gear while trucking down the highway at 75 MPH. I suspect some of the smarter late-model transmissions with computer control will prevent the downshift from actually happening unless the car is going slow enough, but that’s not guaranteed for all cars. “D” and “2” and “1” are all on the same side of neutral, so don’t mess with shifting to neutral first (there’s no point to this anyway). When you select the lower gear, the car will lurch to a lower speed as the engine suddenly revs up. The faster the car is moving at the time of downshift, the stronger the lurch will be, and the higher the engine RPM will be after the downshift. If you’re in a rear-wheel-drive car and really hustling down the road when you downshift, the tires may briefly chirp. You might consider experimenting with this just to see what happens. Find a long straight road, make sure there’s no traffic behind you, and slow the car down to 20, then select second gear. Now repeat it at 30. If that wasn’t excessively violent, try 40 - but you probably don’t want to be going faster than that for downshifting to second gear. I would not advise shifting to first gear at anything more than 20 MPH. ---
**Author:** ![jz78817](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jz78817/32/1028_2.png) [@jz78817](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jz78817)\ **Post date:** [June 10, 2013, 3:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-modern-cars-still-have-2-and-1-on-the-stick/660081/83 "2013-06-10T15:03:44Z")
> [@For You](#): > > There is nothing “artificial” about the Prius transmission. It has the same planetary configuration you would find in a typical automatic, completely false. the Aisin eCVT has one planetary (sun/planet/ring) gearset, and it uses the motor/generator to vary the speed of one element to let it act as a CVT. It has no fixed forward gear ratios (again, just like a CVT.) A typical automatic has multiple sets of planetary gears, and using bands and clutches selects which elements of which gearsets to connect together to provide the desired forward gear ratio. > [@](#): > > they just run the load against a generator. what does this mean? ---
**Author:** ![Magiver](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/4491bb/32.png) [@Magiver](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Magiver)\ **Post date:** [June 10, 2013, 3:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-modern-cars-still-have-2-and-1-on-the-stick/660081/84 "2013-06-10T15:12:10Z")
> [@Renee](#): > > I have a dumb question. > > What’s the procedure for downshifting a regular automatic? I’ve only owned standard transmissions or 4WD vehicles since I started driving. If I was in a regular automatic, and needed to downshift for a steep hill, do I just do it? Stop first? Shift to neutral and let off the gas, then shift down? There’s no clutch. I feel like I’m missing a step. Conventional automatics are based around a planetary gearset. [Here](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SrkzaQRDtuM)is a good video of how they work. It’s not a function of meshing gears together as it is a function of locking a carrier. When the vehicle is at a standstill there is a torque converter which allows the engine to spin freely until rpms are increased. Imagine a fan that blows another fan. when the speed of the fan increases it produces enough force to drive the other fan. ---
**Author:** ![GreasyJack](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/df705f/32.png) [@GreasyJack](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GreasyJack)\ **Post date:** [June 10, 2013, 3:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-modern-cars-still-have-2-and-1-on-the-stick/660081/85 "2013-06-10T15:19:54Z")
> [@Machine\_Elf](#): > > I would not advise shifting to first gear at anything more than 20 MPH. One of the fun things about the old 2-speed automatics like the Powerglide in **Roderick Femm** ’s family Nova is that when you stomped the gas down to pass on a 2-lane highway, it would downshift and you were then going 80 miles an hour in 1st gear. ---
**Author:** ![Rick](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/9f8e36/32.png) [@Rick](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rick)\ **Post date:** [June 10, 2013, 7:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-modern-cars-still-have-2-and-1-on-the-stick/660081/86 "2013-06-10T19:20:39Z")
> [@Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](#): > > Eh? Most people not born with a silver spoon in their mouths will have driven a car with drums (at least at the rear) at some point. I’ve had two and I’m 30. Unless you are driving some VERY old cars you probably have never driven a car with drum brakes all the way around which was my point. Front drums went away in the 1970s. Sorry for the confusion. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-modern-cars-still-have-2-and-1-on-the-stick/660081.md?page=4)