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Confused with my trans




Guest Rahul7999

I just bought a 99 corolla, with an automatic transmisson. but i'm confused with wot the gears L and 2 are for. the dealer told me to use D for forward nd R for reverse, but i want to know wot the other gears are supposed to do and when to use them. Can ne1 help?

Confused?

I could see how one could be confused by a manual transmission, trying to learn how to use the clutch, how to hold the car on a hill with the clutch, etc... but confused by an automatic?

The lower gear ranges are for when you want to climb steep grades with less slippage, or to tow something.

Maybe you should take a Driver's Ed class or something. Or read the owner's manual for your car.

Guest sandcrawler

My 2001 Corolla (4 speed automatic) manual states:

D: Normal Driving (Overdrive on)

2: Stronger engine braking (Overdrive off)

L: Maximum engine braking (Overdrive off)

Normal Driving: Use for normal cruising, hill climbing, hard towing, etc.

Engine braking: Turn off overdrive, shift into "2" when vehicle speed drops to or lower than 61mph. Shift to "L" when speed drops to or is less than 29mph.

CAUTION: NEVER put your foot on the gas pedal while shifting.

I hope you found this helpful. Engine braking is useful when you're going downhill-- this is better for controlling your speed on steep downhills (don't "ride your brakes", i.e. applying the brakes with slight or moderate forcer in order to slow down for the entire trip down)

Oh, yeah... forgot to add engine braking... It's really handy for traffic jams in the mountains... your brakes ordinarily get quite a workout from all the stopping, but with the engine braking you scarcely need to touch the brakes.

Just leave it in D and don;t worry unless you start towing trailers.... but based on your knowledge of car, I don;t recommend you tow a trialer until you've gained more driving expereince.

Otherwise check the owners manul...maybe that will help explain it.

Not to mention that towing with a FWD car isn't very highly recommended...

Hopefully the dealer also told you that P was for Park and N was for Neutral. You might need those. default_smile

In all seriousness, though: Don't depend solely on "Park" to keep your car from rolling if you're not in it.

Always set the handbrake when parking!

Guest orge1126

to make it simple, since u have a 3 spd auto, 1 stand for first gear, 2 for second gear, but just put it in D and the car will shift from 1 to 3 for you unless you wanna gain an instant boost like running through a yellow light then shift it down to 2nd or 1st depending on how fast you were going but usually 2nd gear. i personally don't recommend this cuz i heard this is bad for your tranny, instead you can just step on the gas a little harder then the car will downshift for you, and yeah, engine braking just like someone mentioned just now, saves your brake.

or read the instruction manual that comes with the car, it has every details...



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