O/D On or O/D off

[RoDNeY]

ok i have a 95 automatic mitsubish galant, i was just wondering what EXACTLY overdrive does to it, i heard that it lowers the rpm's at higher speeds but that doesnt help me driving around town with lots of hills between 25-35 mph, but while i drive up hills i accelerate extremely slow and it sounds like the car will die while going up them, should i keep O/D off while driving around town? will it be easier to get up hills, and should i only put it on if im going over 40 or on the highway? i just wanna know cuz ive been havin probs with my car lately, just wanna iron out all the possible problems.

regards,

[WuTang420]

this is a very gray area. ive owned cars that overdrive must be turned on on the freeway like you described, but ive also had a 98 escort that i fucked up by switching into overdrive only above 45mph. the dealer repair guy showed me where it said it in the manual i felt like a fucking retard. so basiclly check it out for the indivdual car im sure mitsu has a website and if not check the manual or buy the chiltons book for it.

[Jason]

what kind of engine's she got?

i drive a '92 accord lx, 4 speed automatic, and i always go with overdrive. doesn't lag much, if at all, up hills, and at over 132,000 miles, i'm still pulling around 30mpg.

[Dameon Angell]

If Overdrive is on...
... you will gain the "ideal" MPG according to the sticker.
... you will maintain your current speed while coasting for an extended time, freeing up your MPG.

If Overdrive is off...
... you will accelerate faster.
... you will also slow down faster when you let off the gas, coasting.
... you will climb hills "easier".

I drive with my overdrive off 90% of the time. I only turn it on for the freeway, when it's going smoothly, which is rare in LA, lol.

[iKillburger]

Essentially overdrive just tries to keep your transmission in a higher gear. It's just like riding your bike. If you're accelerating a lot and keeping it on side roads, drive is better. If you're cruising down longer roads or highways more, keep it in overdrive.

[geekbot]

Overdrive technically is a gear with greater than 1:1 ratio. Less than 1:1 is a gear reduction. Lower ratio = more power, higher = more speed. In overdrive, the output is spinning faster than the driveshaft (engine RPM).

Automatic transmissions generally have 4 gears. Overdrive is 4th gear. O/D on is normal operation- you should leave it on in most circumstances. Auto transmissions should automatically shift including downshift when it needs to. If you want to force the trans to downshift to 3rd (e.g. going up hills and the auto hasn't decided to downshift but you want to), turn O/D off.

Wu Tang's eff'ed trans is probably because he left O/D *off*. Meaning the trans didn't shift into 4th unless he specifically turned O/D back on. It shouldn't kill the car but obviously if you're going very fast in 3rd gear a lot you're revving the engine a lot higher than you need to.

[RoDNeY]

cool, thanks for the input guys
regards,

[Mr. Peanuts]

I think this is what I have in my car, I drive my mum's automatic and on the stick it has a button with an S in a circle, I think it means sporting or something. I've never used this feature and have never had a problem with driving on motorways, I think ours might be a 6 speed automatic trans.

I realise now that I hate automatics and I want a manual, they're so much fun.

[geekbot]

If it means sport, it might just be a sportier setting- a transmission controller change. The transmission will shift later, rev higher for more acceleration.

I've seen automatics with 5 gears. I don't know where the 5th gear comes from. Everything I know about auto transmission gearing comes from:

http://auto.howstuffworks.com/automa...ansmission.htm

Yay, pretty pictures

[Money]

ok i have a 95 automatic mitsubish galant, i was just wondering what EXACTLY overdrive does to it, i heard that it lowers the rpm's at higher speeds but that doesnt help me driving around town with lots of hills between 25-35 mph, but while i drive up hills i accelerate extremely slow and it sounds like the car will die while going up them, should i keep O/D off while driving around town? will it be easier to get up hills, and should i only put it on if im going over 40 or on the highway? i just wanna know cuz ive been havin probs with my car lately, just wanna iron out all the possible problems.

regards,

basically an extra gear, put it that way and if it lags going up hill, GET ON THE GAS GRANDMA.

[Ewan]

Wtf is this Overdrive, never seen it before.

[za gophar]

keep it on when u are on the highway, that's about it.

[Jason]

well, my car "technically" doesn't even have overdrive, meaning it doesn't have an on/off switch for OD. i just have D1, D2, D3 and D4 with D4 being OD. (at least i think i have a D1, i honestly can't remember right now, hah.)

anyway, it's not really all that huge of a deal no matter how you spin it. you're not saving/losing that much gas whether you're using OD or not.