Is it OK, to shift the 1,2,3,D gears manually when desired - or is it really bad for the car.

Also, on the highway, droping it to third and nailing it and then poping it back into drive at red line. Does this do any damage? Have not tried it in my vette on the highway, but put 80k on my WS6 TA doing that, seemed to do no damage.

More interested in the highway question :confused: , is downshifting going to rip my gears to shreads?

:chevy

 

I shift my 99a4 going around town, but never red line it and never on the interstate. I'm interested if anyone has any rules to follow when doing this - would be very helpful for the m6 wannabes like me :D

:seeya Jeff

 

You can shift it manually, no problem, just not as efficient as the pcm. Probably will hit the rev limiter more often if you manaully shift it from 1-3 when racing it.

If you are driving down the highway and nail it, the tranny shifts into 3 automatically, so you do not have to take it out of OD. Just don't drop it from OD or 3 into 1 when crusing at 60 ahhaha

 

I shift up thru the A4, moving the stick at about 4700-4800 rpm, but the downshift I leave alone, unless under 50 and shift into 2nd rarely from 3rd.

You should be able to get some stuff "reprogrammed" like shift points and firmness I have read on the forum.

 

I have PPIII and have firmed up shifts. Hiway shift into second pulls right up to redline very quickly, need to watch it. OD drops to third when floored, but I anticipate and manual shift into third then punch. I use 3rd in heavy highway traffic too, much lag when in OD

 

Hi everyone...great topic and I would like to add my .02

I have owned 1993 C4 & 1999 C5 automatics and have manually shifted both of them. Both were/are daily drivers...rain or shine.

An acqantance of mine who drove a Toyota station wagon told me that he has always manually shifted his automatics and had gone 300K miles w/o the tranny breaking. That weighted my opinion that auto are OK to shift.

The C4 had 70K mileage when I traded for the C5. I changed the tranny oil and filter in the C4 EVERY 15K miles using regular tranny oil as called for by GM.

Additionally, I once called GM and the old Corvette assistance line asking this very question about downshifting...and you all know...they did not know anything.

There has been some debate on this downshifting subject right here on the forum.

Needless to say, I upshift and downshift as needed. It is just fun and something to do while driving and with the SF Bay area traffic (and my creaky bones) automatics are for me. When downshifting I blip the throttle and double blip or one big ole blip when going into first. Please note I use trail braking as needed so I minimize stress on the parts. On the highway in Drive, our member above is correct, there is no need to downshift just punch it! When I upshift first to second I do not redline to again ease the pressure and retain smoothness. Second to third I'll take to redline and then I am usaully out of road way so I just slip into Drive.

Also know, I am a big fan of changing tranny oil and keeping it extremely red and clean. In my 25K mileage on the C5 I have done a filter and oil at 9K a drop the pan and oil change at 20K and another filter and oil change at 21K to really get that clean oil feeling.

Lastly, I would like to add to the discussion, is keeping the automatic Corvette in second gear all the "time" (goes to about 90 mph ya know) to much stress and heat on the bands and clutches.

Gotta love these cars and the forum. Sometimes I am long winded..uh?

Thanks,
Kenny

 

Heres my 2 cents.
I shift mine a lot.
I love to hear the Corsas pop.

One thing to note is that 2nd gear on the A4 is exclusively that. If you are at a dead stop and put the shifter in to 2, your C5 will take off in 2nd and stay in second. If you take off in 1 and decide to shift to 2nd at 4000 rpm, the A4 will shift to 2nd regarless of the throttle position. 2nd is always 2nd.

I autocross and at most events, I will take off in 1 and shift to second at redline and then drive most of the rest of the course in 2nd. With TC off i can still spin the tires coming out of slow corners. I have done most of my best times using this technique.

 

99% of the time I put the car in 3 when racing...even highway speed competitions...rarely do those go beyond what 3rd gear can pull. Occasionally, I'll manually put the car in 2nd if I know it's going to be a 40-60 roll on punch. Then I upshift to 3rd pretty quick.

The PCM is pretty darned efficient on where to shift and even manual intervention is sketchy because it does get over ridden by the PCM many times.

Tony

 

Hey Humy! I see the Viper race has gotten you thinking... :D

Anyways, if you're racing on the highway, I would recommend dropping the shifter to 3rd, that way in case you let off the throttle for a bit, you'll still stay in 3rd gear and won't go into OD. Also, the Vette doesn't like to stay in 1st gear for too long (fuel economy), so if you race from a redlight/dead-stop, put the shifter in 1st and shift it manually. Put it in 1st, and as soon as you see the tach hit 5600 rpm, shift it to 2nd, and so on. You might hit the rev limiter here and there, but practice makes perfect :jester

If you make it out to Unos, we can go over this on Golf Rd :smash: :D

 

I shift manually all the time, I think it makes the car 10 times more fun. Oh by the way O-Ace -- I really wish I could get my hands on a slice of Uno's!!! I wish one of those was down here :cheers:

 

My interest in manually shifting the automatic is for downshifting third to second prior to a corner on a road course. I asked c4c5Tech if this would cause excessive wear, and he said it would be all right. I tried it that way for two track weekends this summer with no problems, had a trans fluid sample taken afterward and it was normal. Here are my precautions:
1. Use synthetic trans fluid (Mobil-1 ATF) although that may not be necessary.
2. Installed a big trans cooler to keep temps down. Even then, I hit 250' after 30 minutes of flogging it on a 90' day. Redline temp is 270'.
3. Make manual downshift only while going straight and braking, never while in a corner.
4. My max speed for third to second manual downshift during braking is 55mph. Anything faster just seems too hard on the system.
Works for me!

 

I do this all of the time. I move the shifter into the lower gear and immediate;blip the throttle, it engages smoothly even at speed. almost like a paddle shifter.

 

Thread is from 2001.

 

I saw that but I read it anyway. Interesting read.