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Automatic racing...

2K views 17 replies 13 participants last post by  eazyrider_tim 
#1 ·
Alright.. got a question for all the automatics out there.. do you race with O/D on or off? or maybe different for different kinds of races? drag.. auto-x.. from hwy speeds?
 
#2 ·
Well, unless you think it reacts faster than pushing down the gas pedal all the way, what's the point of turning it off? The only benefit of having it off would be to hold the car in third gear or to have it rev a bit higher before the ECU would tell the car, "Hey, time to shift." (I'm assuming the automatic Focus only has four gears)
 
#3 ·
yeah.. four gears.. my question was more along the lines of.. for example.. drag racing.. would the car get better results with it on or off.. or with auto-x how different would the shift points be for going into the turns and keeping an edge on the manuals.. i shoulda just got a 5 speed huh? lol
 
#7 ·
Turning off overdrive does NOTHING For how fast your car is unless your car can shift through 2 gears and top out in 3rd to where you would need the O/D on. The O/D button is just for the last gear, that's it. If I drive in the city I have the OD Off tho. As to promote bog free driving [:D].
 
#9 ·
ztecpower said:
Turning off overdrive does NOTHING For how fast your car is unless your car can shift through 2 gears and top out in 3rd to where you would need the O/D on. The O/D button is just for the last gear, that's it. If I drive in the city I have the OD Off tho. As to promote bog free driving [:D].
Exactly what he said... unless your car is fast enough to get to the point to where it needs to shift into fourth to keep accelerating then it really doesn't matter if you have it on or off while drag racing.
 
#10 · (Edited)
You'll probably never get out of second gear at an autocross, so it would be as pointless as the button - almost. Just giving you a hard time. It's just the same as an extra gear to shift into and hold the car in that gear, except it's a button. And you cannot force the car to shift into third, you have to wait until it decides to do so - or runs out of second gear. But you can stop it from going into fourth!
 
#12 ·
For most AutoX, you might just want to put it in 1st and keep it there. For many Solo courses, the time you'll lose by hitting the limiter is a lot less than the time you'd spend shifting between gears...
 
#13 ·
I'm pretty sure the shifting is the same if you have it floored for overdrive on and off, I also highly doubt you'll need 4th gear. In autocross it helps to turn off overdrive, that way you don't have to worry about it trying to use 4th. I don't think it would be that good to leave it in 1st the whole time, I always got too much wheels spin out of corners when it dropped to 1st. So, for drag it doesn't matter, Auto-X turn it off.
 
#14 ·
^^^You can control the wheelspin with practice, but you can't overcome the ATX's shifting decisions quite so effectively.
 
#15 ·
ok , o/d doesnot I REPEAT have any effect on your performance NONE!

if you do not want the tranny to shift into 4th gear then turn it off, o/d is nothing but 4th gear.when u get on it while cruising if you shut it off you WILL be in the power band faster.

that is all.
 
#17 ·
In the snow

In Canada here I like to compete with other ppl in empty parking lots when its snowy... which is most of the time in winter. I usually turn off the o/d simply so that when I take my foot off the gas, the transmission won't shift into fourth... whenever you take your foot off the gas, the tranny shifts up. I turn it off so it wont go into fourth, and then back to second again when i step on the gas. And of course in city driving i turn it off, good for the trees. That's just my 3 cents.
 
#18 ·
Down shifting from 4th to 3rd when you need to get into your power band, will make you get from point A-B faster...


so technically, it makes you faster..........especially on the interstate, that passing speed it right on tap, instead of waiting for the tranny to downshift after you punch it, which isn't so easy on the motor mounts or the tranny.....I just started driving with the O/D off unless I am cruising on the freeway......but I downshift it to pass or something. But don't hold it into 3rd for a long time, as thats bad.
 
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