I have spoken to a few people and have heard of starting in 1st and manually shifting up, starting and remaining in Drive the whole time and some even in Overdrive the whole time. What are your opinions? Also with a stock converter what rpm can I hold the car at?

95 Z A4

 

Place it in "drive" and allow the PCM to shift it at the pre-programmed shift points. That will provide you with solid consistant 1/4 mile runs.

When you go to WOT, the engine goes into the "power-enhancement" mode and moves the shift points up to near the stock RPM limiter.

Additionally, you can have the PCM custom programmed for higher shift points at WOT.

WD

 

i agree. dont bother trying to manually shift an auto car.

 

The only time to manual shift an auto is when racing from a roll, to get it into 2nd at like 40mph you will need to shift it down, floor it then imediatly put it back into 3 so the pcm can take over.

 

I just got my car. It has a second gear start button. Does anyone know why, or for what purpose they added this button?

 

waa? 2nd gear start? never heard of it.

 

He has a 3.8 V6 and not an LT! So I guess the button is common to the V6???

WD

 

Depending on what gears you have in the back, and what speed you're crossing the line at, SOMETIMES there is a benefit to "manually" shifting the auto. I've seen 1 or 2 tenths from manually shifting, and upwards of ~1 mph better speed, especially when I had 4.10's behind the A4, and I didn't have the shift points dialed in 100%.

ALSO, if you have 2.73's, you'll find that you cross the line very near the top of 2nd gear, possibly shifting into 3rd right at/before the line. When my car was stock (A4, 2.73) I would shift manually so I could hold it in 2nd through the traps to avoid the last minute shift ... it seemed to be better that way .

However, with the electronically controlled trannies, there is always a slight delay between moving the shifter and the tranny actually shifting, so if you plan to shift AT red-line (whether it's 6000 or 6200 RPM) then you need to move the shifter at around ~5600 - 5800 to avoid hitting the rev-limiter.

 

The Second Gear Start button is for rainy/snowy days when traction is minimal and starting in second gear will make it easier to get rolling. Basically, the car will start in second gear from a stop instead of first.

 

And later LS1s (my 2000 has it) with 4l60e have this function without the button. Whenever the shifter is in 2 it will only use second gear, no shifts at all.