ok so i was driving on the highway in my A4 02 WS6 in OD and a newer ford lightning comes flying by me (with that sc whine) and cuts in front. So we are cruising say 85mph and we come up to a long stretch and get next to eachother. id say we slowed down to about 65-70mph. Heres my question...i popped the shifter at say 70mph approx. 2300rpm down to 3rd from OD..it took a second then shifted down to 3rd thus shooting the rpm up about a grand. and i was toying with him there at 3500 to 5500rpm since i was in my powerband now. obviously i couldnt go too fast as i would run out of gear driving at speeds in 3rd. i later popped it back to OD (4rth) and it shifted accordingly..

question is, is this ok on the trans? (stock 60E with a 24K cooler)? i mean downshifting when going at speeds (any low to high)?

also my oil psi jumped to like 75psi when up in the rpm 3rd gear..5W40 AMSOIL which usually stays at 60 during driving..that high off a psi ok? thanks guys

 

12SCNDZ or Pro Built Automatics i would like your professional input if possible. thanks

 

ttt

 

I wouldn't suggest doing it on a routing basis. Downshifting from O/D to 3rd brings the over-run clutches on. Continually doing this will break the lugs off the over-run hub of the input sprag.

Frank

 

thanks it was my first time doing it. So just as long as i keep it to a minimum? how about if i am cruising in 3rd and then flip it up to 4rth (OD)? even at high rpm (say 4k)

 

A 3-4 upshift won't hurt anything.

Frank
CPT

 

When downshifting, always give it a little throttle, as you want to match the input rpm's to the output rpm's (over simplified) as quickly as possible. "Do not" backshift the lever without giving it some throttle, (unless you are starting to go over the side of a mountain). It is similar to double clutching a manual transmission, less wear & much easier on parts.

 

What gear ratio have you got, dude? Even with my 4.10's, upto around ~70 mph, when I punch it, the tranny will automatically kick back from 4th to 3rd without having to shift manually? If you happen to have 2.73's, even upto ~80 mph, it should kick down to 2nd gear automatically .

 

From the sounds of his description it sounded like he did it to be like a manual and hold the gear to "play" with the other guy... So I think he just dropped it down to rev higher and sound impressive before actually racing...

 

Got this on a different site.

"If you have to downshift from 4th to 3rd under load, doing it manually is the best way. If you just punch it, the sprag has to go from and overrunning state to a locked state to transfer the torque and this "shock" can be damaging.
If you manually downshift, the overrun clutches apply at the same time the sprag has to lock, therefore reducing the torque input on the sprag elements as they begin to hold, decreasing the failure rate.
__________________
GM "World Class" Technician
Performance Transmission Builder
TeamTripp, LLC
"

It boils down to this: Downshifting the trans and racing in general are going to shorten its life. If you're going to race the car either way.... there is very substantial evidence that says manually downshift the car at the lowest speed you can, *not* under load, as opposed to just flooring it and "letting the transmission do the work."

So im confused Is it better to drop the lever down to 3rd while giving a little gas or just punch it and let the PCM drop the gear?

 

Frank or Pro Built?

 

I'm not aware that downshifting at speeds where there is little RPM change is going to hurt the tranny. I know manual shifting from the start is not good and lets say your going 50 and downshift to second would probably not be a good idea. I know in the city I shift from od to 3rd all the time. Unless I'm above 45/50, that car is in 3rd to make it easier on the tranny always shifting back and forth from od to second or third, especialy with a stall.

 

As Frank said, manually downshifting applies the overun clutch circuit and this circuit only has 2 friction disc and are the smallest of the frictions in comparision to the other stack-ups, so they certainly are not capable of withstanding as much abuse as the larger parts. And the overun apply piston will evidentally also not stand abuse as well based on what I pulled out of my 4l60e last year shown here . I don't seem to have a picture of the overun frictions and steels but they didn't look real happy either. Other than those parts my tranny was in excellent condition for ~50k miles even after hammering on it with several passes at the track and plenty of abuse on the street.
As Dana mentioned, when downshifting, giving it some throttle to match input shaft RPM with that needed for the output takes a lot of stress off of these parts as opposed to a 0% TPS downshift where excessive force can cause failure of these weaker parts.
With a stock 4l60e / PCM programming set-up you won't be able to initiate the upshift point prematurely by shifting manually, meaning the shift won't happen until the conditions set for that shift in the PCM are met although the manual shift position will delay that shift until shifted manually. Delaying the shift's like this also can cause hydraulic pressure to not be ideal for that shift circumstance but Frank or Dana will have to help on that part since I know little about it.
In my opinion based on experience with my 96, I increased some shift point RPM values by re-flashing the PCM program with LT1_Edit which I trust much more than my own reflexes. At around 6k RPM accurate shift timing is important.