i was reading an article and need to know if its true. when racing are you supposed to race in 3rd gear? i read that if you race when in D gear its overdrive, and to not be in over drive go to 3rd gear, supposly get better racing results?
fill me with knowledge
thanks john

 

Ok...theres two different Drives theres just Drive and the D wit the circle around it is Overdrive, thats the one with the 5th gear, thats basically for highway driving. I don't see the difference between racing in 3rd gear and the Normal Drive not Overdrive. Because it Should shift through all gears the same in both it will just keep it in 3rd and eventauly get to redline, so I would say that racing in normal Drive woudl be the best plus you got another gear to grab in Drive.

 

When racing an A4 just leave the car in 3rd. You will have better et's than if you were to leave it in overdrive or manually shift it.

 

Is there any reason for that? In WOT it would never even get to 4th, so how woudl it be diff?

I have heard hte comnet of leavign it in 3rd, but no real reason was given, just suggestions.

 

in the november edition of gm high poerformance page 13 they talk about this. its about a 98 ta i have a 94 but that should not matter."you have probably noticed your car is more responsive to the throttle in 3 cause you are not having to wait for the 4-3 downshift to get going. the only bad thing about driven around in 3 is that you will not get maximum fuel economy. have fun."

i dont know much about that stuff but it seems intresting and something we might want to research!!! that was from mike kurtz of century transmission in texas. www.centurytransmission.com
i guess they r a sponsor for the magazine.
there phone num is 713-666-2616

let me know if you guys find out anything
thanks john

 

So tell me, where does this 5th gear come from? Isn't is an A4?

But that is when you are already in OD and downshifting to a lower gear. If you are referring to drag racing, shifting out of OD is not going to apply in the least. Now, if you are doing some type of road racing, it could apply.

 

well this is what i get from my experience with my car. When i shift it (1st 2nd D) the car feels ALOT more powerfull then when i leave it in Drive. And even if i leave it in OverDrive the car feels alot more responsive in D, meaning that its like i have to push the pedal down farther to get the same effect if even the same affect.

When i leave it in drive and i go to my work around 50 or so i can just bearly press the gas and get that feeling that your being thrown back into your seat. with over drive i do get that feeling but i have to push it down even farther and it still doesnt pull as hard.

When i shift it it is alot more ezer to sqawl the tires then it would be in drive or over drive.. and over drive just feels like it slows down the car

So from what i feel it gets more power when i shift it but im not sure if it is faster then just leaving it in Drive

 

As for racing the only advantage of leaving it D instead of OD would be if you have changed gears, that would make the computer shift inot 4th if you let it. In normal driving I've always kept the car out of OD until about 50 no matter what vehicle. I don't like having to press the pedal twice or harder to get it to downshift, plus it keeps your tranny from making shifts that aren't really needed. Less tranny shifts = longer life

 

I agree with StreetZ on the drivign arround. I hate it when the car is in OD (when it would be fine in 3rd). Because when you want it to shift down to 3rd to speed up, it sometimes goes to 2nd and quickly shift back to 3rd. Sometimes to avoid that I just bring it to 3rd manualy, and then put it back up.

 

I have heard a few people say that A4 cars run faster if you leave the shifter in third. Usually it goes something like this "yea I went to the track and didn't run what I thought I should, but billy bobs brother has this sister that used to make frog leg soup for jimbo, and jimbos wifes cousin said I'd pick up three tenths if I had left the shifter in third instead of overdrive." Sounds like a myth to me.

I'd be willing to bet if you are drag racing leaving it in third and overdrive will produce the same results, all other things being equal.

John

 

Since the 4L60e transmission is PCM controlled, it's going to shift at the same exact point every single time if the conditions are the same. All moving the selector to D or 3 (my car was a 2.73 car so it has 2, 3 and D, no circle D) does is to keep the car from shifting into overdrive. In most cases, unless you have some extreme rear gear, you're not going to get the car traveling fast enough to try to shift into 4th (overdrive) in the 1/4 mile. A LT1 with A4 and 3.73 gears will hit 117MPH at 5700 RPM in 3rd gear. If your car is this fast in the 1/4, you need 4th. Even with 4.10's you're hitting 106 MPH at 5700 RPM. Might as well run in OD and let the PCM do it's job.

I have raced both ways, in 3 (D) and D (OD), and found absolutely NO DIFFERENCE.

It is true that the car will be more responsive in a lower gear, due to where the engine's "power band", as well as the increased torque "feel" of the lower gears.

 

Agreed...I've tried both ways and have never seen a difference.

 

shouldnt it be better in 3 when road racing from light to light since it said so in the magazine article?
this subject has mixed reviews
thanks guys john

 

i asked bryan from pcm for less and here is his response:
here is the question

i read an article in gmhigh performance that f bodys
should race in gear 3 for automatic cause d is
overdrive. true ? if it is that is a huge factor
thanks john

here is the answer:


Hi,
Yes, that is true, if you catch an upshift from 3-4 at the top end of
the track it will slow down your times, whereas if you had it in 3rd it
would hold that gear.
Thanks,
Bryan

 

I usually leave mine in 3rd, and it seems to run faster (no times at my local track, will start with them next month), but I also have the 4l60 which dosen't have PCM control, so that might make a difference.