Questions and Answers

Automatic Transmission Gears? Q. On an automatic transmission do you ever have to use the DRIVE (D), manual SECOND (2), and manual FIRST (1) gear? Or as the name suggests the automatic transmission puts the gear into whatever is needed so you never set the gears. And if that is the case why are those gears placed as options in the controls of an automatic transmission anyway.

I have never set my car to those gears when driving, I just use of course , P, and R, so I am wondering if I am doing something wrong.

A. No, you are not doing anything wrong. 99% of the time using is all you need to do. However, there are times when you would want manual control of the transmission.

When you are driving up down a mountain you would want to shift to 2 gear to help control your speed on the way down and for more power on the way up.

On snow or ice you would want to start out in 2 to help you gain traction. If you do mostly city driving, you would want to use D to help keep the transmission from overheating. is used mostly by people who do mainly highway driving for better fuel economy. The is DRIVE with OVERDRIVE. D is DRIVE without OVERDRIVE.

And, in some cases, you may need to use other gears as dictated by the current conditions. It's better to have the choice and not need it than to need the choice and not have it.