Questions and Answers

Automatic Vs Manual Q. Hi: All of my life I've driven cars with manual transmissions but now I have a new car with a 2.0 liter overhead cam 4-cylinder engine. Therefore I need a little help explaining a couple routine operational matters while driving a car with an automatic transmission.

Question 1:
What is Drive 2, is that the same as putting a manual transmission into second gear?

Question 2:
What is the difference between Drive and Overdrive?

Thanks,
Robert

A. First, second and third gears on an automatic transmission are about the same as on a manual transmission. On some cars it's P, R, N, D, 2, 1. On some cars it's P, R, N, D, S, L. On others it's P, R, N, D4 D3, D2, D1. Whatever the designation, they are all basically the same. Whatever ratio is used for the other gears, drive is always a 1:1 direct drive ratio. Overdrive is always less than 1:1. Generally in the neighborhood of 0.6 or 0.7:1, whereas first gear is usually in the neighborhood of 2.8 or 2.9:1. The Overdrive's main purpose is to lower engine RPMs to conserve fuel.

Most cars have an electrical circuit to shift the transmission from OD to D under certain conditions to prevent engine and transmission damage.

Additional Information provided courtesy of ALLDATA