Shifting Gears With Accelerator Pedal

[abcjayasinghe]

Experts, please explain how to properly change gears with padal in a fully automatic car (Not a modern paddle shifter). how much should I rev the engine (RPM) before temporarily releasing the accelerator padal ? will it badly affect the engine if I frequently do it in hilly road for quick acceleration.? Thanks in advance ..!

Edited April 11, 2013 by abcjayasinghe

[Komisiripala]

Do you mean the accelerator PEDAL? If so, then there's no safe rpm or whatever. Just tap it when you want to downshift and the gearbox electronics will take care of the rest.

Don't worry so much. Modern cars wouldn't have this feature if using it damaged your car. If you're driving a Toyota (I'm SURE it's a Toyota) then you probably won't have any gearbox issues for at least a good 200,000+ km provided you maintain regularly

[VVTi]

has anyone seen the movie Without a Paddle?

[HardHat]

abc, me no expert but as Komi has said, just give the gas pedal a good kick down when you want to downshift and the gearbox will select the appropriate gear.

And obviously, watch the tacho like in any car and control any over rev (if so happens) by easing on the gas.

You can also downshift an auto using the gear stick but always be sensible on vehicle speed and gear you downshift into, as you would do when driving a manual.

It is a good practice to actually downshift an auto to lower gears when you descend a hill, to utilize engine breaking to control the speed instead of keeping your foot on the breaks.

When crawling in slow moving traffic, you could also keep the auto stick at 3 or 2, to limit the box from 'hunting' for gears everytime you put your foot down and then lift off.

Edited April 10, 2013 by HardHat

[abcjayasinghe]

@Komisiripala and Hardhat,...Thanks a lot for your inputs..!

[Komisiripala]

Ditch it and get a manual. You will LOVE it!

[abcjayasinghe]

Ditch it and get a manual. You will LOVE it!

True, and I'm not a big fan of this auto business either.....but still, I'm not comfortable with the idea of selling it because, being my first car(Toyota carina), it has never given me a serious trouble (despite frequent long journeys) other than for a few running repairs I had to attend to during past few years....I may not be lucky enough to get hold of a car that reliable.......So, for the time being I would rather stick to my carina.

Edited April 11, 2013 by abcjayasinghe