How do I shift my automatic ( Civic ) ?
 

I have wondered about a paragraph in my owners manual for years now.

The 1993 Honda Civic manual states on page 87 :

" First - To shift from Second to First, press the release button on the side of the shift lever. With the lever in this position, the transmission locks in First gear. By upshifting through 1,2,D3 and D4, you can operate this transmission much like a manual transmission without a clutch pedal."


So this means that I can actually shift this thing like a manual while in motion ...er... right ?

I shift into neutral all the time and coast with the engine still running.
I'm just to chicken to try out the other gears.

Do you think that there wold be a benefit to manually shifting ?

...Or am I just not understanding something. :confused:

All I see from that is it will allow you to rev higher in lower gears and shift just like a manual. I don't see any benefit unless you're using the engine to brake.

Heck yeah there's an advantage. Shift earlier than the automatic would. Keep your RPM's down.

Rolling up through the shifter positions won't force the automatic to shift any sooner than it might in the regular D driving position. It only forces an upper limit to how high a gear the transmission will ultimately choose. It's great for when you're on bad surfaces like ice or you're training a new driver and don't want him to have the full range of gears while first starting out, but that's it.

That's not exactly how it works. The gear selector just tells what is the highest gear the car will shift into. It will still down shift the same as before.

Imagine on my car for instance, it's 1, 2, D, and (D) (over drive, 4th gear). If I were to shift it from 1st to D (3rd on your car) while still accelerating hard, the car will still shift into 2nd, and then into 3rd, and then no higher. It's not like your forcing the trans to upshift on your own accord, it will still up shift as normal until it hits what ever gear you have selected, and then it sticks there.

The real use you would have it to hold the RPMs higher at part throttle then the auto would normally for some spirited/performance driving that has many up/down shifts and you want the engine to stay revved up, and also allow the car to engine brake when off the trottle (auto-X).

But for regular driving, and drag racing even, just keep it in D and let the auto do it's job. Their already programed to stay in the highest gear it can for economy.

Although if your really determined, you can convert an automatic to manual shift. Where the gear selector alone will change the gears, not the tranny itself. A lot of drag racing transmissions are set up like this. With this setup, you can even start off the line in a higher gear, not 1st like an auto does..

Not true. Gear "2" on the shifter will cause the transmission to stay in 2nd gear on a Honda no matter what. It's meant for icy conditions. It will cause the vehicle to start off in 2nd gear instead of 1st. Economical advantage? I doubt it.

Ah, shoot. My bad. I guess it's been awhile since I've had to drive an automatic....:o
I've even got the wife 'converted' to the manual mindset.

She's a keeper if she can do stick. :thumbup:

This is correct -- I have a similar transmission in the Acura.

"1" and "2" will start and/or hold those gears when selected, and disables the torque converter.

"D3" chooses the proper gear: 1, 2, or 3 (and often disengages the "Hill Logic Control" that keeps the transmission from shifting back and forth up hills, or for engine braking down steep grades). Torque converter action is engaged.

"D4" common automatic stuff.

I'll start off in 1st and shift into "2" when I think it's appropriate (which is often earlier than the computer decides). This creates a higher load, lower RPM situation. After that, I'm at the mercy of the TCU to sort things out in D3 and D4.

I'll also do the same with the TSX and its manu-matic shift gate. You can force a higher gear, earlier -- depending on speed and load. It helps especially when cruising in 5th gear: it won't downshift to 4th unexpectedly unless you slow to the computer's setpoint. Again, lower RPM and higher load.

I think it does something for FE -- but I can't quantify it. I've been meaning to test it out, but ya know how it goes...

RH77

You betcha. ;)

Ok. I have a 2001 Civic with an automatic, the same transmission as yours, .CD. I was playing around today on a city drive, and I came up with a method to keeps your revs down when starting from a stop:

1) Start off in D4 or D3 to allow 1st gear to engage (instead of 2 which forces the car to start off in 2nd gear) to get a bit of a jump off the start. I used D3 because it's easier for the next step.
2) As soon as the car is rolling (5 or so MPH), shift into 2 to force the transmission to prematurely shift into 2nd gear, and the revs below 2000.
3) As soon as the revs reach 2000 or so, shift back to D4. Doing so earlier will have no effect on the shifting because the car tries to keep the revs slightly higher when starting off.
4) Once in D4, modulate the throttle to keep the revs at 2000-2100 RPM. Any less than this and it will not automatically upshift. I found that at this RPM it will feel slightly sluggish until it shifts into 3rd (I didn't see what speed...maybe 25 or so MPH...I'll get back to you on that one) and then quickly locks the torque convertor in 3rd and then shifts into 4th.

Our transmission is unique (compared to my previous Toyota, anyway) in that if you cruise at say 25 mph in slow traffic, it will lock the torque convertor in third gear and maintain 1500 RPM. Very efficient for an inefficient cruising speed. And at 35 mph cruising, it will lock the torque convertor in 4th gear and maintain 1400 or so RPM instead of unlocking easily like most other automatics. In these two scenarios, even if you let off the throttle and then step back on smoothly, it will stay locked, sort of like if you were driving a manual transmission.
Anyway, I'll try again tomorrow.

James

Are you guys forgetting the benefit of dropping it down a gear or two for engine braking and decel fuel cut?

I have a Honda Civic too. I pretty much leave the tranny in D and just accelerate softly. I will use 1 & 2 during the winter when climbing an icy hill to help keep the tires from spinning out.

Seriously? That's cool, I didn't know that at all.

My last experience with a Honda was a '78 Civic with the Hondamatic; it had only two gears.

Boy, do I miss that car. With a leak in the fuel pump diaphragm, blowing liquid gas out the vent hole (onto the exhaust manifold :eek:) it still got 30mpg. It went like stink and parked anywhere.

Somone Moved My Cheese... to Low Gear
 

Yes, forgot to mention.

In just about anything I drive, (if equipped with a tach) when I see the bump upward in RPM during decel, I know that the DFCO is no longer active, so it's time to bump it down a gear. I try to get it down a gear before then to keep the fuel-cut active.

The problem: 1st gear is generally super-low in cars these days. I'm in a rental Camry 4-cyl right now and L just about stands it on its nose.

Speaking of which, what happened to automatics that just shift STRAIGHT BACK??? On this car I have to go through a maze of side-to-side, front-and-back just to find L. It's frustrating when you want to keep your eyes on the road. /rant

RH77

Nope. I always gear down to D3 when coming to a stop, especially on a downhill. However, the Honda automatic is pretty good on it's own. If you come to a stop from [let's say] 50 mph in D4, the transmission will stay in 4th gear with torque convertor locked up all the way down to about 1200 RPM. Then it will unlock, but by the time that happens, you are only going 10-15 mph or so (I forget). And the whole time, the fuel is shut off, until the TC unlocks.....I assume anyway. So in a gradual stopping situation, D4 seems to be pretty good too.

James

Good question. My 2006 xA it's still the up-down. In my parnet's 2009 Corolla... yeah, up-down with a side-side thrown in just to confuse my dad. Maybe it was done this way to fit the extra gear or make it "feel" like a manumatic? :confused:

The funky shifter path is just the "new thing". Also adds a path for manumatics. I remember some 90s Cadillacs having that, and at the time it was so much cooler to slide through that then the typical straight path.

Dealt with that in a Mazda 3 I had to rent for a week. I tried playing with the manumatic, but I could never figure out where it needed to sit for any particular gear.