Automatic Car Gears: So you did not want to struggle much learning to drive so you skipped the manual transmission and opted for an automatic car.
Possibly, you have been cruising around but wondering why your colleagues say their car does 12-14 km per litre of gas but you can only do 4 km per litre and are always in the garage. Or you have just got your driving permit – hopefully after doing and passing the driver’s test – and are ready to jump into your first shiny new car.
Whatever the case, you are convinced that driving an automatic is a piece of cake and you are ready to go. You are wrong.
There is a right and wrong way to use an automatic transmission. So unless you have some shade tree mechanic working near your house, or you just have deep pockets to spend on fuel and garage, let’s cover the basics.
You should know that a vehicle with automatic transmission usually has three basic gear transmissions.
When you select Drive, the car will only shift through the first three gears. Overdrive introduces a fourth and fifth gear that allows your car to achieve better fuel economy at high speed.
However, if you have a button activated Overdrive mode, you can press it on and press it off while driving at constant speed to feel the effects. You’ll lose RPMs when engaging overdrive and get better fuel economy if and only if you do not strain the engine. The Overdrive gear is higher than a 1:1 ratio, so acceleration is an uphill battle with it engaged.
Good Read: What ABS Light (on the dashboard) means and how to clear it
Your gear selector probably has P, R, N, D and/or (0) along with any combination of L, 1, 2, or 3.
- P: Is the position that is selected when the vehicle is parked.
- R: Reverse. Used when the driver wants to go backwards.
- N: Neutral. Only used when you need to roll the car from one place to another.
- D: Drive. The drive range is selected when you wish to drive the vehicle forward.
- L, 1, 2, and 3: These are modes that will lock your automatic transmission into using a particular gear. This is helpful when you do not want the transmission to shift in response to throttle position or load. It is useful if you need to pull someone out of a ditch or engage engine braking.
My gear has Ds and B, what does it represent, secondly, there is a button written shift, is for what?