4th Gear Vs Drive

[ticman]

When I picked up my new 03 the dealer said to use 4th gear around town and to use Drive for highway driving. I am used to being in Drive all the time and not worring about having to change.

comments would be appreciated.

Thanks,

Mike

[NeiLtYmE]

you dont have to do that ....

these cars are 5 speed.... it takes a long time until you get to 5th gear... usuallly you wont get into it at all while just small town packed driving..... but i really wouldnt bother with it .. unless you in rage traiffic in newyork city :P

[steviej]

actually here is the !Removed!: The dealer is trying to get you to overlook one of the two flaws of the 02/03 tranny.

This tranny is a 5spd auto as you know. 5th being the OD. This tranny also is electronically controlled by a program that has some less than desirable shift logic. Not to scare you, it can be overcome with driving style until the fix comes supposedly in the fall.

When you are driving about 40 mph with no load on the engine, ie most of our commutes and country driving, the engine wants to be in 4th but the computer wants to be in 5th. A very minor shutter develops and is felt in the car. Slide the lever over to 4th and the shutter goes away instantly. You still have normal range of 1st to 4th. If you stay in D, once you go below 40 or above 45, the shutter goes away on its own, too.

I have learned to live with it.

I drive in D all the time. When I get the shutter, I a.) drop it into 4, b.) slow down if I have to, c.) speed up a little if I can safely and d.)don't worry about it. All four of these work.

The other problem is the hesitation with full depression of the gas pedal. You can read up on that by doing a search on 02 transmission or 03 transmissions.

steviej

[NeiLtYmE]

o yeah ... i forgot about that problem .... <_<

[ticman]

Thanks Steviej. I did a search and for the first time I actually found what I was looking for. LOL. Still new to this site and all the features it offers.

I only have 400 miles on the car and haven't noticed any of the hesitations that you mentioned. The natural shifting position for the car from reverse seems to be DRIVE. I may just leave it there and see what happens.

Thanks again

Mike

[SW03ES]

Mike, Not all ESes exhibit the shifting hesitation, or not all driving styles exaggerate it because mine is just fine. Yours may be too.