A friend told me that if I shift my 06 SS manually, I will get better 0 - 60 acceleration and better quarter-mile times. I am a little scared to try this because these cars are known to have weak transmissions. Has anyone tried this...Starting in 1st gear, moving to 2nd, 3rd, and then to D?

Will this damage tha transmission and will it improve acceleration?

 

 

manually shifting a transmission won't effect its going out... they have weak transmissions but the shift mechanism isn't the problem, its that the tranny can't handle the power coming to them.

i do'nt think you'll see an imporvement... put it in D and go... not with computerized trannys you won't see a difference. if you do, you need to change your shift poits.

 

You can switch it manually shouldn't hurt it. if you wanna be faster in 1/4 mile or something just put it in 2 this way the car will stay in second and not force the 2-3 upshift. Or for a roll race or some thing
1st gear is up to 52 mph
2nd almost to 100 mph
3rd to about 154
4th is OD.
I'd say for best performance get your car tuned and have shift points changed that will get you better times rather than you shifting. I let the TCM do the shifting.

 

my car only goes to about 90 in 2nd... it's all out of ideas at about 130 too

 

weak transmission, i own a 2005 supercharged ss with the 3800 v6, i thought that the car had a heavy duty transmission, and as for manualy shifting, it doesnt make a difference as long as you have your foot to the floor

 

so shifting is ok not ok?
whats the agreed apon answer...
and keep foot on gas as u shift up and if so how is that good for it gassing it as u shift?
ive shifted up and down few times depending on what im doing at the moment but i just wanna make sure down the raod that it wont wear it out before normal i only upshift when racing or peeling off even thou can peel off in drive anyways let alone nice smoke affect too and i down shift only when need to slow down quicker than i have brakes for since these brakes suck for this car speically going over 80 and need to slow down quick...

 

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[align=center]The DriveWerks Newsletter:
Volume 3 - The Myths and Misconceptions Surrounding Transmissions[/align][align=center]



Hello fellow car lover,
Welcome to the Third Issue of DriveWerks Car Talk Manual!

Hello again. Wayne here once more for this week's DriveWerks tech session. First off, I wanted to apologize to the people who received the newsletter last week, which did not have a link at the bottom to opt out. Needless to say, heads have rolled, someone got chewed out, and this week all is back to normal. That said, this week I would like to begin a two-part article regarding:

The Myths And Misconceptions Surrounding Transmissions

Thanks once again for your support,


Wayne R. Dempsey
Principal Owner of DriveWerks



The Myths And Misconceptions Surrounding Transmissions
Your car's transmission is often one of the most misunderstood components of the car. Very often, owners don't quite understand how the transmission works, and often end up abusing it without even knowing it! This week I will provide you with some hints and tips to keep your transmission shifting smoothly for many years to come.
Let's start by talking about automatic transmissions. Hey Kid Space,
Wake up and listen. You may want to post this information after your test : )

The automatic transmission is one of the most complicated automotive components ever created. I can't go into the specifics of how they work here, but in short, they work hydraulically, which means that they use hydraulic fluid as both a lubricant and a coolant. That said, you can imagine that a loss of this fluid would be detrimental to your transmission's health. Even so, most people don't bother to check their transmission fluid, or don't even think about it when they take their car in to be serviced. Compounding this problem is the fact that many car manufacturers now proclaim to have 'service-free' transmissions. I personally think this is a huge disservice to car owners, because let's face it - there's really no such thing as a service-free transmission.
In the past, I've owned two cars that came with an automatic 'service-free' transmission. While the transmission (sometimes referred to as a 'tranny') itself may be service-free, this is highly dependent upon there being enough fluid in the transmission.
Most transmissions utilize a cooler in the front of the car, which is typically attached to the car's radiator.
To get the fluid there...
It has to run through hoses underneath the car. On one of these cars, the previous owner's wife had dragged the car over something concrete, damaging one of these lines. The result was a slow leak of precious transmission fluid. The owner never noticed, because there is no easy way to check the transmission fluid on these cars. However, when driving the car, if you slammed on the brakes, and then stepped on the gas, the car would pause and then 'slam' into gear, moving forward. This was caused by the low amount of transmission fluid slopping towards the front of the lower transmission pan when you slammed on the brakes. If all the fluid is at the front, then it can sometimes become dry and empty underneath the all-important pickup tube that is located in the center of the sump.
The bottom line: Don't trust the manufacturers! Have your automatic transmission fluid checked about once a year, and also change the fluid and filter at least every 30,000 miles.
*******
Moving on, I wanted to talk about...Using Your Transmission to Help with Braking Down Long Hills.
When you're traveling down a long, steep hill, you should shift your automatic transmission into a lower gear using the gearshift. Typically, you will have the choice of 'D','3','2' and '1' or something similar to that.

By shifting into one of the numbered gears, the car will stay in a higher gear without downshifting. This will rev the engine higher, and it will slow the car down as you descend the hill.
It's perfectly okay for you to do this to your engine and transmission, although if you are unfamiliar with the technique, you'd swear it couldn't be good for the car. The flip side of the coin is that if you 'ride' your brakes down the mountain, you will most likely overheat them, which will make them lose their effective braking power. Under extreme conditions, they might even fail! I am surprised at how many people don't know this - you can always tell the people who are 'in the know' and who aren't by looking at the brake lights of people in front of you as you descend the hill. The people using engine braking will almost never hit their brakes, while the people who don't know any better will have their brake lights on all the way down the hill. Be smart - use engine braking. Owners of cars with manual transmissions almost always know this tip, but most people with automatics don't.

Now let's talk about...Manual Transmissions.
These are much better understood by most people than automatics, but there are still many things people do that aren't good for them. The first thing that comes to mind is having a poorly adjusted clutch cable. The clutch is responsible for disengaging the transmission from the engine when shifting. This reduces any mismatch in speed between the engine and the transmission and avoids the grinding of gears (more on that next week).
If your clutch cable is out of adjustment, then you may have a situation where your clutch is never fully engaging. What are the symptoms of this? Grinding into first and reverse are sure-fire signs of misalignment. You can also do a simple test to check. With the car at rest and the transmission in neutral, push the clutch pedal in. Now, count to ten slowly. Then try to shift it into reverse. If it grinds, then your clutch cable is almost surely out of adjustment (or one or more of your clutch components are not working properly).
What does this test do? Basically, when the transmission is in neutral, it is not engaged in any gear, but it is still connected to the engine and spinning internally. When you press the clutch pedal in, the transmission is disconnected from the engine, and should start spinning down to a stop internally (that is what you are waiting for when you count to ten). If you go and shift into reverse, the engine should be completely disconnected, and it should not grind. However, if the clutch cable is out of adjustment, then the transmission will never spin down. When you shift into reverse, the transmission will still be spinning, and you will grind some gears.
[/align][align=center]A poorly adjusted clutch cable will destroy your transmission in very short time, because it's similar to shifting without using the clutch.[/align][align=center]You will grind gears and destroy synchros (more on these next week). If the above test reveals problems with your cable or clutch - get it looked at immediately. It's a lot cheaper to fix or adjust your clutch than it is to rebuild your entire transmission.[/align]

 

that dont say anything about upshifting

 

yeah,Space don't know anything the internet don't tell him hehe

I'll try to rephrase what i said earlier.. what I said earlier was limited as the stie was in much poorer conditions for which I do apologize.

The weakness of hte transmission is the transmission not being able to take the power goign to it, it's the little clutches in the transmission that work to shift the gears and all those little internal parts. The shift linkage going from the transmission to your shift boot isn't hte problem. Now, it may wear a little for say, if you are going 80 mph and then down shift to second on a highway, that might hurt you... a little. But to be sitting on the line at the drag strip and up shift as you go, or put it in second and just go (what i'd do), that won't hurt the transmission anymore than it would had you put it in D and go.