3rd on auto box secret weapon?

[nobananas]

My old granada 2.8 estate had a three speed auto in it !. 1st was good for about 70mph,2nd would see 110mph then 3rd........actually at this point all the oil fell out the rear crankseal and I as well as most of the M1 had to stop !

[Peter Harvey]

don't you find your left foot goes to sleep ?

Not if you brake with it. Doing that is better for balance with an auto anyway. Beats the auto 'lag' and gets the power down when you need it because you can be on the gas sooner.

[stuAWD]

When my left foot goes sleep, so does the rest of me.
If it actually goes to sleep while I'm driving loooooook ooooouuuuut.

[M44K TS]

If you think keeping it in 3 is impressive, slow to about 40 then select L. It goes to 2nd. I showed a mate of mine last night how quick these cars can be. It pulled from 40 -90 in 2nd within a few seconds.

that's mph aswell

[Babybadger]

If you think keeping it in 3 is impressive, slow to about 40 then select L. It goes to 2nd. I showed a mate of mine last night how quick these cars can be. It pulled from 40 -90 in 2nd within a few seconds.

that's mph aswell

Won't that break the box doing that?

[dan_burdock]

Whats L for?

[chriskay]

No, the rev. limiter will save it & the box won't let you select a gear too low for the road speed. Not altogether sympathetic though. (Still, you've got to have a bit of fun from time to time).
Cheers, Chris.

[chriskay]

Whats L for?

'L' restricts the box to gears 1 & 2. However, if you're in Economy & you slow to about 20 MPH, the box will select '1', with quite a jerk. If you're in Sport, it doesn't select '1' till about 6 MPH. Also, once it's selected '1', it won't change up again until you move the stick to '3' or 'D'
Cheers, Chris.

[al c]

Is "L" not for lockdown?

As in it locks the box in 1st?

[chriskay]

You may be right; I always thought it stood for 'Low'. Certainly, with 'L' selected, once the box is in '1' it won't change up to '2'; could be useful on VERY steep descents, but if the road speed is high enough when you select 'L', it uses '2' until the speed is low enough for '1'. Conversely, in 'Winter', '1' is locked out & it starts in '2'
Cheers, Chris.

[nobananas]

Don't do what a mate of mine did when he was an apprentice mechanic and select 'p' at 80 mph !....big black marks....

[M44K TS]

ROFL is that why he was an apprentice!

I had my fun with the 'box but i won't be doing it again. Just decided how far i could push it in L because i wasn't 100% sure what it was for.

On the subject of 'park', (2 seperate occasions here) A mate of mine decided to put the car in drive when i was parked up and out the car, i thought he's mature enough not to touch the lever with the engine running and no handbrake. How wrong i was, i heard the car move then a loud thud, i turned around and seen my car about 2mm off the back bumper of a brand new Merc. bouncing back and forth.

Couple of months later, i pulled over to close my boot properly, and another 'mate' decided it would be hilarious to jump in the driving seat and drive away leaving me in the middle of the road. He came back, still rolling and shifted straight to Park. A slightly louder thud this time and i feared the worst.

Tip for auto owners that have mates that don't know the first thing about driving them. If you get out the car, take the keys!