i have an automatic 85 firebird and i know it is bad to shift it manually but i herd when you are shifting it if you let off the gas it isn't bad for the tranny because all of torque isn't slaming the gears togeather is that true? or is it still bad.

 

It's actually better for the gears to be shifted under load.
You can upshift, downshift your automatic all you want and it's not going to hurt it.
Besides, whats the point of a manual upshift if you're going to let off the gas in the middle of it?

 

i was told by the guy that built my tranny that it does not matter if i want to just stick it in drive and go or manually shift it, he said that manually shifting it will give it a little more line pressure and hit a little harder but he has customers that do it both ways and it does not matter

 

I've heard it's much better when manually shifting an auto to give it a little more gas when up or downshifting. This keeps the engine rpms higher than the drivetrain rpms, and doesn't hit the engine with torsen forces.

I try to give it a little gas whenever i downshift to D and when i upshift to OD.