Manually Downshifting an A4
Thread Starter
11 Second Club
iTrader: (6)
Joined: Jan 2006
Posts: 416
Likes: 0
From: Cocoa, Florida
Manually Downshifting an A4 On the way home from the track tonight an old beat Camaro kinda slingshots me. I nail it at about 70mph and it downshifts and i start to reel him in, but barely. A minute later I downshift from OD to D and then to 2nd. But this time i reeled him in and pulled a car length on him. I've read different posts about how this will kill your tranny. So whats the real deal.
Thread Starter
11 Second Club
iTrader: (6)
Joined: Jan 2006
Posts: 416
Likes: 0
From: Cocoa, Florida
It's the only way you can beat anything from a high speed roll. You stomp on it and it downshifts, but only 1 gear to like 3k. I need to be able to go down 2 gears so i can bring my rpms up for torque.
Get a stall torque converter, it's the only way to go! Down shifting into second shouldn't hurt anything HOWEVER, I do not trust it. Reason being, I had a V6 before my Z and stripped the reaction shell in my tranny for some odd reason. I'm left to believe that it was from me always manually downshifting into second and first to play around. Just some advice from someone who has had repair work done on an automatic, which I still have an auto in my Z but I'm saving for 3600 Vigilante stall.
Banned
Joined: Dec 2005
Posts: 36
Likes: 0
From: Columbus, Ga
I did that in my 2003 silverado, with shift kit and servos, and 60000 miles later havent had a problem.. I do it every now and then in my Z, but Im planning on getting a stall converter, and im waiting ot have my shift kit and stuff put in!!
Board Certified Idiot
Joined: Oct 2005
Posts: 714
Likes: 0
From: EHT ..New JERSEY
IF your going to down shift make sure to release the gas 1st for a split sec then down shift.doing it once in a while never hurts it.Itsfools that keep the GAS smashed as they down shift from higher speeds that start to hurt the tranny. Then they blame the tranny and call it a POS for breaking .
Thread Starter
11 Second Club
iTrader: (6)
Joined: Jan 2006
Posts: 416
Likes: 0
From: Cocoa, Florida
Originally Posted by Z2K_MrJ
IF your going to down shift make sure to release the gas 1st for a split sec then down shift.doing it once in a while never hurts it.Itsfools that keep the GAS smashed as they down shift from higher speeds that start to hurt the tranny. Then they blame the tranny and call it a POS for breaking .
Trending Topics
LS1 Tech Stories
The Best V8 Stories One Small Block at Time
6 Common C5 Corvette Failures and What's Involved In Repairing Them
Pouria Savadkouei
Retro Modern Bandit Pontiac Trans AM Comes With Burt Reynolds' Autograph
Verdad Gallardo
Top 10 Greatest Cadillac V Series Performance Models Ever, Ranked
Pouria Savadkouei
Top 10 Most Powerful Chevy Trucks Ever Made!
Hennessey's New Supercharged Silverado ZR2 Has 700 HP
Verdad Gallardo
Coachbuilt N2A Anteros Is an LS2-Powered C6 Corvette In Italian Clothes
Verdad Gallardo
Awesome K5 Blazer Restomod Comes With C7 Corvette Power
Verdad Gallardo
10 Camaros You Should Never Buy
10 LS Engine Myths That Refuse to Die
Verdad Gallardo
Staging Lane
Joined: Jun 2004
Posts: 52
Likes: 1
Several people knowledgeable with the internals of the 4l60e (trans builders) have said that letting the ecu downshift 4-2 is REALLY nasty for the transmission. The reason being... you are cruising at semi-highway speeds in 4th gear, you go WOT and the engine goes under full power AS the transmission is making a really really big jump down into 2nd. This will always cause a little slipping. So, according to what's been said before (again, by some pros who build 4l60e's), it's best to ease it down into 3rd *not* under power, let the revs catch up a little bit, and then drop to 2nd or let the ECU take it into 2nd. If you think of how the A4's are geared, going 4-2 it's similar to dropping down *three* gears in a manual withOUT revmatching or double-clutching. That's a pretty big downshift at WOT with no revmatch.
For these reasons, I tend to avoid lettng the ecu go 4->2 at WOT. If you have to, bleed off a little speed, pick the right gear, and then accelerate up to your racing speed.
For these reasons, I tend to avoid lettng the ecu go 4->2 at WOT. If you have to, bleed off a little speed, pick the right gear, and then accelerate up to your racing speed.
TECH Enthusiast
Joined: Jan 2004
Posts: 574
Likes: 0
From: Chattanoga TN
Originally Posted by tiresmokeLS1
Several people knowledgeable with the internals of the 4l60e (trans builders) have said that letting the ecu downshift 4-2 is REALLY nasty for the transmission.
TECH Resident
Joined: Nov 2001
Posts: 943
Likes: 0
From: Barbaria
It depends where the pcm cuts off the downshift points. I don't know what it is for a 2.73 car, but with 3.23s the pcm won't shift down to 2nd at full throttle above 60mph, anywhere under that and it will go all the way down to 2nd.
There's a similar break at 30mph, where it won't downshift back to first.
There's a similar break at 30mph, where it won't downshift back to first.
Is it ok to just be crusing around town doing 30 and drop it from D (in Firebird) OD in (Camaro) to 2nd just to make it louder and more noticible? I do that at times but I hate to hurt my trans
Thread Starter
11 Second Club
iTrader: (6)
Joined: Jan 2006
Posts: 416
Likes: 0
From: Cocoa, Florida
Originally Posted by spec_j
well i look at it like this, its a AUTOMATIC for a reason, if it was ment ot be shifted then it would be a M6
Board Certified Idiot
Joined: Oct 2005
Posts: 714
Likes: 0
From: EHT ..New JERSEY
Belive it or Not you cant down shift your car to where it will Not hurt the tanny. its a safty feture. Gm has in the A4 Try doing 60ish or w.e and drop it into 1st it wont go. For racing best advice to give is to Relase the Gas then Apply it after the down shift into the gear selected.
On The Tree
Joined: Jul 2005
Posts: 153
Likes: 1
First of all let me set you all straight. Downshifting from OD to 3rd is not good on your 60E. you can do it every now and then "I QUESS" but be warned. Downshifting from O/D to 3rd brings the over-run clutches on. Continually doing this will break the lugs off the over-run hub of the input sprag. "Do not" backshift the lever without giving it some throttle to match the rpm's.
So if you want to replace a new tranny go ahead and keep trying to downshift it.
As many have asked also, it is ok to UPSHIFT your 60E. But to tell you the truth why the hell would you want to? The "E" at the end of 4L60E means electronic which means your PCM can make the descion faster and better than you can. so leave it alone. Now if you are cruising in say 3rd and want to flip it up to OD bc your on the highway and want better gas mileage then it is perfectly safe to do so.
So if you want to replace a new tranny go ahead and keep trying to downshift it.
As many have asked also, it is ok to UPSHIFT your 60E. But to tell you the truth why the hell would you want to? The "E" at the end of 4L60E means electronic which means your PCM can make the descion faster and better than you can. so leave it alone. Now if you are cruising in say 3rd and want to flip it up to OD bc your on the highway and want better gas mileage then it is perfectly safe to do so.
TECH Enthusiast
Joined: Jan 2004
Posts: 574
Likes: 0
From: Chattanoga TN
Originally Posted by narc
So if you want to replace a new tranny go ahead and keep trying to downshift it. .
.
Originally Posted by tiresmokeLS1
Several people knowledgeable with the internals of the 4l60e (trans builders) have said that letting the ecu downshift 4-2 is REALLY nasty for the transmission. The reason being... you are cruising at semi-highway speeds in 4th gear, you go WOT and the engine goes under full power AS the transmission is making a really really big jump down into 2nd. This will always cause a little slipping. So, according to what's been said before (again, by some pros who build 4l60e's), it's best to ease it down into 3rd *not* under power, let the revs catch up a little bit, and then drop to 2nd or let the ECU take it into 2nd. If you think of how the A4's are geared, going 4-2 it's similar to dropping down *three* gears in a manual withOUT revmatching or double-clutching. That's a pretty big downshift at WOT with no revmatch.
For these reasons, I tend to avoid lettng the ecu go 4->2 at WOT. If you have to, bleed off a little speed, pick the right gear, and then accelerate up to your racing speed.
For these reasons, I tend to avoid lettng the ecu go 4->2 at WOT. If you have to, bleed off a little speed, pick the right gear, and then accelerate up to your racing speed.
^ Should be a sticky.
