Help me help a friend with a bad driving habit
 

Lets just say he really wishes his 2.0 ES Auto was a manual ;)
He will let off right before the tranny upshifts, then hits it again when its engaging the next gear.

I've yelled at him plenty of times citing every technical and possible reason why the clutch packs and valve bodies hate him with a passion, yet he still does it.

So I'm hoping if I can get a few responses from a few people here and link him to this it'll be another wedge in keeping him from a tranny rebuild in the near future. :)

Be as broad and concise as you feel, or simple insults will do :D

Thanks,
Geoff

You did your job by warning him, if he doesn't want to take your advice then let him learn the hard way by spending $$$ when his tranny gets f*ed up, then you can go: "I told you so" and remind him about it everyday for the rest of his life.

what more can be said.....he will do what he wants.....from personal experience with a sloppy auto a long time ago...it will end up eating the clutch packs/bands....and all of a sudden, one day he will hit the gas and the engine will rev up and the car will only start off real slow.....and finally catch up....and the same for the other gears....the engine will rev up and slowly catch up....just as if you were slipping the clutch in a manual tranny.....then it will eventually just stop moving altogether.

Haha, why did your friend not get a manual in the first place?

I have a friend with the same problem. What can I tell him?


Thanks

Well, I may have the same bad habbit.
I just bought a sportmatic P5.
When my wife drives it, she put the tranny on auto mode. When I drive it, I swtich the tranny to the shiftable mode.
For me, I always forget I am not driving a stick shift and I let go of the gas padel everytime I press the level to shift up gear, then step back on the gas padle again when the gear up is done, just like in a real manual tranny car.

Am I not suppose to do that? Should I keep my foot on the gas even when I use the sportmatic tranny to shift up?
What kind of damage will cause to the car we are talking about here?

yes, you should keep your foot on the gas. might i suggest you just leave it in "auto mode" like your wife does, as there is virtually no difference in performance anyway.

Correct me if I am wrong.
I guess there is a difference.
In auto mode, the tranny upshift itself automatically (Duh!!!)
But in shiftable mode, I can hold the gear and boost up the rev. before shifting up to the next gear.

Wow, yeah, that "boost up the rev" makes a huge difference on that 130 HP 4 banger.

All I can say is I test drove a P5 with the "sportmatic" automatic, and I wasnt impressed with its perfromance, and it didnt make a difference if I shifted it manually or let it do the shifting. Theres just not enough power being made to make a whole lot of difference. yes, you might get minimal gains by shifting it yourself, but hardly worth the extra revs on your engine in my opinion.

While I would agree that sportmatics are pretty much useless, a waste of money, and no subsitute for a real stick, I would say that they are more useful on a lower-powered vehicle than on a higher. On a more powerful vehicle, like my mom's 225 HP 3.2 TL, there's no great advantage to a downshift (although the VTEC with the 6 is kinda fun), with a stronger wider power band. It does make more sense to have more engine control in a lower-powered vehicle so that you can make best use of the power it does have. But I still don't think sport-shifty automatics are the answer.

If you can't handle a manual, buy an automatic to think for you. But then don't go back and try to outsmart it.

Thats why manual shifts are popular with small engine, low power vehicles. I wouldnt say that a "sportmatic" gives you very much more engine control over lettting the auto do its own shifting though. have you driven one? The auto is computer controlled and will downshift or upshift when it needs too. It actually does a very good job on its own, and there isnt any advantage to the driver trying to do this that I can see.

Now thats just not right. Did it ever occur to you thare are very good reasons to own an automatic and to sterotype automatic drivers into a group of people who "cant handle" a manual is ridiculous.

:D :D :D :D :D
I like saying things tongue-in-cheek. There are reasons, but my car will never be auto.

Thanks man!
This is a very understanding statement indeed.
My wife doesn't drive manual.
That's why we bought the auto tranny for our P5.
We have a P5 and 1994 Corolla now.
When I sell my 94 Corolla later, I will have more freedom to choose our 2nd car. I can be confident it is going to be a stick shift for sure. And I will leave the P5 for her to drive. She actually love to drive this P5 alot.

Lighten up folks. It's good for your health.
 

Like I said, "tongue in cheek". You don't really think I'd mean it if I said something like, "You married someone who doesn't drive stick???"

;)

I can see two solutions to this problem:
1.) teach her
2.) teach her