Fulminatus

Hey guys,

I have an auto (leave the tomatoes at home!! =P ).

What exactly is "Overdrive"? The auto transmission is a 4-speed. The gear selectors are 1, 2, and D. I was under the impression that the 4th gear that it goes into was "overdrive", as when the car goes into the 4th gear, I can force it back into the 3rd gear by hitting the O/D button.

But is O/D a gear above the last 4th gear? I didn't notice this thing i'm gonna describe until this month. I picked up my car Sep 1, 2001. My car had about 8000 some odd KM on it when I noticed this.
My car used to idle at around 1800 to 1900 rpm on a flat road when I am going at a steady 60km/h.
This month, I noticed that my revs were between 1500 and 1600 rpm.
So I decided to test this. I went on a flat road and accelerated very conservatively. 1st to 2nd gear was very noticeable at about 20km/h. Gear switch around 2300rpm. 2nd to 3rd was at around 39km/h, Gear switch around 2100rpm. 3rd to 4th was at around 50km/h, gear switch around 2000rpm to 1450rpm, but when I hit 60, my rpms dropped once again. I swear my car has never done that before.
I tested it again, but this time, when I counted the 3rd change, at 50km/h, I hit the o/d button and my car revved up as it should. I toggled it back off, and my rpms dropped after a second or so. Now I know that I am in the 4th gear. So I keep accelerating, and when I hit slightly above 60km/h, my rpms dropped again. Note that I am not letting up on my gas pedal. I'm holding it down, but lightly.

Is this what overdrive is? I'm not complaining if my rpms at my coasting speed are below what I normally observe them to be. I'm just curious as to why I've never seen this before. Maybe my driving habits have changed, maybe I just wasn't paying attention (though I swear I've been paying attention cuz I've been concerned about my crappy mpg, L/100km). Or maybe this happens when your car is fully broken in??

Does this hold true for manual trannies in 5th, the rpms drop on their own even though you're not shifting up? Anyone else w/an auto that can verify this?

Thanks!

Fulminatus

ahhhhh... i see..
cool (at least I think it's a good thing) =).

Thanks for the info!

Sir Nuke

I remember something similar happening to me a few years ago when I KNEW I had a three speed auto.....and the next level of the same model up had the option of a 4 speed auto/overdrive....I thought for a while that I had some factory screw up that they had put the 4speed/od tranny in my car....it never said anywhere that they had lock up torque converters....then I started diggin into some info and found it in consumer reports.....then it made sence.