When do i use overdrive in a car

Your car will automatically shift into top gear if necessary, regardless of your selection. When you drive at more than 60mph 50mph in case of older vehicles , the RPM increases and the engine starts taking more and more strain. Turning on the OD will work like magic to take the pressure away from the engine and bring down the RPM. The braking system has to take a lot when you drive downhill or get stuck in an extended traffic jam. Driving down a steep road requires you to put continuous pressure on the brake pedal while extended traffic requires sudden pushing of the pedal and speeding the car.

If you use the OD in those situations, it will keep the RPM above idle without straining the brake and the engine. Turning on overdrive in automatic car will allow you to utilize the full range of the transmission. It also helps with the transmission life optimization and increasing fuel efficiency.

However, if you use it incorrectly such as while towing a trailer, driving uphill, or speeding at less than 50mph, it will cause irreparable damage. Driving Tips. However, there are situations where you should never use overdrive. One such situation is when you are climbing a hill or going off-road.

These applications require high-torque, which is exactly what overdrive restricts. Furthermore, using overdrive is a bad idea if you are looking to overtake a vehicle. In general, overdrive technology is suitable only for cruising. That is the only situation when you could make good use of it.

Do not under any circumstances mistake overdrive with high-performance, or you could get in big trouble. Cruising saves fuel, and when done with overdrive, cruising can really save you some money.

Contrary to popular belief, both automatic and manual cars have overdrive functionality. The overdrive gear performs the same in both manual and automatic cars because, in essence, it is just a gear that has a low ratio in modern cars. The real difference is exactly what you would expect, and that is, in a manual car, you have to select when to apply the overdrive gear, while in an automatic car, the overdrive gear is activated by the ECU.

Some automatic vehicles also come with a separate overdrive button to press the get better fuel efficiency. When it comes to manual cars, the highest gear on the transmission is usually touted as the overdrive gear since it has the lowest gear ratio. Most cars nowadays have 5 gears on them, but you can even find some cars with six or seven gears. Like for example, the overdrive gear in a six-gear transmission would be the sixth gear.

This is the reason why having more gears equals a better fuel economy. The higher the number of gears in the transmission, the lower the gear ratio will be. That is why trucks have nine, ten, and even fourteen gears.

They can easily conserve fuel as they travel long distances in very high gears. Almost all car models have some kind of overdrive gear, and it applies to both manual and automatic transmissions. However, if you are talking about the classic overdrive gear with a button on manual transmissions, it is an old feature that applied to some older car models. Older automatic transmissions had the same type of overdrive gear that is engaged automatically instead of using a button to engage it.

Yes, the overdrive function reduces the RPMs of the engine at a higher speed and therefore saves a lot of gas for you. If you are driving at too low RPMs, it can increase fuel consumption instead, though. It is never a good idea to tow a car in overdrive gear. When you are towing a car — you would prefer to have as much torque as possible.

Overdrive is also useful when you want to overtake, when you want to climb uphill, and when you want to make engine braking more effective. There is a method called "kick down" as a method to shift down from overdrive. This is shifting down at the same time as you step on the accelerator. However, there is a slight time lag before shifting down with this method, which may make it difficult to use.

Moreover, it can not be used for downshifting in order to make engine braking more effective. So by switching overdrive from ON to OFF, it instantly shifts down a gear, so you can accelerate more quickly and use engine braking well.

Illuminated lights indicate that overdrive is OFF, but a blinking light is warning of an abnormality in the transmission. Immediately go to a mechanic to have the vehicle checked and repaired. There are several causes of blinking. Failure of the control solenoid valve, automatic fluid leakage, clogging of the control hydraulic path when the automatic fluid is exchanged, etc. If you understand the overdrive information explained above, you should be able to drive more enjoyably and safely than before.