Manually Shifting An Automatic

[mad max]

well.. why would they then also put winter mode? That automatically puts you in a higher gear

[jross]

My understanding of it (and I know this is how my old car worked, because I helped rebuild that tranny) is that when you select a gear on the AT, you don't actually select that gear, but you tell the AT not to shift above that gear; that is to say, if you select 2nd, you limit the shift range to 1st and 2nd; if you select 3rd, you get 1st, 2nd and 3rd; &etc. Winter mode actually starts the car in 2nd, but with the shifter selection, that only prevents you from upshifting past a certain point.

[Che'_Moderator]

well.. why would they then also put winter mode? That automatically puts you in a higher gear

Because that's a piece of automotive antiquity. Ever see a car with just P-R-D?

[matt1122]

Because that's a piece of automotive antiquity. Ever see a car with just P-R-D?

Another reason why the winter button is good instead of having the transmissions L functions work as Charles said is because of all the soccer moms with volvo 850 wagons. Do you think they have the slightest clue that L is for anything other than Laundry Speed? Pressing the winter button saves them the trouble or reading the manual while still giving them the ability to utilize such functions of the transmission. It also has a timer or speed sensitive thingy or something I believe, so it keeps one from accidentally leaving it in L while they are going 80.

"What gear is it in?"

"This thing has gears?"

On older models (the 4 spd in the 850) W works in the lower gears to provide even MORE control. (Position 3 is 2nd gear ONLY, Position L is 1st gear ONLY). On the 2000 AWD though it's only supposed to work in D.

But actually on the 2000 AWD Turbo the 4, 3, and L positions all shift freely between 1 and 2 and in 3 and 4 those gears are also available, respectively... maybe... I don't even think that was a sentence. But that is true for all of our transmissions as far as I know (I'm not going to read every manual so check yours). In otherwords jross is right, 4, 3, and L won't start you in higher than first gear. W will.