"special move"

I know it's nothing big and it's probably stupid, but I have a 1990 four-door sedan toyota corolla. It's slow. A lot of times, up hills especially when I just want to go fast, or if I feel like trying to "race" a car, I'll drop it into neutral for like a second, and let it rev up a little higher, then I'll drop it back into drive and it'll stay at a higher RPM for a while, and it'll help me go a lot faster. I don't have an RPM gauge, didn't come with it, so I make sure not to rev it too long. What exactly am I damaging in the car? My friend told me I'm screwing with the belt and it might mess up and tear if I do it too much.

if its an automatic car like it sounds, then you might be damaging the transmission because of the heat generated by the rise and fall of the RPM's as you throw it into drive. my advice:dont do it...

and which belt is your friend talking about?

not sure, just said a belt.

What you're doing is referred to as neutral dropping and it fucks the hell out of the transmission. If you're going up a hill just put overdrive on and you'll get an extra boost. Unless you want to replace your tranny, I'd highly recommend not neutral dropping any more.

ah, thought so. It was the quickest way I knew of getting more power, cause it just clicks over to neutral so easily. Overdrive is basically 2 on the shifter right? I read my manual randomly, and that's just for going up hills and stuff in 2nd gear, and most of the time when I need the extra power, I'm already going over the speed they say to go.

If you have OD it should be a little button on the side of the gear selctor. You can drop into 2 also and then shift back into D, but make sure your foot IS NOT on the gas when you do shift. Your best bet is to just floor it in drive and it should downshift automatically.

duuuurrrhhhhh...

wouldnt you turn the overdrive off to get up hills better?

wouldnt you turn the overdrive off to get up hills better?

Yup...my mistake. When you push the button on the gear selector, a light on the guage cluster should come on that says "O/D OFF" or something like that.

ok. just making sure.lol...its one that people get mixed up a lot. wether they do know like you and just type wrong or just misinformed.

I don't have overdrive, I only have two and L, which basically means I can downshift to 2nd gear and first for going up hills, but the maximum speed for 2 is 70 kmh, and I need it around 85, that's about 50 miles per hour, thats where my engine just slows down a lot.

Oh, and just to let you know. It's no "special move."

I am new to cars. My question is what is overdrive? I normally drive my car in city limits and sometimes on freeways, not mountain drives. so should I keep O/D on or off? If I turn off the O/D will there be any change in milage per gallon, will the milage be increased? will it damage anything to engine? Thank in advance and I will appreciate your help.

My head hurts!

Overdrive means a less than 1:1 final drive ratio. It is used on flat level roads where there is not a need for great power. Your best milage will be atained in overdrive. Correct me if I am wrong, but I am guessing that most modern transmissions should downshift in and out of OD without a manual downshift. If you are climbing hills, or doing stop and go driving, do not shift into overdrive.

As far as the person with the lugging engine, do not shift the car into neutral while traveling up hill, manualy shift down into second. There are a few things you need to check if your car is lugging.

Fuel pump pressure.

transmission fluid level and color

dragging brakes [parking and hydralic]