Newb Transmission Question

[fadeaway]

Hey what's up, I know not much about how cars work, etc, so embarrasment aside, here I go:

I drive my parents 98 camry everywhere, it's an automatic, and I noticed the different gears other than drive below that, which are "L" and "2". My friend told me that even though the car is an auto, I would get more power from starting in L, moving to 2nd, then to drive. How true is this, and will it mess up the car?

Thanks.

Dan

[MagicRat]

There will be no difference.
Your car has 4 gears in the transmission. If you select D, the trans will shift automatically using the first 3 gears. If you choose OD it will shift automatically using all 4 gears, ( the fourth gear is overdrive, hence the OD label)

Placing the car in L will hold the transmission in first gear. It will not shift up. If you try and speed up the engine will spin higher and higher, but not shift. It is not good to rev the engine too high, especially if it is not under load, such as hard acceleration.
Position 2 holds the transmission in second gear. On some cars, it will shift automatically from first to second gear, but no more.
These lower gears are mostly intended for the driver to maintain better control over a car when it is going up or down very steep hills, especially if it is heavily loaded or pulling a trailer.
For most people, 99.9999999% of the time, using D or OD is the best choice. You can shift manually by moving the lever while driving if you like, (just don't do anything extreme, like try to engage first or second at freeway speeds) although the car will run better and last longer if you leave it to work automatically.

[fadeaway]

Thanks for that explanation, it really helps.

[MagicRat]

You are welcome.