Power/ Economy Switch

[00blackzx3]

Ok I am trying to figure exactly why the switch for economy to power (located near the shifter) is even in the car. I turn it to power on my SL ATX and it has no gain what SO ever. What is the fastest way to make these things go? Im thinkin Overdrive off and manually shifting.

[Hotshot8792]

Originally Posted by 00blackzx3

Ok I am trying to figure exactly why the switch for economy to power (located near the shifter) is even in the car. I turn it to power on my SL ATX and it has no gain what SO ever. What is the fastest way to make these things go? Im thinkin Overdrive off and manually shifting.

Power/Economy switch just controls shift points on the tranny. It tends to shift a bit sooner in economy mood which is supposedly supposed to help save gas. Try this, put it in economy, floor it and watch where it shifts (around 6K) then do the same in power and watch where it shifts (around 7K).

As far as the fastest way, only thing overdrive will help you do is if you are racing from a roll, pulling it out of overdrive will go ahead and downshift you so you dont have as bad of a delay (if you dont have a shift kit installed). From a stop, just leave it in drive, put it in power mode, push the brake in, hit the accelerator, and let off the brake after your converter has loaded up.

[StealthModifier]

Also in PWR mine seems to have a better throttle response. like in ECO u can put it half way to the floor and it still wont get up. As far as manual shifting it pretty much sucks. it will shift probably 3 seconds after u have put it into the next gear... at least mine does.

[turbo ES]

when im goin at like 25 or so and punch it it wont go into first so its really slow from there when the power is on itll go to first and go pretty decent

[Old and good]

i have noticed in my car that its not only the shift points but the car also shifts to a lower gear rather than trying to torq its way up to better rpm's in the power mode

[Hotshot8792]

Originally Posted by turbo ES

when im goin at like 25 or so and punch it it wont go into first so its really slow from there when the power is on itll go to first and go pretty decent

thats because of the rpm shift points of the economy. Also, a shift kit will also help it downshift real quick into the lower gears.

[00blackzx3]

Originally Posted by StealthModifier

Also in PWR mine seems to have a better throttle response. like in ECO u can put it half way to the floor and it still wont get up. As far as manual shifting it pretty much sucks. it will shift probably 3 seconds after u have put it into the next gear... at least mine does.

Haha dont you hate that! It scares me cuz you shift and then the tranny never shifts until a couple seconds after you did it. I remember the first time i manually shifted that car, scared the absolute hell out of my me. I bet a shift kit would fix everything though. Dont you love that 4th gear (od) on the interstate though I just recently smoked some cavalier on the interstate, i got up to 135 and couldnt see him in my mirror anymore, it was a very funny race. Oh and I about lost my moonroof, very scary, it was just flopping up and down cuz i have a broken hinge on the drivers side.

[StealthModifier]

where can u get this shift kit?? and what all does it do.

00blackzx3.. so u beat a cavalier? try racing one from a stop. ive had one behind me b4 at a light and floored it, next theing i know he jumps in the lane to the left of me an walks past me : \ no way that thing was stock tho.. drove home kinda confused that day...

[Hotshot8792]

its called a Translab TL-175, you can get it from importperformancetranmissions.com

It makes your transmission shift very quick, much quicker than a manual can, and it also takes care of the delay of downshifting when you mash the pedal to the floor.

[StealthModifier]

how exactly does it work? and is it hard to install?

[00blackzx3]

yes i am very intersted in this as well... whats installation like...

[Hotshot8792]

it basically works by installing stiffer springs and increasing the pressure inside your valve body.

As far as installation, its not an easy installation, you would need some knowledge of how to do it, but its nothing impossible. I did mine, works beautifully, and all i needed was a set of 1/4 inch socketwrench set, the kit, and silicon gasketmaker. Remember, you will be opening up the transmission, pulling out the valve body, tear it down completely, and put it all back together.

[StealthModifier]

tear it down completely? nevermind, i think ill wait on that one .... is there a site anywhere that shows the install and pics?

so the only thing in the kit is stiffer springs?