O/D on or off?, a few questions about it Options

[LeonStryfe]

What does overdrive do?

What's the advantage of openning it? I always wondered what that damn button does.

This post has been edited by LeonStryfe: Feb 28, 2007 - 8:55 PM

[Negative]

Not on our cars. the manual's 5th gear leaves you at 4K RPMs @ 80MPH whereas the Auto's 4th Ratio [not gear technically] leaves you at roughly 3K RPM @ 80MPH [IIRC from my 95 GT Auto]. This is also why having your O/D on gives you better gas mileage at freeway speed than with it off [it does I promise - that's really the point of it].
Also if you take off from a stop with the O/D off the tranny will hold the shifts longer allowing you to reach higher engine speeds depending on throttle position sort of simulating what you would do with the manual. It's basically an attempt at making the autos more peppy like the manuals. There is a big diff between GT Manual and GT Auto. I've had both and that's the only reason I sold my 95 Auto - too damn slow.

This post has been edited by Negative: Mar 1, 2007 - 12:45 PM