I have a 96 Civic EX. And yes, it is an auto, as non-racey as that is. If I need that extra speed when racing someone at an intersection or something, is there a proper way to go about shifting it between D4, D3, and 2? Please explain...

i am against shifting through the gears when racing. your tranny shifts at points most optimal under the curve so i say leave it in drive

Originally posted by civickiller
i am against shifting through the gears when racing. your tranny shifts at points most optimal under the curve so i say leave it in drive

I agree. Usually the automatic will shift faster than you shifting through the gears.

there was another thread about this same subject like last week or so.
i don't reccomend nor endorse shifting an auto like a stick just because you risk the fact of blowing ur transmission...
but if u don't care at a red light rev the piss out of ur car in neutral then smash it into 2:devil:

Aye cranium, I seen your car up on eastbayracing.com, how come youre the only import?

Originally posted by CivicSiRacer


I agree. Usually the automatic will shift faster than you shifting through the gears.

Having an auto in my Civic, I would have to agree with that, BUT...

It's not entirely true, here's why. Say you are going down thew freeway and get behind a car going we'll say 60-65mph, and that's just too slow for your style, so you change over a lane to pass the slow car. There's quite a many of times I've experienced flooring the gas to accelerate past this slow car, and they tranny will lag for a good 3-4 seconds before downshifting automatically (I'm in D4 the entire time), and so you aren't able to make the pass as quickly as you could if you down shift manually into D3. Doing so will force the tranny to downshift when you want it to, instead of waiting for it to do it itself. Reasons for the lag in D4 I'm not certain of, but I'm assuming the car is maybe trying to match revs, or wait till it's at a certain ratio within a range that's good enough to drop down a gear? I duon't relly know, but I DO know that downshifting in a situation like that will allow you to shift faster than your car would by itself. :) Still nothing as quick as a 5-speed manual I'll admit. ;)

my friend went to the track and ran .2 seconds slower manually shifting his auto from when he left it in D4

But if you have an automatic honda, why are you drag racing anyways?

OK, here it is, trust me on this folks, this method really works, just try it, you'll see a difference if you know your car well. Ok, start out in D3, crank it up to about 6000 RPM or so and shift into 2, crank it up to 6000, shift into D3, if the race is a long one, once your at 6000 again, shift to D4 and finish the race in it. Believe me, this really works well. Just give it a shot. But as everyone said, it's hard on the tranny, but I've never seen anything personally happen to a tranny form doing it, and I've seen alot of races run with this method. Give it a try n see.

i am the only import on www.eastbayracing.com cuz they just mostly happen to be domestics, but i do their website, so i'm in their group.

as far as me dragging my auto civic, i know it's slow, but when i am in line with a car i know i could beat, it's fun to do so.

How about starting at D1 then go D2, D3? would that be better?
if i remember correctly, if you start at D3 the tranny will shift at around 4500rpm even if u floor it. But if you start at D1, you can let it rev till 6000 rpm.

No, trust me, go from D# to 2 to D3 to D4, if u start in 1, there is a huge lag between 1st and second gear shifting, but when in D3, it shifts to second gear automatically, and then u keep it in 2. Then to D3 and so on. Don't go 1234, go 3234. Hope that explains it.

Neutral Drop it at like 6500 rpm

dont neutral drop your car, its really bad for it.

also automatics make the best drag racing cars. you run consistant times and you get more consistant rt's. better if you entering competition like brackets because youll always come close to your dial in

hey, what's the difference between d3 and d4??

i tried the 3,2,3,4 method. worked nicely. it gave me a bit more low end torque, helped me get off the line quicker, still has a bit of lag going from 1st to 2nd, but can't do any better in an auto i guess. too bad it costs money to get your ECU to shift quicker.

It costs money to make your car do "anything" faster ... why the hell are you complaining? LOL

Learn how to solder and its $20 vs. $200 :finger:

i know it's like over $800 to get a brand new modded ecu, and I haven't seen any good chips out there, plus i wouldn't really want to mess with my ecu, just in case i fuck something up.

I went out driving last night, and ended up "racing" an SI. He had DOHC VEC and all that and all I got is my SOHC VTEC with a CAI. Anywayz, the shifting worked. I started off in D3, let it rev to 6,500, shifted to 2, reved to 6,500 again, back into D3, reved again to 6,000 ,and finally into D4. Even though it was an SI with 30+ HP on me and a manual transmission, I did ok. Only got beat by about 1 second in a race that lasted about 1/5 mile. Not bad for an EX with an automatic tranny and just a CAI.

I wanted to know if revving it that hard does really bad things to the engine? Is it ok to do as long as it's not done more than a couple times a week?

everytime i race i rev my lx to 6500 rpm, and the engine sounds like it's gonna explode:p

me too, that's why i want to know how bad for my engine it is. it can't be any worse than putting a turbo on it, even though that would obviously create much higher power gains.

i got friends with b16as and gsrs and they race at out local track once a month. these guys make over 20 passes and they hit revlimiter when burningout, when they stage they hit revlimiter and launch at revlimiter, then of course take it up to redline when they race. they have been doing this for over 2 years and their engines are still running strong.

as long as you only do it once in a while, it wont have any major effects on your engine, but it does wear you engine more than normal. but change your timing belt and change your oil sooner than you normally would.

i got 195k on my car, and i hit redline at least 3 times a day. my car is still running. just dont stay up at redline, you know. go up to redline then shift, if you stay at redline then thats gonna wear you motor pretty good.

oh god, i've got so much to say about this post. but i'll keep it to a minimal. i wouldn't suggest messing with your transmission. neutral dropping is horrible for automatics because they're not designed for that stop-go instant motion. your transmission will fall out of the bottom of you car if you do that enough. second of all, once moving, the computer in your car still has to register the gears even if you are shifting. third, autos shift better than you will. i only agree to shifting manually if you are already moving, as mentioned above, and ONLY from D4 to D3. the gear options in your car are not designed for racing, they're designed for different driving conditions. don't expect them to perform for you during racing. just leave it in D4. and why the hell are you racing at red lights? are you ASKING for a ticket? geeez. and whoever said anything about 1 and 2, he has a 6th generation civic. they only have P,R,N,D4,D3, and 2. So I don't see how that's possible. That means you gotta go from D3 to 2, back to D3, and then to D4. Not worth the trouble...

(so much for keeping it minimal :p)

I never said anything about 1st gear or anything. I am aware of my auto gears. As far as not shifting goes, I have timed it, and I go faster from a stop going d3,2,d3,4, than just flooring it. It still drags from a full on stop, but it's a bit faster. As far as racing at red lights, I don't run red lights, and I only race for real maybe once a month, and I am very mindful of cops, so I won't be getting caught anytime soon.

I never said anything about 1st gear or anything. I am aware of my auto gears. As far as not shifting goes, I have timed it, and I go faster from a stop going d3,2,d3,4, than just flooring it. It still drags from a full on stop, but it's a bit faster. As far as racing at red lights, I don't run red lights, and I only race for real maybe once a month, and I am very mindful of cops, so I won't be getting caught anytime soon.

it was someone else who mentioned 1 and 2. i know you are aware of your gears. that's why i said "whoever said" :p but anyways, the reason it's faster than flooring is because v-tec isn't some heavenly gift from god. it wouldnt matter what gear you were in when accelerating anyways. and is winning a few street races worth the thousands of dollars for a new transmission? i can't really talk that much i used to do the EXACT same thing.

oh ya, and just because someone owns an Si, doesn't mean they know how to drive one. ;)

on the cops discussion, i know someone who got busted and lost their liscense their very first street race EVER. don't play your luck unless you're willing to lose. you might only do it once a month, or once a year, but that one time you do it and the cop is there, that won't matter.

maybe i'm being a little harsh on this whole topic. i just don't want to see you make the mistake i almost did. when it comes down to it, whether it helps your speed or not, its bad for the car. if you are that worried about shifting speeds, save up and switch to manual.

point well taken. i'll try to get my head out of my ass and listen to someone wiser in this than myself. haha.

I know I may be late on this, but have you tried "power shifting?"
If you know your car well, start in D3 take it up till its close to shifting then right before it shifts, take off the gas then floor it. You will feel a lil more pull and it cuts out the 3-4 sec gear switch lag. Then once again do the same but when you let off the gas this time, shift it into D4 and gun it. I have gotten the timin just right that I gun it when the vtec kicks in. You can feel your self pullin away from the next car.

As for at a stop, Put it into D3 pressd on the brakes and gas it till you feel it bout to pull away then let go of the brake when you want to launch.