3 ms·

Every single automatic transmission car I've been to (couple of dozen, US) had the low gear.

• gumby 5y ago
  Can you shift into it when moving and will it perform engine braking? Not sure the AT would survive that.
  • sbierwagen 5y ago
    From the owner's manual for the 2001 Ford Explorer, page 167: https://www.fordservicecontent.com/Ford_Content/Catalog/owner_information/2001-Expl-version-2_om_EN-US_06_2000.pdf https://www.fordservicecontent.com/Ford_Content/Catalog/owne... >Use 2 (Second) to start-up on slippery roads or to provide additional engine braking on downgrades. >Use 1 (First) to provide maximum engine braking on steep downgrades. The weak point is the engine, not the transmission. If you're at 7,000 in fourth gear, and you command a shift to 1st gear, it will grenade your crankshaft. Some transmission control modules are smart enough to refuse to do this.
    • gumby 5y ago
      I am surprised annautomatic transmission can handle that. But I guess we are a long way from the old synchromesh days. Live and learn!
      • mdoms 5y ago
        Synchromesh is a manual transmission technology and is perfectly robust to downshifting. Every auto gearbox in history has been capable of downshifting and can handle it just fine. I downshift my 50 year old C4 transmission regularly.