ucdgreek

might be a dumb question but i just dont know the answer...should u always drive with overdrive on or should it be off at certain times..i c that it is automatically on when u turn on the car.

chrisc

press the button so it says O/D OFF if you want a bit more power out of it. it stops the car in 4th gear so it is bad on highways MPG wise

mustangman02232

its an OD on off button it makes no difference in the power

fitbikeco

ya OD off just means that the 5th gear (overdrive gear) is off this is good for driving on hills at low speeds like 40
its all in the manual that comes with the car it will explain in better detail what this does
now as for the OD on or off i usually leave it on for better gas mileage
but when im racing at the track i dont want the fifth gear so i turn it off

LX200

I turn OD off on back roads... the car really wants to shift into OD, so on a back road, where you might want a little more jump, I turn OD off. What it does it keeps the car from having to downshift from 5th to 4th when you punch it a little. It saves that 1/2 second it takes to respond to the throttle and downshift. Makes the car seem more responsive. In general, leave the OD on, you are saving money when you get down into OD.

celenztah

Supposedly, if you are driving in situations "frequently" that may cause the car to shift from 5th to 4th and back to 5th repeatedly, this can be hard on the car. The manual references city driving, climbing hills and/or towing for examples in this case.

As for "fuel economy", the manual also references that while driving in the above conditions, you will have better fuel economy with OD off. And when you will be driving long, highway stretches, you will have better fuel economy with OD on.

I personally experience about a 50/50 mix of city driving and highway driving and as such, I have experimented with leaving OD on all the time and turning it off for the city type driving. Without being scientific, just from "feel" and knowing how my fuel level needle typically moves... I would say that I do in fact get a tad better fuel economy by selectively choosing OD to be on while on the freeway and off while doing the city type driving.

More power without OD? Not exactly IMHO, but rather a bit more responsive if anything. With OD on, the car seems to like to hang out in 5th even when you slow way down below 5th gear speeds. Also, I know some may not care for the engine breaking, but I like it for fuel economy reasons while driving "city style" and with OD off... engine breaking works much better (at least it seems to for me).

I've asked this question here before, read the manual and experimented with this in real time. I do not think that my approach to it (selectively turning OD on or off depending on conditions) will change much now.

joshetc

Isnt the whole point in OD so the car shifts into 5th gear when you are coasting or at highway speeds to reduce engine resistance?

fitbikeco

for the most part

celenztah

OD at highway speeds = reduced RPMs... less spinning = less gas used... That may be less engine resistance. I don't remember the exact numbers, but roughly, if I am doing 60 in 4th, I'm at around 2500 RPMs... but in OD/5th at 60... it's more like 1500 (or so... like I said... I don't remember exactly... )

Horrific_Ending

I pretty much have overdrive on when i am on the highway and turn it off when i am driving in the city. I get pretty good gas mileage too. at first its a pain in the butt turning it on and off, but you get use to it after awhile. now i get into the car and automaticaly turn it off.