GenVibe - Community for Pontiac Vibe Enthusiasts

When should I turn on or off overdrive?

Some people say if your are going less than 45 then you can have it off, but I leave mine on all the time.

Your car will typically shift into overdrive (OD), on steady acceleration, between 38-40 mph. You have very low torque in this range and won't be able to accelerate quickly if you need to.I almost always drive with OD on, but if I need to pass, I'll turn it off and downshift the car into 3rd gear. Also, if I'm on a long hill, I may turn OD off so the car won't try to shift into OD while climbing. That doesn't happen very often in Houston!

Mine seems to go into overdrive at somewhere between 25 and 30 MPH. If I set the cruise for something in between 25 and 30 and then hit the OD switch, I can feel it shift and the RPMs come up slightly.

I have turned mine off when going down a long hill, when in heavier traffic so you don't have to keep hitting your brakes and in winter to help slow down when trying to stop in slippery areas. When passing the auto tranny will downshift on it's own once you press the accelerator far enough, so I don't use it for that.

Quote, originally posted by BlueCrush »I have turned mine off when going down a long hill, when in heavier traffic so you don't have to keep hitting your brakes and in winter to help slow down when trying to stop in slippery areas. When passing the auto tranny will downshift on it's own once you press the accelerator far enough, so I don't use it for that.Far enough... I have to really push it to get it to do a 4-3 downshift, but then just a little bit more will do a 3-2 downshift. It doesn't mind unlocking the torque converter though.

Is there a big difference when driving normally with OD off or on, with no hills?

http://forums.genvibe.com/zerothread?id=15765 It has been a topic before.