Five Things To Never Do in an Automatic Car

Automatic transmission is the real deal today. Why go for a stick when you can drive automatic? And for many reasons too. Driving an automatic transmission car is more straightforward than handling a manual car. Automatic cars have been described as the most reliable and easy to use and today, even heavy trucks are coming in automatic transmission. This is all good, but it does not mean that you will never mess up while driving automatic cars.

Here are some of the things you should not attempt with your automatic cars:

Never coast your car in neutral mode

Automatic transmissions have the capacity to cut fuel while you drive downhill on their own. So the need to change your car to neutral while letting it go downhill would not help save fuel. In this case, it is hard to accelerate the car in this mode. When they help cut down fuel consumption while coasting downhill, this makes them be fuel efficient like their manual counterparts.

Avoid using the neutral, reverse, driving and parking modes while the car is moving

It is always advisable to switch these modes when the car is not moving. Automatic transmissions work in a way such that the switch between the gears involves the use of clutches and bands already incorporated in the transmission system. Continuous use of the N, D and R modes destroys the friction materials of the clutches in the transmission system that would help in stopping the car. This will cause plenty of damage fast, thus requiring replacement faster.

Do not switch your car to parking when it is moving

Speed sensors- an internal mechanism- helps in stopping the driver change the mode to parking when the car is in motion. These sensors are only present in modern automatic transmissions and lack in the older vehicles. Using the park mode to stop the car causes more damage. This is because it uses a locking pin for the parking lever and hence the normal functioning of the parking is damaged.

Never put your car in neutral mode at stop light

When your car is in stop or stationary, ensure you put it in drive mode at the stop signals. This helps avoid stressing the car’s transmission. Moreover, putting it into neutral mode only saves a negligible amount of fuel, and hence no need to switch to neutral mode.

Avoid Launching Your Vehicle

It is advisable to avoid revving your car’s engine in neutral and dropping it into drive to launch yourself forward. This hastens the wearing out of the clutches and bands in the transmission and it is expensive to replace.