Stic, it sounded to me like the question you were asking is does the trans shift differently from a standstill whether it's in drive or overdrive? The answer is no. It runs through the gears just the same, but when in drive and not overdrive, obviously it just stays in third. BTW, I always drive my cars around town in drive, not overdrive. Going 30-35 in overdrive really bogs the engine down more and is way below the engines optimum torque/performance range. It can actually make your gas mileage worse driving in o/d at slow speeds, plus it's an annoyance having the trans shift from 4th to third to fourth... I usually bump it up into o/d once I hit the 45 mph range, based on what the needle on my tach is telling me.

 

Stic: I got my car shortly before my join date, late July 2006.

Camaro 69 is also correct about the transmission. It does not matter whether the car is in D or OD, it will shift the same. Your best bet at the track is to put it in OD and leave it, the 4L60E(the auto transmission on all 94+ Camaros) is all electronically controlled, thus the "E" in the name, and it shifts depending on readings from various sensors. This determines the RPM as well as the speed that it shifts at, so if you have the pedal on the floor, it's going to shift at redline every time. I disagree with Camaro 69 on the D vs OD thing for regular driving with our cars since they are electronically controlled. The car isn't going to shift into 4th too early, and the car makes 325 ft/lbs of torque at 2200 RPM, it's pretty hard to bog the motor down.

 

Thanks for all the answers. Too bad my car didn't end up to be a 6 speed and then I could just shift the gears myself instead of worrying about what the auto is doing.

 

Don't worry about what the auto is doing, just let it do it's own thing. It'll shift depending on how you drive. If you want it to shift, just lightly let off the gas and if you're high enough in the RPM's it'll shift. Another thing that the auto takes into consideration when deciding on when to shift is speed, so it won't shift out of 1st until you're doing over 8-10 mph etc. I can get my car to shift just about anywhere I want, it's just more throttle control instead of a clutch. Although they're not as fun to drive, they still aren't boring!

 

No its definitely not boring, butI was afraid I would be bored going back to an auto. My first car was a 3.8 V6 '97 auto Camaro. It was a nice car that served me well and looked great, but it was boring. My next car was a '95 Cobalt SS Supercharged5 speed (still have it but the lease is almost up) and it's been tons of fun. When I got this '96 auto Z to replace the Cobalt SS, I wasn't sure I would love driving it but I do. The torque is fun to play with even if I don't get to shift the gears, the music coming from the tailpipes is intoxicating, and it flies!

 

i would have to guess that the 6-speed is faster, but once spring comes around i have a kid at school with the same car as me but his is a 6 speed compared to my automatic, so after i race hiim ill let you guys know the results of 6speed vs auto, but im expecting to loose because he does have 2 more gears than me, but you never know.