first time for me to drive a car with overdrive features..so i'm not so sure what is the correct way to use it...

for those who doesnt know much about overdrive, can refer here :-
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Overdrive_%28mechanics%29



despite the info shown above, i'm quite confuse on the overdrive function because :-

1) i have the wrong perception earlier that overdrive is like lower your gear from 3rd to 2nd (for auto) and like 5 gear to 4th gear (in manual). more power and higher rpm when you need to overtake any vehicle in front. in other words, if i'm driving auto, i'm using D gear and when i wanna overtake a car with more power, i'll change to 2 gear. but instead of doing that i will on the "overdrive" and it should have enough power to overtake it.

but with the explanation above in wikipedia, it seems like overdrive is to change from 3rd gear to virtual 4th gear. meaning better fuel saving and lesser rpm.

so am i wrong having my own thinking earlier?

if i am, should i keep the overdrive function ON all the time for myvi auto?

i heard from my friend frequent use of overdrive is not good for the gearbox...
abit confuse alridi...

If i am not mistaken, we should let the OverDrive always OFF so that it save FC. Then OverDrive set to ON for power wise.

overdrive is to maintain high rev...when over taking,on a windy corner,going up hill,sport drive...

haha so u guys perception are same with mine...

whereby what explained in wikipedia is the other way round.

so one question, what is the diff between "overdrive" and you manually change from D -> 2 ?

Most ppl will have that perception but actually OD means you will have an additional top gear so that the output rev is faster than the INput rev. but this produce low torque for comfort driving in high constant speed at a lower engine RPM.
Imagine a manual car with OD off is only up to 4th gear and when OD is switch to ON, you will get 5th gear.
Simple as that.
edit: typo INput

This post has been edited by spacepilot: May 8 2007, 09:19 PM

so OD on = better?

Myvi, by default OD is on. When you press the OD button, OD is switch off. Thus giving you the virtual 4th gear.

This post has been edited by nexuz: May 7 2007, 03:02 PM

.........


Now I'm getting really confuse too... OD as a virtual fifth gear in an 4 gear automatic car...


Err... I thought using higher gear on higher speed is better... which means OD on ie better??? Really confuse now...

It's default on, when u push the button it will show "O/D OFF" and your rev go higher.

So leave it ON for normal driving, OFF it if you need that extra bit of power to overtake.
I do OFF it instead of pushing to 2nd gear/brake to slow the car a little sometimes

This post has been edited by bearbear: May 7 2007, 03:01 PM

OIC... my bad...

No problem, i used to be confused by it too

LOL...

That is how it actually works arr...

Thanks for clearing stuff out bearbear...

the explanation in wiki is correct. it means when u r driving ur myvi, the overdrive is ON, thus ur 4th gear is actually an overdrive gear (or virtual gear). so when u turn OFF O/D, u won't get the 4th gear for cruising instead you will be revving your lower gear for more torque to be used in situation like hill climb and stuff like tat. Conclusions: just leave it on if you are not sumone who suka rev kau kau.

This is the correct answer.

Karmakid: Wikipedia is also correct. What u got confuse is whether O/D is on or off. If u read Wikipedia's paragraph carefully, it is referring to O/D=On for lower RPM and save fuel.

I'm not sure about old cars or cars in US, but i think most cars here is default O/D=ON. like my Kia Sephia, default O/D=ON. So it allows you to go to a higher gear, saves FC and lower RPM.

If u set it to off, it's like forcing the auto transmission to NOT USE the highest gear, thus allowing ur more power temporary to overtake, etc.

DO NOT SET YOUR OVERDRIVE OFF UNDER NORMAL CIRCUMSTANCES FOR LONG PERIOD. if you set it OFF for prolonged period, your auto tranny/engine will die faster...i think i read it somewhere...

This post has been edited by Matrix: May 7 2007, 03:24 PM

thx guys to clear up my doubts...

1 last question, what is the diff if i "turn off my overdrive for higher rpm" and "i change to 3"?

changed to 2nd gear u mean?

normally what i'll do is turn off O/D first to get abit more power, if it's not enough then shift to 2nd gear.

So i assume using O/D will save u some tear and wear on ur gearbox compare to shifting to 2nd gear?

yea yea...actually i wanna clarify if that "assumption" is correct or not...

i get a feeling that O/D off will save some tear and wear issue, compare to shifting to 2nd gear...but jst wanna confirm on that.

IMO, Shifting to gear 2 is quite useless...only useful when coming down from Genting in order to slow down ur car without excessive braking.

Last time i tried to put 2 to go up genting...useless...then i put O/D off only it performs normally. IMO, just put O/D off and let the ECU determine ur gear ratio instead of forcing it to a fix gear.

But of course, it could be my KIA behave like that...

ok ok....generally concept it's like that la....
well i think kia and myvi gearbox somehow diff in performance also...maybe i should try it out later....

Sometimes if you go up genting with OD off and don't have enough power, it might be running on 2nd gear So all depends on your right foot XD No power, just press the accelerator more loh

OD off all the way for "spirited" driving and OD on for cruising.

So OD off all the way when I have rapid overtaking, uphill/downhill Genting and OD on when I'm using the flatter PLUS highway.

Wikipedia is correct. OD on gives a "virtual" 4th gear to the 3-speeder while OD off lets it off at 3rd gear, the highest.

Example, for a 4-speed auto (the fourth being the overdrive)
For cases of "OD on", the transmission shifts up and down freely from 1st-2nd-3rd-4th, back and forth, etc.
For cases of "OD off", the transmission shifts up and down freely from 1st-2nd-3rd, back and forth, etc, the highest is 3rd.

Just my 2 cents.

This post has been edited by darahhitam: May 7 2007, 04:02 PM

New car...dun go Genting yet!!! Maybe after 5K then try...but don't blame me if u stress ur engine...a friend of mine last time went up with relatively new Kelisa (not so new...maybe around < 1 year),,,after that she said engine very loud noise already...

If go to genting, better go halfway and take cablecar....dun kill ur car prematurely! Lots of nice car parking there at the cable station also...Benz, BMW...and Myvis of course.

jst got my myvi earlier...so happy la....

so, wanna chk something with the myvi owners. if the "O/D OFF" light in ON on the meter panel, does it mean that overdrive is on? or overdrive is off?

i was told by the sales agent just now that if the "O/D OFF" light is ON, it means overdrive is on and it is something like virtual 4th gear will turned to 3rd gear. he himself drive myvi.

so i'm thinking maybe he's wrong. maybe if the "O/D OFF" light is ON, it means overdrive is off?

anyone can clarify?

Just look at the meter and see whether OD OFF is lighted or not. If its there's (GOT LIGHT) its OD OFF as shown. If its not there (NO LIGHT) OD ON as DEFAULT. OD ON = 4 gears; OD OFF = 3 gears

This post has been edited by ceo684: May 7 2007, 08:42 PM

Overdrive is ON by default (after you crank your engine) and you could notice that there's on light indicator on the panel. So, it's ON.

When you press the button on the gear level, it'll OFF the overdrive and the light indicator will illuminate.

for a normal 4 speed auto tranny car

when u put it at D with OD on, it will uses all the 4 gears, means 1&2&3&4.
when u put it at D with OD off, it will only uses the lower 3 gears, means 1&2&3 only.
when u put it to 2, regardless of OD on or off, it will only utilise the lower 2 gears, means 1&2 only.
when u put it to 1(if available), it will only use the lowest gear, means 1st gear only.

simple as that..

thx guys.

so last time clarify it,

if the O/D light is ON on the meter panel, it means that the O/D is off.

by default, the O/D is on and the O/D light will be off in the meter panel.

right?

oh yes!!!

anyway....all this should have been explained black and white in your car manual.....

I thought these questions already asked here many times (and answered), and also stated in the manual too.

Maybe a pinned thread on 'overdrive'?

With Overdrive "On", it means the highest gear ratio (in a Myvi's case, "4th" gear) will be engaged. With Overdrive "Off", it means it won't engage the highest gear. In other words, in a 4-speeder automatic, only the 3rd, 2nd and 1st gear is used.

come on guys..dont get confuse by the FANCY name OverDrive button..

this thing is very old already for auto tranny to use them..

simply is just a third gear when u engage it..which means is a 1:1 ratio when its engage/off OD

as the name suggested OverDrive means your engine load is lower but the output is higher on the wheel but feel no acceleration and is mainly use for cruising speed and it saves up some fuel as engine is running in a lower load(rpm)

car which have D3 and D4 they have OverDrive Button for you to press as overdrive is D4 means you activate the forth gear which in this case D4(in 4speed auto)
in car which has only L 2 D so the D represent both D3 and D4 the OverDrive button is for you to use it in a ease matter which is just button..no need for you to pull the gear lever..

When OD is OFF,It means you are engaging D3
When OD is ON,It means you are on D4

This post has been edited by [ r u g a ]: May 8 2007, 01:01 PM

ya, when i get my car, the salesman also told me to press it when wanna 'potong' kereta...

ruga, how sure are you on the points you gave out earlier?

a forumer called bearbear said



i have tis feeling also...say assuming it's L-2-D, meaning first gear-second gear-third gear.

when O/D is on, it will go to virtual 4th gear. if i off the O/D, then it will lower gear virtually. logically, it should be betta rather than i change gear to 2 right?

how sure? i'm driving one too

is true for what bear bear said..

and is also correct on what you say..
and easier too..to drop a gear by button then moving the stick..and lower it once to 2nd will cause more wear and tear..so is better to off the OD first..then only decide the power it has before you want to switch it to 2nd

when you need more power from the car,just off the OD function and it will tend to rev higher..is just like what you do in a manual..assume is an old kancil with 4speed manual gearbox..

when you are crusing at 60 normally the gear that you use would be the highest gear as thats the 4th gear..

then suddenly your speed drop to around 40 like that..you need to speed up(assumming is a slopy road) you will drop to gear 3 and the car will hav more power and tendency to rev higher since the ratio is different..

maybe i'm writing too i mean confusing for you..

but in short its the same as a 3rd gear function on OD off and 2 for 2nd gear L for 1st gear

This post has been edited by [ r u g a ]: May 8 2007, 02:07 PM

overdrive button on automatic gearbox was introduced by not sure european or japanese car maker last time .
the reaosn they put overdrive button on gearbox is to turn the 4th or5th gear , the top gear on or off .
why ? becasue during city driving , automatic gearbox is very sensitive , they judge the gear selection by the speed and throttle , 20-30 , it will run at 2nd , 40-50rd , 60 upwards can use 4th gear already . during city driving , there are many stop and go , the gearbox dont know what we are goign to stop or go , and very often , reach 60km/h time , u suddenly need to brake slow down and then press again , and the gear will shift between 3rd and 4th gear , which causes gearbox jerk . that is why OD button was introduced in automatic car which is actually to control the top gear to eliminate shift changes .

if you are driving a manual gear car , u can see the surrounding , sometimes at 60 , if you know u want to slow down or what u wont change to a higher gear because u know soon or later u need to downshift again, if u do so . but an automatic gearbox isn't that smart . they will just keep on changing as long as the speed is increasing .

i understand now la....

so i can say, like for pure city driving, at time, it's better to OFF the O/D, to avoid the gearbox unnecessarily change from 3rd gear to 4th gear all the time. might as well stick to 3rd gear max.

same with going to genting, jst OFF the O/D.

arigatou

It wont make much difference. Sometimes its good to go higher gear so ur car FC will improve. Off O/D is good for overtaking or if extra power is needed.

yeap . that was the idea of the OD button . it is for city driving , reducing the gear change jerk .
as overtaking , it doesn't mean that way , becasue overtaking u can just floor ur pedal .

and the OD gear(4th or 5th gear) only comes in after certain speed, and depending on how u step on your pedal as well, if u floor it, it will not go into the OD gear..

for my dad's old ford telstar 2.0A, the OD will only comes in after 60kmh, and only if u press on the pedal lightly. if u step harder, it'll kick down to 3rd or 2nd gear to accelerate, and when u slowly lift the pedal, it'll eventually progress back to the OD gear.
so learn to control the pedal, and u'll be able to somehow "control" when u want the gear change to come in..

as i said the OD is like the top gear . it will go into the top gear if it passes the power range .
when u floor it , the ECU or sensor will detect it as a sudden power , hence it will downshift to give more torque .

the problem is in city driving , u wont be pressing the pedal hard or what . suddenly u are doing 60 , and it will shift into 4th . just after u hit 60, u suddenly see the car in front slow down , u will slow down also . and the gear will not downshift so fast , hence when u want to accelerate , it will dragg 50km/h at 4th gear(top gear) , ur car will feel sluggish . then only u floor it to make it downshift to 3rd gear to accelerate back to 60 .
but in manual , u can control better , that is why OD is enable in auto boxes .

Overdrive means the top gear..regardless manual or auto tranny~

well , i am not quite sure about manual type ..
i used to drive a mitsubishi tredia last time , drove once ...
it has 4 forward gear , and there is another gear stalk , which engage OD .

I dunno ah about old car..but overdrive means the top gear of the transmission.

Overdrive is just a name to describe revolution of engine crankshaft less then the revolution on the wheel. This normally occur at the highest gear shift no matter it's auto or manual gear box. So, switch off overdrive while overtaking is like shifting manual gear from 4 to 3, or 5 to 4.

isn't overdrive jz letting you stay in da same gear longer (higher revs)
den if u dun use da od??

OD = last gear .

enough said.

This is correct. In other words, Output revs is faster than Input revs.
Take a very simple example, riding a Racer bicycle, have the front gear adjust to the biggest and the rear gear to the smallest, here you have an OVERDRIVE.

---

Added on May 9, 2007, 10:12 amThis is the wrong perception most ppl knows, no idea who start it.

This post has been edited by spacepilot: May 9 2007, 10:12 AM

"It's easier to understand overclocking a CPU than overdriving a gearstick"-Confucious


ok, Ok, Confucious didn't say that, but i just thought it's nice phrase...

since when altis got O/D function? so geng ah...
haha

OD is not NOS or whatever....its not "geng" =.=" ...when u press that OD button ....what it does is sort of downshift 1 gear and ur revs will go higher so u will have better acceleration and when u press the OD button means it is OD OFF

This post has been edited by Pro-MX: May 18 2007, 07:05 PM

From where you got that quote? Created yourself?

it was intended as a joke. i know what it is and don't make me look like a noob k

thus,normal driving switch it on while overtake switch it off?

OD button on or off is just another way for you to manually shift ur automatic gears la. nothing else.

u see those cars without OD button, but then they have PRND32L (Assuming its a 4 speed tranny). Those with OD button, then they will have PRND2L (Also 4 speed).

holy shi-. pime taradox.

only use OD if u on the highway and want to save fuel

Myvi default is OD on. If off OD it is locking on 3rd gear

For every car, their OD (if available) is always on as default. Overdrive means changing the gear up faster as to improve fuel economy. The car will automatically reduce unnecessary revving at the same gear (unless it's the final gear). And if you press the OD button, the display 'OD off' will appear which denotes overdrive function is turned off, you will realise that the rev is more aggresive and more power is delivered but on other hand, fuel economy is not optimised.

will OD make ur top speed increase???

that's what I'm experiencing most of the time. So does it means that if I feel the car isn't accelerating (drag at 50) I should OFF OD?

Also can OD be switch OFF/ON on any speed? say if i'm driving at 80km/h, I want to overtake to right lane but right lane has car coming fast. Can I switch OFF OD at that time then turn on again. Will it spoil anything?

OD = 0.XX gear ratio. i think lol

1. Hey guys! for my new myvi tat i bought in Feb 2011 the factory setting for OD Mode is set as off. So i have to press it in order to toggle the OD Mode.

2. Switching on OD mode on my Myvi gave me more Power! however i drove with OD Mode on for 1hours once and that really DRAINED my fuel!!!!!

3. So i would suggest myvi drivers to switch off the OD mode and only use it when overtaking or when climbin up slopes.

OD is not a gear. It is a virtual gear as u say. When u off OD(when the light is on), u feel power bcoz u are revving. the max gear is the same as engine speed which is the 3rd gear. With OD on u put less stress to ur engine. if people say that turning off the OD 1st if not enough only shift to 2 to reduce wear or any damage. this is not true. it is an auto car mind you. all those things is just an assist for u in fuel saving and reduction of tear and wear. if u try pedal to the floor then u will know. another thing is, OD on give u lower RPM at the same speed.
hmm...something wrong with the sales agent language i think. it already say OD OFF. i means it is off. it say it is off and he say it is on. wat an agent.

it shouldnt be spoiling anything. unless u are at your top speed with the OD on and u turn it off. u will definitely going into red zone rpm and overheat something there. for an auto the dragging is normal. at least it will safe u some fuel. when u downshift to gain power, u lost fuel more.

switching it off is the one that will eat up ur fuel. please dont contaminated and confused other. it doesnt matter whether when u get the car it is on or off. all OD is set to on by default. Tat is why there is only OD OFF light when u off ur OD to remind u tat u are wasting fuel and revving high. There is OD ON light to tell u u turn on ur OD.

OD is a gear lah bro takkan got hantu gear in myvi gbox meh?

OD means that the ratio is less than 1:1.. take any 5 speed manual gbox,
1st gear spec is like 3.9, 2nd gear 2.2, 3rd gear 1.6, 4th 1.0, then 5th 0.866.. the 5th gear is called overdrive because a BIGGER gear spins a SMALLER gear hence the ratio of 0.866..

The simple way, TL;DR is:

For NORMAL FUEL SAVING drive, use OD ON mode, where your meter "OD OFF light" is NOT lighted, then you will have a 4-speed auto

For POWAH MODE/GENTING drive, use OD OFF mode, where the meter "OD OFF light" is LIGHTED, then your car will behave like 3-speed auto.

--------

The light in the meter is not the same as the OD mode because it is an OD OFF light!

OD ON = "od off" LIGHT OFF
OD OFF = "od off" LIGHT ON

This post has been edited by ceo684: Jul 26 2011, 12:28 AM

but what if the OD off light goes on itself if i never press it?
gearbox problem as the user manual stated?

goes on is ok, maybe button or u terpress lah
if its blinking like a christmas tree then u have REAL issues

okay i see
but if need more power i just press harder, never shift to 2 or off the OD, scare gb spoil faster

Just wanna ask, Where is the button to turn on / off for the OD for the New Myvi?

This post has been edited by ClericKn1ght: Jul 26 2011, 12:51 AM

by default should be somehwhere on gear lever. 1 small switch.

btw, despite this is an old thread, im amazed that in first few pages almost all thought OD off = no light, OD on = light on dashboard lolol. just 2 days ago i ask my colleague why he turn off OD and he insist he is turning it on

Normally i off OD when city drive where speed around 60km/h and when i over take car only.

speed around 60 u off od for wat?

Guys do you even know what an Over Drive gear is? In manual cars its the highest gear available. it is also called a cruising gear. If your car is 5 speed then 5th is your over drive gear. In automatic cars it is the highest calibrated/ tuned gear. In fact there is no highest gear but merely an adjustment in ECU to realize highest gear. Some like to call it virtual gear.

Under normal circumstances the OD button should be OFF. City driving u do not use OD at all. Only when you are travelling on constant speed u should use OD. In city driving if you use OD on, use more fuel. That is why some people reported high fuel consumption in their automatic cars because they do not realize how to use OD mode. Until they realize it they go

"Oh Dang!!!"

This post has been edited by netmatrix: Jul 26 2011, 10:33 AM

inii.. ..i experience it by myself..when in city drive..my FC become worst when OD ON....the best way i ON OD when in highway or constant 90km/hr or more ...soo with OD OFF my car become more pawahh abit..

in case of 4speed gearbox , od on - gear will shift up to 4th gear, od off - gear will shift to max 3rd gear, rpm will be high thats why its powerful.

my car no OD button, but i will drop to 3rd gear to have the same effect

im driving a 4 speeder car. without OD my max available gear would be 3rd gear which at certain higher speed will become noisy, draggy, and high fc. even if in city, u dont expect everyone to be driving below 80 dont ya? even if stuck in traffic jam, leaving od on or off doesnt matter since it doesnt have the speed to go above 3rd gear.....

some auto cars dont have od button. but u have 3 at ur gear lever. just shit to the 3. latest myvi also like that.

Hey guys. i think when someone used my myvi that person accidental press the over drive button. Bcs i just noting the overdrive light is on, i don't know how long it was like this. Could it damage my car???

OD light = ur car running 1,2,3 gear. drive feel same, nothing damage except RPM stay high when u speeding at lebuhraya

no OD light = normal mode 1,2,3,4 gear.

This post has been edited by ktek: Jan 8 2014, 09:17 PM

No damage la don't be so panicky la.