March 2, 2011
Does Driving with the gear in over drive (rather than drive)save gas?
I friend said that if i drive with the gear in the regular drive position rather then OverDrive i’ll save gas…is that true?!
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Filed under Gas Conservation FAQ by on Mar 2nd, 2011. Comment. 
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Comments on Does Driving with the gear in over drive (rather than drive)save gas?
Overdrive saves more gas, Keeping your car in overdrive keeps the RPM’s lower which saves gas. keeping it out of overdrive raises your RPM’s which sucks more gas. The lower your RPM’s the better the gas mileage
Overdrive is for the open road and regular Drive is more for stop and go driving in the city. 99% of people drive in overdrive and that is best. Your friend is definitely wrong, Sorry.
You’re friend is wrong. When you put that shifter in over drive its just telling the transmission to use gears 1,2,3,4& maybee 5 if equipped. But if you leave it in 3rd or D3 or plain D the car wont shift into its highest gear at highway speeds. If you decide to run 85-90 in regular drive the tranny could burn up due to the torque converter not locking up. Its a long story but the transmission works best in its highest gear. It still starts out in first gear then 2ns no matter what the shifter is in. The only time you need to place the shifter in D is if you’re towing something like a boat up a hill or you’re going down a steep grade like in PA or mountain areas. then the slightly lowed drive (3rd) gear will keep you from going out of controll down a hill. My point is only highly skilled drivers know enough about their vehicle to decide when its best to manually change the gear shift. Even then its best determind by the final drive ratio. So for novices leave it in the highest gear which is overdrive.
Yes but if towing you need to keep it in the lower gears to conserve the life of your transmission.