What is the difference between three-speed and four-speed transmmission?

Question

for driving in extremly bad winter conditions should i turn on 4 gears???

Answer 1

You can use a lower gear at slower speeds to maintain traction. Most cars have a drive 1 or drive 2 besides drive. This keeps your car in one gear which is handy in extreme weather or when going up steep grades. It stops the car from constantly automatically shifting. You can try it in regular weather to see how the car reacts differently than when you allow it to seek out the best gear. Main thing is to keep your foot lightly on the gas and don't try to speed when the weather is terrible.

Answer 2

You can't "turn on" four gears. you either have them, or not. If you're asking about an automatic transmission with overdrive, then just leave it in the overdrive setting for normal driving.  The only time you would not want overdrive is if you were towing a heavy load.

Answer 3

3 speed transmission has no overdrive................

4 speed transmission has overdrive...................

Without a 4 speed transmission you will have nothing to turn on or off........................

Answer 4

1 speed

Answer 5

transmission==automatic  3 - 4 spd == 3spd with Overdrive 4th, which can be locked out.  overdrive: selected when car is traveling at speed, or quickly downhill.  Winter: a time of bad weather, for slower driving.  4th gear not needed, can be left available but you should not normally be going fast enough to need/select it.

Answer 6

You may be referring to the shifter selection D versus the one with the circle/box around the D. Or sometimes, an overdrive off button (common on trucks, less so on cars).

If you have a four-speed automatic, the most common type, this plain D will make it behave like a three, turning off overdrive. This is for towing, on hills in particular. Also, on occasion, it can be nice if you're in a very hilly area where they're steep and alternate quickly from down to up and back. Otherwise, there's no reason not to use all four unless you want to run hotter than necessary at highway speeds, and kill your gas mileage.

The wintry driving advice you're thinking of is a different selection. You will find there is a 1 and a 2, and possibly a 3. This locks it into those specific gears. 1 is the most torquey, and spins the tires easiest... a bad thing in winter when traction is limited. Thus, you have the 2, or even the 3, to keep you from spinning out so easily with such a light tap of the accelerator.