dear friends! after reading ur informative [sometimes] and hilarious [most of the times] threads, let me put things in perspective ONCE and for ALL!
1) an Automatic car can start moving from ANY of its selectable gears, be it D or 2 or L
2) 2 is the gear to select when moving uphill or downhill. in MOST scenarios, u'll need to keep shifting between D and 2, unless the gradient is uniform throughtout (which i doubt).
3) u will RARELY need to select L, unless u need to move up or down a VERY STEEP gradient, or if u r stuck in mud or snow or anything of the sort!
4) there is little danger of u guys shifting into L by mistake. dont press the little clutch button on the gearknob when changing between D and 2. there is no need. u will need to press that button only when moving in and out of R or moving in and out of L. also when moving out of P.
5) in 2, only first and second gear are used. in L, only first gear is used. in D, all three gears are used. O/D is ur top gear. (typical 3-speed O/D transmission)
6) i dont know how the shift patterns are in a city vario, cuz it isnt a regular automatic. it has a Constantly Variable Transmission, which has infinite ratios.
7) the above stands true for a Toyota Corolla 3-Speed Over Drive Transmission. (Honda might have extra ratios for the extra gear that it has. i myself dont know about hondas)
8) The POWER mode of an ALTIS ECT Transmission is NOT meant for climbing hills. when engaged, it shifts at a higher RPM than normal, so its good for racing!
9) Kick-Down is a feature on every regular automatic transmission. its not a press-and-leave system.u have to floor the pedal and keep it floored. the gear will shift back when u leave the pedal. OR if the tacho reaches red.
10) and for those, who still dont know it, the proper way to shift out of Park is to press the brake pedal. the red button next to the shift lever is a manual over-ride button which can be used if the battery is dead. (curiously, cuore doesnt have this feature).
so there my friends, i hope all problems are solved! kindly send me a cheque of not less than 1000 rupees if u leant anything from my ideas!
