Safe to drive with Over-Drive ON???

[versace2007]

When I start the car, the over-drive automatically turns on and stays on unless I turn it off, I think every Versa does this. But is it safe to drive with the over drive on at low speeds? So basically, can I just drive with it on all the time?

[MinisterofDOOM]

Absolutely. Having overdrive "turned on" does not actually put the car into overdrive. It just lets the transmission computer know that it's okay to shift into that gear. The car won't go into overdrive unless conditions dictate that it should do so. Turning off overdrive restricts the car to the lower 3 gears (or to non-overdrive ratios if you have the CVT), and turning it on simply adds overdrive to the "available" gears.

Your car will only shift into overdrive if you're cruising (not accelerating) above a certain speed (I'm not sure what it is for the Versa...) with overdrive turned on. This helps save fuel. If you give it much throttle, it will shift down to a more useful gear. It won't go into overdrive if you are driving too slowly, and is smart enough not to to bog itself by going into too high a gear.

[Jemdawg]

You should only really have overdrive off if you need better engine braking. For example, if you are in San Fransisco and are going down a really steep hill, you have all of the momentum you need, but you will need more responsive and effective braking, so in this case you'd want O/D off.

[versace2007]

Thank you guys so much. That's very helpful

[Ever Victorious]

"Overdrive" is an old legacy term that should be done away with.

All it means is any gear on a transmission with a lower than 1:1 gear ratio.

Actually, both 5th and 6th gears in the MT are "overdrive". But a car manufacturer wouldn't dream of advertising them as such because they know it's a load of crap.