Honda Car Forum

My parents just got me a 2006 Acura TL automatic transmission, and the car has an option that allows you to shift. I was curious when to use this shift option and how to use it.

Put it in drive and leave it in drive The Honda 5AT is a weak transmission that tends to have a short shelf life. My suggestion, don't be hard on it and change your transmission fluid every 30K miles. Only use Honda Z1 ATF. Do not ever have one of those quick lube places or mechanic "flush" your transmission, ever! Just drop the old fluid and refill. If you want to be real thorough, drop, fill, drive and repeat 3 times. You'll use more fluid, but 99% of the fluid in your transmission will be new.

Use it when you want.Shift around 3000rpm.Look at the tachometer. RPM Gauge.Look at it while in automatic mode and see where it shifts. It should be 3000-4000rpm depending on how fast you accelerate.In Manual mode, shift at the same RPM. Manual mode is there so it could be more fun to drive. But a true manual transmission is still more fun and faster.Do not rev in the redline, which should be somehwere close to 7000rpm.Revving in the redline is bad so make sure you always shift before getting there.

You should have an autostick with a +/- next to the automatic shifter. You upshift (+) at about 3000 RPM. You downshift whenever appropriate depending on the speed. A good rule of thumb is to upshift into 2nd at 20, 3rd at 35-30, 4th at 45-50 and 5th over 55. However, this will depend on how your engine is geared. Golftango is sortof right, but Acura/Honda fixed the transmission issues in the TL when they redesigned it in 2004. Therefore, his explanation really doesn't apply to your 2006. Change your transmission fluid every 45-50K and you will be fine.

Refer to the owner's manual as not all are set up the same.It is like having a manual gearbox without the clutch pedal.The transmission will hold the gear selected until you initiate the next shift, much like a manual gearbox.It is likely you will not use this feature very often as the automatic transmissions in Hondas are very smooth.