Can anyone explain to me what the "sport shift" button does for my 1990 automatic? Someone once told me something about it allowing the car to stay inside a gear for a longer period of time, giving it better acceleration (kinda like a manual tranny), but I wasn't quite clear.

Thanks.


Modified by Caramel Turtle at 1:19 PM 6/18/2003

 

it allows the car to shift faster and allows you to reach a higher rev than normal mode.

 

On my dad's MAX 89-90
they have a switch..
normal, sport or comfort
I think It helps to blow his tranny ...

 

LOL. I agree.

 

that part is right but i don't think it will give you better acceleration...

read the owners manual... thats what i did...

 

I think it stays in gear longer under normal acceleration, but even when switched off when in full throttle acceleration it should not matter and will switch at redline

 

How much is it, and is it worth it?

 

Uh, it comes stock on the auto trannies......well at least with mine. 4th gen EX

 

Its weird i've owned 2 cars with sport mode (honda accords) and I know so little about it..

If i remember right (its been 3 years since my car was auto) it killed overdrive for the most part.... god who knows, avoid using it. Just another thing to break... note the option didnt carry over to 1992+

 

Yea, and another thing they didn't carry over to the '92+ Accords were the dumb motorized seatbelts.

 

Well.. heh motorized seat belts were many auto manufactors response to the passive restraint system requirements that DOT put in place in that era. redesigning cars in mid production for SRS Airbag systems would have been pretty costly.

 

Worst part about those "automatic" seatbelts is that if you don't put the manual lap belt on, you can get more hurt than if you didn't use a seatbelt at all. THe best "automatic" seatbelts had to be GM cars. Basically you were supposed to just leave them attached and they were on the door so when you open the door you just "slip" in behind them... Yeah I sit back a bit far at 6 foot tall, and I didn't see how you could get in the car without getting all twisted in the seatbelt, forget about a woman wearing a dress, it would be over her head by the time she got in... hmm is that a bad thing?

 

hehehe, i disabled the auto seatbelts and just use my hand to slip in/out. the lapbelts lockup find when i mash the brakes which is all im concerned about.

lapbelt is going to do a whole lot more for me than an unfitted shoulder belt would.

 

I've always called them the Seatbelts of Death. Ever been in a rush and jumped out of the car as you opened the door. I realized that I'm faster than that auto belt is and stopped hanging myself after like 100 times.

 

Uhh...no. I had (well, still have) a 93 Grand Am (first car) and that didn't work as good as it sounds. I tried doing it once after reading it in the manual. The door doesn't open far enough for the belt to give you room to move. Your legs get tangled up in the lap belt and you neck and chin get scraped on the shoulder belt. Atleast thats what happened to me. Needless to say I never tried it again.

 

and will also send your face through the windshield or smother you in the air bag after snapping your knoeck

 

Guess I wasn't being sarcastic enough... I meant they were worthless, but I did get a discount for passive restraints on my car insurance.

 

Oh, sorry about that.

 

i was actually in a small aircraft accident 3 years ago (crashed Cessna 210) and most planes only have lapbelts or minimal shoulder belts that dont do much.

and i realize this is apples & oranges but i made it out pretty good and walked away from it.

 

that is really comparing apples to oranges but makes sense in a way, I do beileve car crash impacts are different though and have different results in injury