Hi,
Sorry for the dumb question but I just got my first Hyundai three days ago and have never seen a car with an overdrive button. It is on the gear shift of my 2000 Accent, automatic transmission. Can anyone tell me what it is for and if I should have it off or on? I have'nt touched it cause I'm afraid of screwing something up. Thanks' G.S.

 

Overdrive button clicked on sets the transmission into overdrive which means it give better gas mileage since it helps the motor run a lower RPM.The dashboard gauge will have a light that will say O/D OFF if you push in the button to cut if off.I use overdrive on normal driving but for climbing tall mountainous areas id switch it off and and put in L gear to make the climb....save stress on the transmission.

 

PS...dont switch with the button while in the middle of driving....i havent done this,only switched the button off when its sitting still.I dont know if it would harm it while driving to switch inbetween regular driving to overdrive(too scared to try it).Maybe some of our other members could say one way or the other.

 

Leave it ON all the time. It won't hurt anything, and it will go into overdrive automatically. If you have ESC, also leave that on all the time too. The car knows the road conditions and helps to keep you safe in braking and turning situations. These cars know hot, cold, wet, icy, etc. Really handle great. The overdrive will help you save gas $$$$$.

 

If you are driving up a mountain at 70 mph, overdrive is fine. I am not sure how fast you folks do mountains. We can drive very fast in the mountains on this side of the country.

 

Lol ever been to the North Georgia Mountains Winston?The large one between Helen and Hiawassee is curves curves curves galore!Id be impressed if ya can make it up that mountain 70mph.....heck 50mph[8D]

 

Thanks Froze and Winston! I will leave the button alone unless I am in Georgia or North Carolina. Thanks again, G.S.

 

I have never used the OD button. I would imagine in city type driving, you would not want the car to shift into OD. I do a bit of cruising so I just leave it alone.
Brant

 

ok guys the over drive is realy for motorway or long journeys ,its basically the same as using 5th gear in a manual transmission. you can switch it while driving!!! try it. you will notice that when cruising switch the o/d on and it will change up a gear and your rpm will drop slightly . switch it off and it will go down a gear. using over drive will save on fuel on motor way trips .[sm=smiley36.gif]

 

I had two hyundai excels they were older models, one broke down naturally at 114,000 miles, the other one at 70k miles. The 70k mile car was running great, but i was getting ready to sell it, the guy who test drove it kept pushing the od button while we were on the freeway at 65 mph, he did it like five times, the transmission broke the next day. It jerked a little before, when i pushed it, when i was driving on the freeway , because some idiot friend pushed it on the freeway once to test it. Some people have told me not to touch it unless i am going under 30 mph. But, you really don't need to use it actually. It changes gear if it you use it to lower gear I think. Lexus has the same od button on their automatics also. My friend pushes it on before he goes on the freeway and turns it off as he exits.