Can I select reverse gear by accident?

[Mayhem Lurker Find all posts View Profile Close Mayhem]

I've got an Auto D4D and I'm wondering if it’s possible to select reverse accidentally while the vehicle is moving. This is my first auto after several manual Cruisers so I'm still learning, and marvelling, at what the auto can and cannot do.

I often use the transmission lever to manually select gears when I'm off road or even when I'm using some of the steeper roads around my home here in the Snowy Mountains. I got a bit of a surprise the other day when I accidentally shifted from 4th straight up into neutral instead of across to the left into 5th. Luckily the slip from 4th to Neutral isn't likely to be too devastating but it made me wonder if it was possible to accidentally slip straight though neutral into reverse - it seems as if it would be easy enough to do, especially when your focusing on a lot more than exactly which gear your vehicle is currently in. Yes - I know how to check which gear I am in.

So aside from any feedback on my sloppy driving style and inability to change gears, what is the risk of accidentally selecting reverse? I'm certainly not game to purposefully try slipping it into reverse while moving. But I'd like to know if I need to be way more careful than I may have been up till now.

[Hutch Addicted PP Member Find all posts View Profile Close Hutch]

Re: Can I select reverse gear by accident?

Mayhem, do the same thing, shift manually, never got reverse got neutral once, you do get used to how the gate works.

More interesting what does a Calloffroad suspension look like a Prado???

[FlyNdrive Advanced Member Find all posts View Profile Close FlyNdrive]

Re: Can I select reverse gear by accident?

If you shift a newer vehicle into reverse from a forward speed it will not engage. An automatic transmission has a failsafe to prevent going into reverse while going forward. If it happens at slower speeds it is unlikely to cause damage, however high speeds will cause damage.

I believe MYTHBUSTERS did a segment on this.

(Season 6, Episode 84, Segment 2) Shifting in reverse will slow a car.

BUSTED

[Steve & Sandra Senior Member Find all posts View Profile Close Steve & Sandra]

Re: Can I select reverse gear by accident?

Trust me its not something you want to do in a car with an automatic transmission. The noise is horrendous. My ex a few years ago was drunk and wanted to get out and pee so she put the car into reverse whilst i was driving down the road. Not nice. Noise still haunts me. the car was a commodore. Oh and the car was ok afterwards.
Cheers
Steve

[MickL Addicted PP Member Find all posts View Profile Close MickL]

Re: Can I select reverse gear by accident?

I rarely drive an auto and can't say I've taken much notice when I do but here's how it works in the wifes Commodore:

To shift D-N-R or back you have to use the shift lever button. Once you are in D then 1-2-3 can be selected by just moving the lever without pressing the shift lever button. So as long as you don't press in the lever lock as you shift there is no way to accidently shift to reverse while using D-1-2-3.

I would have though they all operated like this :?:


Mick

[mkh Senior Member Find all posts View Profile Close mkh]

Re: Can I select reverse gear by accident?

Modern "electronic" autos should not engage reverse while moving forward at anything more than a walking pace. Just as they won't shift down a gear if it will cause the engine to over-rev. eg: You're doing 100km/h and you slam the lever back to "1", it won't drop back until the car has slowed right down. That's the theory. Whether or not it actually works like that for reverse I'm not game to try. I have tried sgifting down to 2nd and 1st gears and found they WON'T engage until you drop the speed.

On much older autos almost anything seems possible. A mate once had an XD Falcon paddock basher and we used to get wheel spin in reverse while still going forwards. Good times, good times...