Flooring the gas

[Netcowboy]

Yesterday I was on the highway and a few cars wouldn't let me merge onto the offramp, so while I was in 5th gear I floored the accelerator and the gears went down to 3rd. Is this a problem with the transmission?

Or was it a one time thing? It hasn't happened since.

[limey]

Sounds like the transmission "kicked down" to a lower gear to give you the acceleration it thought you needed. Most Automatics do this if you step on the gas hard enough

[kwagar]

Originally Posted by Netcowboy

Yesterday I was on the highway and a few cars wouldn't let me merge onto the offramp, so while I was in 5th gear I floored the accelerator and the gears went down to 3rd. Is this a problem with the transmission?

Or was it a one time thing? It hasn't happened since.

Seems to me this was a good thing! Why the concern?

[SmartBob]

Yep, that's what you wanna do to go faster, eh?

[mfoster]

There is an electronic downshift built into the car for when you put the pedal to the floor. Depending on conditions at the time you "smash" it it may downshift one or two gears. This is normal.

[jonnysan]

Yup...the whole thing is the roadspeed you were at when you kicked it down. If you were under 40mph, it would go down to 3rd and that is not a problem. Gave the smartie a good kick in the arse, didn't it?

[Netcowboy]

Thanks to all who answered my concern.