Overdrive?? Should you stay away from it?

I have new Honda Accord (V4 EX) and I am doing my best to take care of
it. Where I live there are plenty of streets in our "city" which have
45 mph speed limits. The manual recommends for city driving to not
use overdrive. Is this really a big deal? Should I be making a
conscious effort to not use overdrive when driving in the city? By
not using overdrive in the city am I really decreasing wear and tear
on my engine/transmission? Or is all this concern really a moot point
and we all should just be leaving it in D4 (overdrive enabled) and
forget it?

I am just trying to practice what is best for my vehicle but there
doesn't appear to be a clear answer for this. Of course I know if you
are driving hills or something like that overdrive should not be
enabled but what about normal driving?

 

It's called an automatic for a reason. Stick it in D4 and drive.

Enjoy your car.

 

It's not a really big deal. Their fear is that you'll let the engine
rev too low when slowing down, and then to speed up you'll hit the gas
when the revs are too low--thus lugging the engine, thus potentially
causing harm.

You can *use* fifth gear, just be aware of the engine revs and the power
band and when you're lugging the engine.

 

Not too worry. Setting the selector in OD or out of OD will not
make ANY difference at speeds below 45 MPH. Overdrive does not
engage until you drive over 45 MPH. OD is basically just one
more higher gear and it shifts in and out automatically as needed
under the conditions a the time, just like any other gear, unless
you lock it out. There is no way you can harm the tranny or
engine using OD. If you lock it out there is no way you can harm
the tranny or engine either. The only result is the engine will
operate at a higher RPM at a given speed and consume more fuel.
In other words forget all the crap you hear and run in OD ALL of
the time, except when you actually
do not want to run in a higher gear.


mike hunt

 

I drive around town with overdrive engaged. When I go up a long incline
or steep hill, I disengage the OD in order to have available power to
accelerate.

If you enjoy a zippier feel when driving around town, disengage the OD.
Just know your fuel consumption will reflect the change to higher rpms
because of it.
Nowadays, that ain't chump change.

 

Proof you head is up your ass, and you are full of shit...

My Accord will go into 4th (OD) at 35mph. And that's a fact.

Get out loser.

 

And just for the record, your Accord does not have a V4. It has an
in-line 4.