[hrdlydangerous]

So I got my '94 TA up and running and decided to take it to a local auto cross to get some seat time. The car happens to have a 4L60E automatic trans. I never autocrossed with an automatic before but figured it wouldn't be a big deal. There is one less pedal after all. Boy was I wrong. First of all the shifter only goes down to "2" on this car. There's no option to lock it into first gear which would have been ideal because it was a small course. Secondly, by leaving it in any of the other gear settings it has a nasty habit of downshifting into first about half way through my corner exit and making me go into massive oversteer. I figured it would have stayed in the gear I selected ie 2nd.

My question is this: What can I do to either lock the car into a gear or be able to shift into first on demand with the shifter to add predictability? Any advice would be appreciated.

Matt

[01badz28]

So I got my '94 TA up and running and decided to take it to a local auto cross to get some seat time. The car happens to have a 4L60E automatic trans. I never autocrossed with an automatic before but figured it wouldn't be a big deal. There is one less pedal after all. Boy was I wrong. First of all the shifter only goes down to "2" on this car. There's no option to lock it into first gear which would have been ideal because it was a small course. Secondly, by leaving it in any of the other gear settings it has a nasty habit of downshifting into first about half way through my corner exit and making me go into massive oversteer. I figured it would have stayed in the gear I selected ie 2nd.

My question is this: What can I do to either lock the car into a gear or be able to shift into first on demand with the shifter to add predictability? Any advice would be appreciated.

Matt

We have a couple of guys that like to autocross late '90s Impalas, and when I've co-driven with them I've had the same problem. Their suggestion was to alter my driving technique and avoid going more than 75% throttle to keep the auto from downshifting. I've generally found I've turned my best times (in that car, not necessarily true in my M6 Camaro) using that method. At any rate, its some 'free' you can do as opposed to start building an auto or swapping in a manual.