More and more drivers are switching from manual transmission cars to vehicles that have automatic transmissions, so they need to learn what PRND means and in what order the gears are selected.
In manual transmission vehicles, gears are generally numbered 1 through 16. To these is added one more gear for reverse (R – going backwards).
Most cars have 5 or 6 gears, plus reverse. Heavy trucks or buses can reach up to 16 steps.
Conversely, on a vehicle with an automatic transmission, you only have the PRND. And next to these you can find D1, D2 or D3.
What does PRND mean on an automatic transmission?
Basically, the car with automatic transmission has only two gears that you can select: forward and reverse. And the other two options are to lock the wheels or leave the car “free”.
Here’s what PRND means, written on the gear selector, and how they should be used:
P = Parking – used when the car is parked; R = Reverse – is the reverse gear; N = Neutral – used to disengage the gearbox and leave the car “in neutral”; D = Drive – is the position for moving in the forward direction.
In addition to the classic PRND inscription, we can also have S and M modes.
S is the sport mode that some boxes have, and M is the manual gear selection mode, either with the box selector or the paddles on the steering wheel.
Other automatic gearboxes have, for example, D1, D2 or D3. These are auxiliary gears that can be used to improve performance in certain road conditions. For example, D1 can be selected to move more easily through mud or sand. D2 provides better torque, when climbing a hill, and D3 provides a stronger start, when entering an overtaking, for example.
The gear selection order of an automatic gearbox
Cars with automatic transmission make the transition from one gear to another by themselves.
So once D has been selected, depending on the pressure applied to the throttle, the computer will automatically downshift to a higher gear. And when the speed is reduced, it will automatically shift, progressively, to a lower gear.
But to go from Drive to Park, for example, you have to move the shifter by hand, from D to P. And for that you’ll also shift the shifter through N and R.
In a manual gearbox, from the “dead center” in the middle, you can move the shifter directly to any gear. On automatic transmission cars, however, the 4 options are inline. Thus, the first is P, the second is R, the third is N and the last is D. After D, the rest of the additional options can be added (D1, D2, D3, etc.).
2023-10-15 04:06:04
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