When they say that a car has a transmission with "overdrive" what does that mean???

Question

in plain english if possible thanks.

Answer 1

Overdrive is a gear speed in a car's transmission where the output shaft turns faster than the input shaft. It lets a car go faster while the engine turns slower, and gives you better gas mileage. However, it should best be used only at highway speeds, because otherwise it's hard on the transmission. Transmission repairs can be really expensive, so I recommend you take care of them.

Answer 2

Overdrive is just another setting to be used on the transmission to help it run smoother. Generally you only use at speeds of 45-50 or higher. Taking a long trip on the highway is really the only time you should use it otherwise you can damage the transmission.

Answer 3

An overdrive is like a secondary miniature gearbox attached to your normal one, with two speeds. When it's off, the gearing's the same as normal. When it's engaged, the gearing in all gears is a little higher - most people just use them in top to give a more economical top gear (basically letting you have a fifth gear on a four-speed box).

Depending what the gear ratio of the overdrive is, it can also be used to split the difference between two gears - so you have third and fourth, with the gearing of third plus overdrive inbetween the two.