Should an automatic transmission car be started in N gear or P gear?
1 Answers
Starting an automatic transmission car in N gear and P gear is essentially the same. When the car is in N gear, the TCU (Transmission Control Unit) sends a neutral command, putting the transmission in a neutral state. When shifted to P gear, the TCU no longer issues any shift-related commands, which is equivalent to neutral. However, in P gear, the output shaft of the transmission is locked by a parking pawl, so P gear and N gear are fundamentally the same. In fact, starting from P gear and passing through R gear without stopping will not harm the transmission. From the principle of the transmission, the gear lever does not directly shift the transmission; its movement only generates a signal. This signal is processed by the TCU, which acts like a microcontroller, determining whether to shift based on pre-set programs. Therefore, the TCU can mitigate actions that might harm the transmission to some extent. Thus, starting in P gear and not lingering in R gear will not cause any damage to the transmission.