What does the letter M mean in an automatic transmission?
2 Answers
Automatic transmission M stands for manual mode. A semi-automatic transmission has the function of manual mode. After shifting to M gear, the vehicle becomes a manual transmission car, and the driver can control the gear by themselves. A semi-automatic transmission is a transmission device that combines the functions of manual transmission and automatic transmission, which consists of a gearbox, an electronically controlled clutch, an automatic shift control mechanism and an electronically controlled part. Other gears of automatic transmission are: 1. D gear refers to the drive gear; 2. R gear refers to the reverse gear; 3. P gear refers to the parking gear; 4. L gear refers to the low gear; 5. N gear refers to the neutral gear; 6. W gear refers to the rain and snow gear; 7. S gear refers to the sport mode driving gear.
When I first got into automatic transmissions, I was also super curious about the M mode. Later, I figured out it's just manual mode! For example, when you're driving down a long mountain slope in D mode and constantly braking until the brake pads are smoking, switching to M mode and downshifting lets the engine rev higher to help control the speed. It's also super useful for overtaking—like when I drove my friend's 2.0T SUV, I just pulled the paddle to drop into M3, floored it to 4000 RPM, and the acceleration was insane! Just be careful not to rev too high in lower gears, or the transmission might start complaining. It's basically the same as shifting in a manual car, just without the clutch pedal.
