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Question:
‘Kick down’ selects a lower gear, enabling the vehicle to accelerate faster.
What is ‘kick down’?
When the accelerator pedal is fully depressed (beyond the point of full acceleration), a lower gear is immediately engaged. This is called kick-down. Release of the accelerator from the kick-down position causes the gearbox to change up automatically.
What Are the Purposes of Kickdown in an Automatic Car?
When kickdown is activated in an automatic vehicle, a lower gear is engaged, increasing the engine speed (RPM, or Revolutions Per Minute). Power increases as engine speed does. Kickdown would be used for:
- Overtaking another vehicle
- Driving uphill
- Towing a heavy load
Safety function
The gearbox control program includes a protective downshift inhibitor to stop engine overrevving. The gearbox does not allow downshifting or kick-down, which would raise the engine speed to a point where it would be damaged. The original gear is still engaged if the driver continues to shift down in this manner while the engine is running at a high speed. Depending on engine speed, the car can shift down one or more steps at a time upon kick-down. In order to avoid engine damage, the car shifts up when the engine reaches its maximum speed.
Comments
Peco Jacobs
1 year ago
informative.comprehensive and.helpful
Saranya Shanmugam
1 year ago
Very very useful one..I have passed my theory test with 49/50 in multiple choice.
Terrie Redmond-Lee
1 year ago
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