Manual Shifting with Auto Tranny. Is it safe?

[callmesteveo]

Hey everyone, whats going on? So excuse me if this question has already been answered somewhere on here. I'm hoping I can get a real answer from someone who actually knows what they're talking about and isn't just talking out their a** like most people on the internet. I've recently aquired a 95 Pontiac Sunfire from my mom as a temp driver as I blew the head gasket on my Ford Taurus. Not sure what make it is I just know its the 2.2 110hp engine. Now before I go further I just want to give you a little brief car history for me. I went from a 88 Accord DX, to a 92 Civic Si, to a 94 Accord LX, to a 96 Mazda MX6 and finally to my Ford Taurus. With the exception of the Ford all my cars were manual. And with the exception of the Ford all my cars were pretty quick get up and go cars. And my Ford wasn't the slowest car by any means but it was still an automatic so I could only get so much out of it. Now onto my issue...I got pampered with all my previous cars so driving this slow as hell Pontiac is killing me! Its so incredibly slow. I have become one of the people I'm usually yelling at on the road lol. Off the line of any kind it just doesn't move like what I'm used to. And this is either going to be my new car or at least a temp for long time till I have money for a new one. Now my buddy used to have this car same year and everything, just in a manual, and he loved it. And he loves mine lol. I was worried it was a pos in bad shape but apparently its just a slow car. Now this friend is one of those people that seems like he knows EVERYTHING about cars. Helped me with many big issues, knows everything there is to know down to every little detail and all that jazz. And he recommended driving the car using the auto tranny to shift. ie starting at 1 and working my way up to D. He says this wont hurt the tranny at all. If you Google my tittle question many people will argue that fact. So please guys, whats the final word? I don't want to do anything to my moms car that might be hurting it especially if I'm going to be giving it back to her. Real quick let me just say that I'm not talking about trying to race this Sunfire or anything like that. Or even using it all the time. But at red lights? Going up the interstate on ramp? Or if maybe I just want to get up and go quick so i can jump in front of someone? And I don't ever really downshift with it. Just been using it as mentioned. Is that going to have an adverse effect on my tranny or car in any way? Sorry I know I dragged that out guys lol. Thanks for all your help

 

[Zimgxp]

It doesn't hurt it as long as you dont abuse it. Compression braking kills autos, but you don't do that.