Hi All,

as the title says.... I'm not about to try it, but when I do it at low speeds there does not appear to be any sort of savety gate to prevent shifting into reverse while driving.

cheers, guenter

Except you have to pass through neutral to do it, so I guess it is possible.

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1988 W126 420 SE

beware of fundamentalists!

Reminds me of a very old story about a guy who has his car towed into the transmission repair shop. When the manager asked what happened he said, "I was sitting at the light and this hot car pulls up next to me. I dropped the transmission into "L" for "Leave". As we pulled away, I moved it into "D" for "Drag". He was pulling ahead, so I put it into "R" for "Race". I think I need to see the transmission man!"

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Roc

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go into reverse while moving very fast.

of course i am not about to try it out. my luck the interlock or whatever does it would be out!

now a 1950 pontiac with hydromatic will do it! one of my high school buddies tried it and didnt wreck his tranny. those hydromatics were TOUGH! and when mercedes built their first automatic they looked very closely at it and built a very similar but more compact tranny.

tom w

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[SIGPIC] Diesel loving autocrossing grandpa Architect. 08 Dodge 3/4 ton with Cummins & six speed; I have had about 35 benzes. I have a 39 Studebaker Coupe Express pickup in which I have had installed a 617 turbo and a five speed manual.[SIGPIC]

..I also have a 427 Cobra replica with an aluminum chassis.

Going waaaay back, the Model T Ford's transmission used planetary gear sets just like just about every automatic ever built--except, of copurse it was manually controlled. In all but the first 4,000 of the 15million T's built, the tranny was controlled by three foot pedals. One of them engaged the transission brake, but one of the pedals engaged reverse. Model T drivers will tell you that jabbing the reverse pedal was more effective than the brake in slowing the vehicle.
Since planetary gears sets are always in constant mesh, and gear changes are effected by applying clutches and brakes ( or bands) to various drum combinations, it is possible to engage reverse at any time, unlike sliding gear transmissions. However, it does place major stress on the components. Most modern auto trannys are equipped with electrical interlocks to prevent reverse from engaging while driving forward.

Mercedes AUTOMATIC transmissions are designed to have reverse "lock-out" above 5KPH. Designed to block the shifter from moving from N to R.

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