does the trans still shift by itself or do you have to make it shift?

It's just what it sez... manual. You gotta shift the gears. If you put it in "1" it is in first. If you put it in "2", it is in second, meaning it will even take off in second. If you put it in "D", it's in third till you take it out of third. That means if you forget, you start off in third. Also, the ones I've seen negate any kind of OEM engineered "lockout" safety feature, meaning if you inadvertently put it in "1" at 90 mph, it tries to go into first @ 90!!! This usually results in an explosion since certain transmission internals rotate at many times engine speed.

D/W

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If it ain't broke, fix it!

My Cheetah does not have low band apply. You can put it in low at speed and as long as you don't get on the gas it will freewheel. It is also a reverse pattern. D=1, 2=2, and L=3.

Any manual valve body that has low band apply will do bad things if you stuff it in low at speed.

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That makes sense... It's using the overrunning clutch. I saw one once where the car did have low-band apply in first - went into low by mistake once, the band tried to weld itself to the drum and "KABOOM!!!" 727 shrapnel everywhere!

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If it ain't broke, fix it!