Wifey commutes in a '94 Maxima slushbox, but we take the 245 for obvious reasons when we go camping, fishing, biking, etc.

The 245 is a 4spd+OD. Not a problem for her, but she does do one thing that absolutely irritates the HELL out of me. I call it "granny shifting." She's in 2nd as soon as the wagon starts rolling, and 3rd not long after...as I sit in the passenger seat nervously chewing on my nails and trying very hard not to say anything that would have me sleeping on the lawn.

I've attempted to politely broach the subject a coupla times, but wasn't successful. Meanwhile, I'm slowly going insane. Temporary solution is to not let her anywhere near the driver's seat. "That's okay honey, I'll drive the rest of the way home even though we've been on the road for 5 hours and I'm so fatigued that I'm delirious..."

Should I just let this go?? Can't possibly be good for the ol' brick. DEFINITELY not good for my state of mind....

FWIW, I usually let it wind out to about 3000 before upshifting. Makes the 1-2 shift happen at about 15mph, 2-3 at 30 and 3-4 at 45. Turn on the O/D only when I'm on a flat terrain and above 55mph.

Need to pass someone? This evening was stuck in bumper-to-bumper rush hour traffic, just barely doing the limit (55). My exit was coming up, had to cross 3 lanes in less than 1/4 mi. Downshifted into 3rd, buried my size 12 somewhere in the floorboard and just barely made it over. Was doing about 62-63mph in 3rd gear when I hit the off-ramp. Wish that the stock cam offered more power above 4500rpm....gotta call iPd one of these days...