i asked the same question earlier on another forum, this person answered with this :
"Well, I hope this sheds some light as I have been trying to maximize the
"manual" use of this tranny with the year I have owned my 95.
The rocker switch A/M near the lever is best left in A most of the time.
Selecting a gear with the lever, other than D, will give you that as the "final"
gear...ie select 2 and from standstill, it will shift once to 2 and stay there.
Select 3, and it will shift from 1st to 2nd then 3rd and stay there. The
computer seems to increase the rev range to more of a sport setting when doing
this and will hold revs to a higher change point as long as the accelerator is
pressed. If it is let up or leveled off, the shift point comes sooner.
If, after all this, you are still in "3" you must select "D" to get to final
drive "4th" on the highway with no drag on lift. If, however you lift while
still in "3" you still have engine drag as you will in any of the lower gears.
Now, (still with me?) if you have done all this in the "A" setting, you now push
the rocker to "M" while in "D" at, say 70mph, well you are now going to
downshift to "3rd" even if the lever is still in "D". Think of this as "forcing"
it to "manual" mode, which ONLY involves 1st, 2nd, and 3rd. Great for
controlling when the downshifts come, especially if you "blip" the throttle
while you do this. Or, better yet, heel toe with the brake.
If you try to start off in "Manual" mode and go through the gears, it is not as
efficient as using "A" because the computer will do a better job for the 1-2
shift from stand-still. After that, you can hold the change-up.
If you use "A" from stand-still, the computer will do the best change-up if you
start in "2" and then you can hold that as you watch the tach and move through
the gears as you would with a manual. If you don't change from "2" to "3" just
prior to the rev limit, you will get the same rev limiter that the manual guys
get and she will flat spot and go no more. Shift! You want to practice holding
to just before the limit and it will carry up by itself. And "3rd" to "D ie 4th"
is the same as above.
Downshifting can be done from "D" to 3rd from about 75mph or so in "A" but
hitting the rocker to "M" will do it right now, otherwise the computer will
decide...just remember to follow that with moving the lever to the "3" position
to keep you clear as to what gear it has already downshifted to when you touched
the "M" rocker. You now have engine drag and you now can select "2" when you are
about 45-50 and you may want to blip it to go in as you heel-toe the brakes.
Granted this is probably more than you wanted to know about what the "A" and the
"M" do. But try it, and then decide if you just want to leave it in "A" all the
time. But if you do use "M" remember its limitations and proceedure for going
UP. It's great for going DOWN and for 1st on a hill.
Gary
95 sport/A (soon to be DASC!)"
(Gary Slack <pixels2go2002@yahoo.com>)