Overdrive means a taller gear than 1:1 -- such as the .73:1 example above. As such, it does mean that the driveshaft turns faster than the crankshaft.

I think that I too have heard of transmissions labeled "3 speed overdrive" that are 4 speed transmissions. Modern vehicles, however, are advertised with exactly as many gears as they contain. I don't know where a 1993 model falls in that equation.

I think Ford did that in the 80's. The transmissions had 3 gears on the gearshift, and a button on the dash that said OD ON/OFF.

-Jay

I do and I posted on the first page and now it seems lost or ignored. The above four posts openly speculate that perhaps the Base 3-speed auto Corrolla from the 92-94 years perhaps actually were four speeds.

Urr, no, that would be found in the DX and LX of those years. Because of family I ended up owned one of these terrible 3-speed Base Corolla's as a temporary car. It had three speeds, as in first, second and third. There was no O.D., no mystery gear, no unknown shift to a forth speed, no lock up. Just three crappy gears end of story. The only button you could press on the shifter was the one that let you go to Reverse. If you ever downshifted from "D" to 2 at highway speeds you'd likely end up with shrapnel throught hood.

These were horrible drivetrains that lead to premature failure of everything surrounding it. Avoid these particular Corolla's, they indeed were the 3-speed your mom warned you about.

Your post didn't appear to be about a transmission called "3 speed overdrive", and the way you described it it obviously didn't have any overdrive gear (regardless of if that gear was in position 3 or 4).

thanks for the posts guys, i definately wont be considering a 3 speed auto corolla, these base models are all over craigslist for 2,000 bucks or more, which isnt worth it

even in my civic DX, i was at 2500 rpm at 60mph, and i still wished i had a 6th gear or my 5th was longer.. to the point where its 2000rpm, like a vx/cx tranny.