Its basically just an extra gear. When you use overdrive while cruising at a high speed it lets you stay at the same speed with less RPMs, which saves gas
You have to use it when you are driving in mountain areas where to have high speed is not a good idea. The overdrive function does allow the transmission to switch to higher gears.
Over drive is always to reduce engine RPM at Med to high speed cruise thus saving fuel. If this is an Automatic car just ignore the Overdrive and let it work. If this is a manual car use over Drive when maintaining a steady speed and the car will not "Labour" to do so.
It is best to use overdrive at speeds above 55 miles per hour. Overdrive maximizes your fuel mileage at high speeds.
Under normal conditions when driving at highway speed should allow the transmission to shift into overdrive.. Assuming automatic, if the O/D indicator is on when accelerating from a stop, and in most cases during stop and go driving (when transmission has not settled into high gear, or under heavy load), it should not be on. This should apply to literally any vehicle with automatic & overdrive. If it is on when an automatic transmission has not reached high gear, it would be a symptom of an electrical or sensor switch malfunction.
it can mean serious problems. If the gearbox has gone into limp mode it will take a long time to build up speed because it only uses 3rd gear in drive. reverse will still work. The tiptronic will not work. The revs will be high on the motorway.
wheel bearing, gearbox or wind noise Supercharger?
Yes. Overdrive is best used with longer trips at relatively constant high speed. City driving, with lots of stops, starts, and slow speeds is not what the overdrive is intended for.
Overdrive is a function of the transmission which changes the final drive ratio of your vehicle. It is used to save fuel while driving at medium to high speeds, generally on fairly flat roads. Most modern automatics have an overdrive that is automatically engaged when a certain speed is reached, provided that the lower engine rpm of the overdrive can sustain that speed. As an example, many cars shift into overdrive around 45 mph, and will remain in OD as long as there is no significant demand placed upon the engine for increased speed. If such a demand is placed upon the engine, the car will automatically shift out of overdrive, and into a lower ratio gear in order to gain the needed speed more easily. Some vehicles from the early 90's or prior may have an OD button which is engaged when traveling on the freeway/expressway at a constant speed. This was an early attempt to increase mpg, and such a button is now an automatic function of modern transmissions.
All overdrives are the same. There is no such thing as manual and electronic overdrives. Overdrive is used for Cruising Speed (usually anywhere above 45mph). Its also better on your transmission to have it in overdrive mode at high speeds. The effects of it are simple. It basically lowers your RPM's and still maintains the same, if not faster, speed that Drive can achieve.
To improve fuel economy- allows engine to operate at lower rpms after speed has been established Overdrive= low power, High speed
An automatic transmission uses a series of planetary gears to switch between high-power, low-speed modes and high-speed, low-power modes. The related link to How Stuff Works! provides more detail.