a little different situation but i had a friend who owned a saturn.....he thought it was all that and manually shifted his auto. the problem was is that the car only went down to 2, and when he did that it started in 2nd and a person walking a dog could beat him. When he left it in drive it actually got off the line...sorta haha.

i was wondering if it makes any difference if you put the car in neutral when slowing down if its better then letting it downshift and then hold it while stopped, trans is also a 700r4 and freshly rebuilt

No. Don't throw it in neutral when slowing down.

I know its not good, but why not? what does it do to the tranny?

I am not a trans guy, but from what I have been told it causes internal components in the trans (intermediate sprag?) to instantly start spinning at a speed they are not intended for. In essence, overreving components.

maybe have something to do with internals still spinning fast and the front pump turnign at idle and not enough fluid? i dunno, just a theory, i dont know auto transmisisons too well either lol

Yeah, i forget exactly what component gets engaged when it shouldn't be but I know it will grenade when abused too hard.

ah, yeah that makes sense.

i used to shift my monte carlo ss 200r4 and i would get like a couple tenths better sometimes but might just have been launching better the only time i like shifting it myself really is when your doin a rolling start. if u do a like 15 roll or somthin and keep it in 1st man does it throw u back harder than letting it downshift, im sure it wasnt good but i was a stupid 17yo and now i like manuals so i can do it all i want lol