What is the purpose of Low gear on a car?

Answer 1

With an automatic transmission, there are four or five gears, each gear bigger than the last. The bigger the gear the higher the speed. But once in a while, you need power, or "torque", to tow heavy items or carry great weights up steep hills, for example. Since your automatic transmission Is not a mind reader, it switches gears from low to high regardless of what you are towing. So using "low gear" forces the transmission to stay in the low gear even at speeds where it wants to go higher. This gives you less speed but more torque (power), so you will be able to make it up the hill without burning out your transmission. So only use low gear when towing or carrying great extra weight and do not drive fast, read your manual for low gear speed limits so you don't blow your transmission.