Any shifters here that skip gears?

Ron-P

I find that I almost always skip 2nd gear in my car, the same went for when I had my MINI, seems second gear is such a waste, it's too just short and seems if I use it, right when I hit 2nd gear I've got shift into 3rd, so I just skip 2nd. I hit about 3000rpm in 1st and then right into 3rd.

Anyone else do this on a regular basis?

exalted512

I do on my bike...get up to highway speed in 1st gear...then switch to 6th...haha
-Cody

blueboxer

My motor is pretty torquey so I typically go 1-3-6 with no real diminished driveability. The only times I really use second is when merging or having some fun.

Vdr1973

Todays cars have such close gear ratios to boost EPA rated fuel economy. But as stated earlier certain gears become usless under real world driving.

madmax

I do once in awhile when driving easy. Skipping use of the clutch is more fun anyway.
Anyway, I always considered 1st was only to get the car rolling and 2nd was the main acceleration gear.
madmax

nadams

Do it all the time in on the bike... accelerating and decelerating.

The truck skips second if I put it to the floor from a stop. Well, technically it does shift into second, but immediately hits third.

Face

Yes.

rayslifecycle

absolutely - work it as it needs it..........

SKsolutions

Second gear is like foreplay, you can skip it.

Sami

Ron-P wrote: »

I find that I almost always skip 2nd gear in my car, the same went for when I had my MINI, seems second gear is such a waste

Coming into a tight corner, 1st is usually too short and third too long, second comes useful getting out of it...

Every gear is there for a reason but if you're doing regular driving you can skip gears without a problem.

superjunior

cars and bikes yes. heavy trucks - big time no no. blew the rear end out of one of my dumps being lazy with the gears

bobman1235

I don't usually skip on the speedup, but once ina while depending on the situation I guess. Just feels more natural for me to go through all 5 when really givin it the juice. Personal preference I guess.


ANytime I ride a sportbike I skip gears all the time; my SHadow is spaced pretty well (and not at all a sports bike) so I don't skip on that usually.

Face

Late C4 Corvettes, C5 Corvettes, and possibly C6 Corvettes force you to shift from 1st to 4th gear at low RPM's. It's to save fuel and is possible due to gobs of torque at low RPM's.

mhardy6647

Not usually... although I did downshift from 5th to 3rd today on MA route 128 to go around someone with some... alacrity.

superjunior

Face wrote: »

Late C4 Corvettes, C5 Corvettes, and possibly C6 Corvettes force you to shift from 1st to 4th gear at low RPM's. It's to save fuel and is possible due to gobs of torque at low RPM's.

thats interesting, didn't know that. wonder if the new camaros are the same?

Vdr1973

It was the only way for the Corvette to avoid the gas guzzler tax. But at WOT it lets you use all the gears.

shack

No..

Face

Disregard.

shack

Face wrote:

No what?

No...I don't skip gears when upshifting....

Face

If you didn't notice, I edited that out within 10 seconds.

Besides, I pictured you to be the more adventurous type.

nadams

On the bike today, I skipped gears at least half the time. With the truck... I had no choice. whatever gear it wanted to be in, it was... I hate automatics.

BlueFox

Sometimes. If a run 2nd up to 40 or so I might go straight to 5th. Generally though, I try to eke out every MPG, so I use each gear for a few RPM.

shack

Face wrote:

If you didn't notice, I edited that out within 10 seconds.

You gotta be quicker than that....I must have quoted you in 9 seconds.

Face wrote:

Besides, I pictured you to be the more adventurous type.

I haven't owned a car with an automatic transmission in 30 years. A 79 350 Camaro was the last one and I sold it in less than a year. You can go lots of fairly aggressive driving miles between having to replace a clutch if you take care of it. Skipping gears and overaggressive downshifting doesn't help. I have 128,000 on my current car's clutch and there is no sign of slipping yet.

Ron-P

How would skipping gears not help? Less use of the clutch would be a good thing.

sTiLlLeArNiNg

2 - 4 when i blew third on my t-5 in my stang, a regular occurrence in t-5's lol

also skip 2nd depending on condition's and avoid using the clutch when possible

shack

Ron-P wrote:

How would skipping gears not help? Less use of the clutch would be a good thing.

Often when skipping gears the rpms will be too low and there tends to be some slippage with the clutch. Good engagement of the clutch causes much less wear than any slipping.

Ricardo

Very rarely I skip gears; what I love to do is skip the clutch, just because it's fun. Don't own a manual now but every time I have a chance I steal my son's VW Golf.

comfortablycurt

Face wrote: »

Late C4 Corvettes, C5 Corvettes, and possibly C6 Corvettes force you to shift from 1st to 4th gear at low RPM's. It's to save fuel and is possible due to gobs of torque at low RPM's.

The 4th Gen LT1 and LS1 Camaro's and TransAm's have the skip shift setup as well. Luckily that can be over ridden with the Skip Shift Eliminator for about $30.

superjunior wrote: »

thats interesting, didn't know that. wonder if the new camaros are the same?

Yes, as far as I know. As I said above though...that's easily eliminated.




edit-Yes, I've been known to skip a gear every now and then. The second gear in my 1990 Firebird Formula is so short it's almost stupid. I don't even drive that car anymore though...it's been sitting behind my house collecting dust for quite a while now. My 1990 Firebird V6 has an automatic...so no skipping gears in that.

First and second gear are almost pointless in the 1987 Chevy Monte Carlo me and my dad built. It's got a touch over 500 lb/ft of torque, and first and second gear basically add up to a huge cloud of smoke and rubber...lol That's with street tires though, and a stock 10 bolt rear end. That's all getting changed within the next year or so.

blakeh

3 to 5 all the time.

audiobliss

comfortablycurt wrote: »

First and second gear are almost pointless in the 1987 Chevy Monte Carlo me and my dad built. It's got a touch over 500 lb/ft of torque, and first and second gear basically add up to a huge cloud of smoke and rubber...lol

That's just as it should be, my good man. Props to you!

Now let's see some pics and vids!!

comfortablycurt

audiobliss wrote: »

That's just as it should be, my good man. Props to you!

Now let's see some pics and vids!!

Sorry, no videos, but here are some pics. Did I mention that it has a 6 speed in it?:D It's also got a B&M supercharger, and a 100ish shot of nitrous. I could go into a lot more detail...but that's more than I feel like typing out...lol...suffice to say, that there isn't very much that's stock about this car anymore.


Please excuse the dusty engine bay and interior shots...I've been meaning to get some new pics for a while now. You can also see my Firebird Formula in the background of the first two pics. Nothing special to look at though really...lol













There are some changes due to be coming in the near future. It still has the stock rear end...which needs to go. Still going back and forth between a GM 12-bolt and a Ford 9". Since it's supercharged, we're going to be able to go with a fairly high gear. Probably around a 2.90 or so.

Aside from upgraded shocks, the suspension is basically stock. It's all getting reworked eventually. Still undecided on what direction to go there...

Aside from that, we need to put some upgraded brakes on it, and it will basically be "done". Or as done as you can ever be with a hot rod anyway.