Skipping gears on a manual transmission

[Scouzer]

I have a habit of doing this for fuel economy, but recently I was told this is not a great idea. I've been told it can damage the transmission.

I can't see why if I rev-match...thoughts?

 

[JMWarren]

Some GM transmissions force you to if you're not near WOT. I can't see it causing any problems.

 

[jupiter57]

Yeah, if you "Rev-match" you aren't harming your transmission.
However, if you have to increase your throttle very much to bring your RPMs back up, you could in fact be using even more fuel!

 

[purbeast0]

i go from 4th to 6th sometimes, but not very often. it just depends how high my RPM's are in 4th when I am switching to the next gear.

other than that, I don't skip gears.

 

[SVT Cobra]

Sounds kind of stupid to me, as no one can rev match perfectly every time and you may be wasting more fuel (negligible difference either way).

Also if you do not rev match correctly and lets say you go from 2nd to 4th and do a prologned run it is just asking for a melted cylinder.

 

[blckgrffn]

I almost always skip gears in the v8 mustang, rarely use first, skip 4th a lot too.

 

[MercenaryForHire]

GM 1-4 skipshift FTL.

$20 CAGS-killer FTW.

- M4H

 

[DaTT]

It won't harm anything.

 

[MrPickins]

Originally posted by: SVT Cobra
Also if you do not rev match correctly and lets say you go from 2nd to 4th and do a prologned run it is just asking for a melted cylinder.

It may be a dumb question, but how would that happen?

 

[ryan256]

Originally posted by: Scouzer
I have a habit of doing this for fuel economy, but recently I was told this is not a great idea. I've been told it can damage the transmission.

I can't see why if I rev-match...thoughts?

You realize you've just contradicted yourself??? Rev-match cranks the RPMs way up hence using more fuel, but your doing it for better fuel economy??

 

[3chordcharlie]

Originally posted by: ryan256

Originally posted by: Scouzer
I have a habit of doing this for fuel economy, but recently I was told this is not a great idea. I've been told it can damage the transmission.

I can't see why if I rev-match...thoughts?

You realize you've just contradicted yourself??? Rev-match cranks the RPMs way up hence using more fuel, but your doing it for better fuel economy??

If you're skipping a gear, why would you use much gas rev-matching?

I might get slightly on the gas before the clutch comes out, to slow down the engine deceleration, but frankly I don't even know for sure, I'd have to videotape myself.

If it feels smooth, and you aren't riding the clutch or letting it out too slowly, it's highly unlikely you're hurting anything.

Edit - I don't own or drive any powerful or 6-speed cars, but I'll frequently skip a gear if I have to accelerate to merge, and then I'm at cruising speed by the time I have merged.

 

[ryan256]

woops... double post.

 

[steveox]

i often go 1st -> 2nd -> 6th going from WOT to 65 and then cruising...

 

[paulxcook]

I don't skip, mainly because I've never had a reason to, or wanted to. Why would there be a 3rd gear if you didn't need it?

Also, rev matching means you're burning more gas to get up to a higher rpm to skip the gear you're skipping in order to save gas. Huh.

 

[spidey07]

No damage to your tranny whatsoever. Whoever told you that is an idiot.

However if you're going for fuel economy it doesn't make sense to skip gears - just keep the motor in it's ideal RPM range.

 

[3chordcharlie]

Originally posted by: paulxcook
I don't skip, mainly because I've never had a reason to, or wanted to. Why would there be a 3rd gear if you didn't need it?

Also, rev matching means you're burning more gas to get up to a higher rpm to skip the gear you're skipping in order to save gas. Huh.

Care to explain why you would need more RPM for a higher gear?

 

[Chrono]

WTF? You only rev match when you go into a lower gear. How the hell do you rev match when you go into a higher fricken' gear? Unless you go into neutral, let the rpm drop, then rev match accordingly to the speed that you're moving at in the specific gear that you are in.

 

[paulxcook]

Originally posted by: 3chordcharlie

Originally posted by: paulxcook
I don't skip, mainly because I've never had a reason to, or wanted to. Why would there be a 3rd gear if you didn't need it?

Also, rev matching means you're burning more gas to get up to a higher rpm to skip the gear you're skipping in order to save gas. Huh.

Care to explain why you would need more RPM for a higher gear?

Well, you're trying to get up to a speed at which you can shift into 4th from 2nd. So you press on the gas, and up go the RPMs.

 

[timxpx]

do people still even rev match in cars that were made in the last 30 years?

 

[AMCRambler]

I would think if you're not using all the gears you'd be hurting your fuel mileage. You'll be revving higher in the first gear so that you're not lugging the engine in the next gear. Now for 4th gear to 6th gear I wouldn't think that would be much of a difference because you're already crusing. But the lower gears would be where you see the wasted gas. Now downshifting, I skip gears a lot. If I'm coming up to a light or stop sign, I'll just slow down with the brakes and then downshift from 4th to 2nd when I've slowed down enough. My reasoning on that is, brakes are cheaper to replace than a clutch.

 

[spidey07]

Originally posted by: Chrono
WTF? You only rev match when you go into a lower gear. How the hell do you rev match when you go into a higher fricken' gear? Unless you go into neutral, let the rpm drop, then rev match accordingly to the speed that you're moving at in the specific gear that you are in.

You always rev match when upshifting. Otherwise you're putting a load on the motor.

It's different then rev-matching on a downshift, but the concept is the same.

 

[purbeast0]

Originally posted by: spidey07

Originally posted by: Chrono
WTF? You only rev match when you go into a lower gear. How the hell do you rev match when you go into a higher fricken' gear? Unless you go into neutral, let the rpm drop, then rev match accordingly to the speed that you're moving at in the specific gear that you are in.

You always rev match when upshifting. Otherwise you're putting a load on the motor.

It's different then rev-matching on a downshift, but the concept is the same.

Yah but when you upshift and match the revs, you are matching the revs at a lower position in the new gear than it was in the previous gear.

So I see what Chrono is confused about too ... cause I'm confused myself.

 

[Viperoni]

Originally posted by: spidey07
No damage to your tranny whatsoever. Whoever told you that is an idiot.

However if you're going for fuel economy it doesn't make sense to skip gears - just keep the motor in it's ideal RPM range.

I'd figure jumping from say 1-3 would put a bit more wear on the 3rd gear synchro then if you were to go from 1-2-3, but I doubt it's very much at all.


On a different note, I have a very worn manual tranny so I have to double clutch shifts in the cold or if they have large RPM differences.

 

[AMCRambler]

Originally posted by: 3chordcharlie

Originally posted by: paulxcook
I don't skip, mainly because I've never had a reason to, or wanted to. Why would there be a 3rd gear if you didn't need it?

Also, rev matching means you're burning more gas to get up to a higher rpm to skip the gear you're skipping in order to save gas. Huh.

Care to explain why you would need more RPM for a higher gear?

You will have to rev the previous gear higher so that when you skip the next gear you are still in the torque band for the gear you shift to. Otherwise you're lugging your motor when you shift.

 

[Demon-Xanth]

I skip gears alot. Sometimes I need 2nd to go from a rolling start then 4th to drive on city streets. Or 1st, 3rd, 5th for onramps. (1st to get some speed, third to get more and merge, 5th to cruise). Occasionally when going onto a busy but slow road I'll use 1st to go from 0-30 and then drop it into 5th to cruise at low speed.

<-- can easily go from 10-90 in third, can grudgingly go from 0-105MPH. (some significant clutch slippage to redline)