Starting your car in 3rd, 4th, 5th, 6th gear?

[PeeluckyDuckee]

What kind of car do you have and what's the highest gear you've tried starting it in?
What are some possible damages you can cause by doing so?

I've only done 2nd gear starts in winter time 'cause 1st gear has too much torque and the wheel would spin like crazy and I'd get nowhere at the intersections. Never tried higher. This is in a 5th gen Prelude.

 

[Syringer]

Nothing..only if you end up stalling a lot which could be damaging.

On Top Gear jeremy started a Z06 in 5th gear, an overdrive gear mind you, and got to 170mph in that one gear.

 

[PeeluckyDuckee]

I hear the term stalling a lot, can someone who is mechanically inclined try to explain to me in layman terms what exactly happens inside the engine/tranny or whatever other part is involved in "stalling"?

 

[iamaelephant]

Wow, are you serious?

Stalling is when the load on the engine overcomes the power available and the engine stops, in a nutshell. It's what happens if you dump the clutch without giving the car enough throttle.

You can start a car in any gear the engine can handle, no damage will occur. Most cars can be moved from top gear if you apply the clutch slowly enough. Worst case scenario, you burn the clutch out, but that's only if you're a moron who rides the hell out of it.

 

[tasmanian]

Im pretty sure your car would just do the same thing when you let the clutch go with out enough gas. On a dirt bike it lurches foward and dies.

 

[Rubycon]

Text

 

[Colt45]

wow.

 

[alimoalem]

highest i've started is 5th gear in a mazda protege (92hp, 96 torque). what sucks about doing it in a weak car is it takes like 20 seconds before you can fully release the clutch and you'll only be going in the 30s. is it practical? no. is it something a guy may be intimidated to do when bored enough? maybe

 

[Stumps]

I've own a few 351 Cleveland powered Ford Falcon sedan's with 4spd Toploaders that have been able get going in top gear only, it took a bit of fiddling with the clutch to get them rolling but once they started to move, they soon picked up speed quick enough.

The last V8 Falcon (351 bored and stroked to 387cu) I owned had more than 440hp on tap at the wheels, it used to smoke the 10in rubber up back in top gear (4th) at as little as 25km/h...just give it a big rev and dump the clutch....the tires soon caught up to the rest of the drive train...

Heavy duty GT twin plate clutch and 3.5:1 9in Detroit lockers FTW

 

[Thorny]

If for some reason I can't free a hand to shift, I can comfortably start my car from 3rd without slipping the clutch. Fourth would be a little jerky, but my car (if it was stock) actually forces you to shift from 1st to 4th unless the computer determines your trying to accelerate to highway speeds. It can handle 4th at 10mph just fine. My car's a '99 Z28 with a six speed, around 325hp at the crank stock.

 

[Mark R]

You'll wear out the clutch if you do it regularly.

Starting out in a high gear requires considerable slipping of the clutch while it is transmitting high torque. This will cause severe heating and wear.

 

[b0mbrman]

Originally posted by: PeeluckyDuckee
What kind of car do you have and what's the highest gear you've tried starting it in?
What are some possible damages you can cause by doing so?

I've only done 2nd gear starts in winter time 'cause 1st gear has too much torque and the wheel would spin like crazy and I'd get nowhere at the intersections. Never tried higher. This is in a 5th gen Prelude.

In the old S2000, I was able to start in every gear up to 5th (out of 6 gears)

 

[Doggiedog]

I can get my G35 moving from 6th gear with no problem (unless on a hill). I've never had a car that I could do that with above 3rd gear.

 

[SVT Cobra]

If I floor it in 5th gear I can get it going with out slipping the clutch too much.