MTX driver: Skipping gears - pros & cons!

[lumlum1013]

i was told by a friend that it's ok for me to skip gears
as long as i'm not launching, spooling the turbo....
cuz my car has such high torque @ low end even w/o boosting..
so skippin' gear should be fine...is that true?

wat are the true pros & cons for this?

please advice

[MasZakrY]

you can start in second gear, but I wouldn't reccomend going from say, first to third or second to fourth as you will miss the powerband. Hard to keep the revs up when doing that as well, even if you are letting out the clutch slowly.

[hytong]

Automatics start in 2nd gear in winter mode. Corvette has skip-shift for fuel economy. Some don't like it, some do. Back to your question, I don't think there will be a problem unless you are lugging the engine, just match road speed with engine speed as smooth as possible, it will avoid unnecessary wear and give you predicable balance.

[cereal83]

I go from 3rd to 5th all the time. I don't think it is bad at all. My dad goes from like 2nd to 5th sometimes with a Yaris lol

[accord]

You know, it is funny: I was thinking of posting same question this morning. I drive Accord V6 6 speed (3.0l) and most of the time go 1st to 3rd to 5th gear skipping 2nd and 4th.Of course you have to go a bit faster before skip shifting but seems to be working fine. And when I am on the downward slope I often start from the 2nd gear.
I am wondering if it is cousing any significant excessive engine , clutch etc. wear.

[Action Jackson]

Factor in torque, load on the engine, weight of vehicle and terrain.

i.e. facing downhill you can start in 2nd and jump to 5th.

It depends on the engine and gear ratios too.

Lumlum with my P5 in stock trim, I usually start in 2nd b/c 1st is so short and crappy. The P5 had short ratios so skipping gears was smoother for my passengers.

2 - 4 - 5

2 - 3 - 5

1 - 4 - 5

1 - 3 - 5

3 - 5

etc.. I do it all the time and most of the torque starts around 1500 rpm.

In winter I sometimes started in 3rd b/c following someone without snowtires was pure agony.

If you want to come to the TOP eastside meet tonight I'll demostrate.

The only con I've heard of it that it could put a great strain on the engine and do damage to the crankshaft (?) and it's bearings.

[enko]

Skipping won't damage anything in your engine.

The only con is clutchwear if you're starting in 2nd (don't. that's what 1st is for), and excessive wear on your syncros on 3rd and 5th. 5th gear usually has ****** synchro.

So you might run into syncro issues. Or maybe you won't.

[lumlum1013]

Skipping won't damage anything in your engine.

The only con is clutchwear if you're starting in 2nd (don't. that's what 1st is for), and excessive wear on your syncros on 3rd and 5th. 5th gear usually has ****** synchro.

So you might run into syncro issues. Or maybe you won't.

i agree,

i really don't wanna wear out the clutch j/ b4 i return my lease 4yrs/100 000km. replacin' clutch in my car can easily cost more than $1000. or +$1500 from stealership. i guess i should stick w/ 1-2-3-4-5-6, instead of
1-2-4-5-6 or 1-2-3-5-6 j/ to save a bit of gas....

[cwb27]

If I don't need the power I will go 1-2-4-5, or if I'm in 3 I'll sometime go to 5.

RPMs pretty much don't move from 2-4 under light acceleration.

[scouzer]

I skip 3rd three quarters of the time in my Pursuit GT. Third gear is difficult to do smoothly for some reason with my car, and it's not a useful gear anyway.