And likewise what about a downshift? If I want to hit second from 4th or 5th for maximum accel in passing, should I rev-match and downshift through every gear?

I don't see how situational gear skipping is a problem if it isn't practiced frequently.

 

I have made a habit out of shifting from 3rd to 5th, did it for 45,000 miles in my old car and it had no tranny problems.

 

Yes.

The problem is, you have to wait a moment for the engine rev's to drop to the desired speed. This means that you have to hold the clutch in while the rev's are dropping. I don't like the idea of holding my clutch in at high rev's, then have to wait for the engine speed to drop so it matches the wheel speed.

I have skipped gears in other car's that did not rev as high as this car and felt comfortable doing so, but I don't feel comfortable skipping gears in this car.

 

[QUOTE=s2kvolfan,Apr 10 2005, 08:22 PM]And likewise what about a downshift?

 

This is kind of off topic, but back when I raced Formula Mazda, there were a few times that I skipped a gear or two during very late and hard braking. There were a couple of times that I wasn't sure if I was going to get it slowed down in time before the turn-in point. This caused me to skip a gear on a down change as I didn't have the bloody time to go down through ALL the gears due to my being SO consumed trying to slow the bloody thing down.

This is not unheard of in the racing world.

 

Good point! I've done 5-3, 4-2, and even 6-3 downshifts with no problems that I'm aware of. I do try to rev match as best I can. Sometimes, that works well, others I'm not so sharp on. I just depends on how I'm doing on a given day.

As for downshifting one gear at at time, I have been known to do that, especially when I'm anticipating the situation. Usually this happens when I'm in traffic and am looking to pass the car in front of me. I'll be cruising in 6th, downshift to 5th in preparation, then hit 4th for the pass. I find that the process is smoother that way than trying a 6-4 downshift, especially if I'm feeling rushed with it.

As for the skipping gears on an upshift, I think Racer makes a good point when he mentioned that you have to wait for the engine to drop off to the rpms needed for whatever gear you're trying for. If the driver rushes this point, they will be putting added stress on the synchros. That probably isn't as much of an issue on a properly rev matched downshift, and definitely isn't if the driver is good at double clutching the downshift.

Drive Safe,
Steve R.

 

I think, even if you wait for the revs to drop, u'll still be wearing out the syncros, because the lay shaft takes longer to lose revs than the engine. A solution to this (and the method I use if i ever shift up more than one gear) is to shift from say, third, into nuetral, let the clutch out, and once the revs have dropped sufficiently, clutching in and shifting into sixths, I think this works, because it noticable reduces shifting effort.

 

[QUOTE=FraudulentNeon,Apr 10 2005, 07:49 PM] It will not harm your gearbox.

 

Yes. Read below.

 

aka double clutching, but i still wouldn't risk it.