OK, here's the situation:

You are approaching a green light at about 30 mph, with one car in front of you. You are turning right at the intersection. The car in front of you slows down (10 mph) to make the turn. You slow down (and downshift to second gear)and make the turn behind him. The new road has two lanes traveling in your direction and the front car stays in the right lane. You move into the left lane to briskly accelerate around him. Do you do downshift to first gear?

This is a very common situation in everyday driving. You are not racing, or playing...just driving. Unfortunately, from my brief drives in the S2000, it doesn't seeem to have any reasonable pull below VTEC, so it's important to keep the revs up. That's not a problem when you're 'hitting the curves', but in regular, everyday situations (traffic lights, other cars, and intersections), it makes it really hard to do without using first gear.

I never tried to downshift into first from a roll. I just didn't have enough driving time to experiment (and I wasn't comfortable with the idea, anyway). Is that the way you guys do it?

 

I would downshift to first while rolling all the time. It is very easy to do so in this car.

 

unless you want to show off the speed or you are in a big hurry, the car is fast enough without needing first gear or Vtech in regular driving, if I accelerate in 2nd gear from 2000rpm to 5000rpm and then continue in 3rd on a regular street - everybody will be way behind you.

 

It is quite feasible to downshift to 1st in this situation but I would do it before turning the corner - not after. You will likely find a little resistance in the 'box (i.e. it will be stiffer than most shifts), however.

 

I was driving home the other night with my son (17). I stopped at a stop sign to turn onto a "highway" (55 mph limit). There was another car coming. I figured he was going to turn (many do), but in any case, I knew I had room with the S2k. I pulled out and shifted into second as I made my turn - like I normally do.

I looked up in the mirror and realized he wasn't turning but was still coming, so I punched it. Shifted into third at about 60. The car behind me started over to the left lane but didn't make it over before he realized I was not going to be a problem. My son had never been in the car when I vtec'd (only 900 miles on it). His comment: "Holy crap!"

I'd say, just leave it in second!

 

2nd is usually enough to get you out into trafic an a pretty brisk pace, but your are may have different traffic conditions. If you need to shift, do it before the turn so as not to upset the balance of the car through the turn, and then you can smoothly accelerate right out of the turn. If I find I need to downshift into first, I just rev-match my shift so it does so smoothly.

 

Ordinarily I would definately downshift before making the turn, but I would choose second gear (in a regular car). I just was sure if shifting to first from a roll would be harmful to the sychronizer gear (even if the revs were matched well).

But I guess this is no 'regular' car.

 

Stay in second. I had some "grinds" when going down to first, within a few months of owning the car from a roll. Now I leave in second unless from a standing start.

 

I downshift to first whenvever the RPMs in second will fall too low to provide adequate acceleration. Most of you guys are too young to remember the days before syncromesh, when a downshift to first when rolling was almost always accompanied by a major gnashing of the gears. The geargbox in this and other modern cars makes this a piece of cake and a necessary bit of good driving, IMHO.

 

[QUOTE]Originally posted by Kobe
[B]Unless you want to show off the speed or you are in a big hurry, the car is fast enough without needing first gear or Vtech in regular driving, if I accelerate in 2nd gear from 2000rpm to 5000rpm and then continue in 3rd