I have read in another thread that it was detrimental to the synchros to skip gears. Is this true? I find myself doing this often...I like to rev 3rd gear up when merging onto the highway and then slip it into 5th or 6th. What do you guys think?

 

what you read is correct.

 

i find myself doing this also, but why is it bad for the syncros?

 

I think it has been reasonably well established that gear skipping should be avoided as a general practice, out of kindness to the synchros. I avoid gear skipping whenever possible. However, after a burst of acceleration to get into traffic,the occasional 3 - 5 or 4 - 6 shift (executed in a leisurely and careful manner) to get back to normal cruising rpm's should not be harmful. Let us not forget that this is a very close ratio transmission and the rpm ratio between 3rd and 5th, or between 4th and 6 is no greater than between 3rd and 4th, or between 4th and 5th on an older generation VW Rabbit or similar vehicle.

 

I dont see this causing any problems for the syncros as long as you allow the transmission to slow down. Its kindof like a clutch where you want the speeds to match. You are trying to match a shaft moving at like 8k rpm to a gear that will likely slow it down to more like 4k rpm..

 

I never skip gears when upshifting. Some people swear by it, but I'm not that lazy. I paid for six gears and use all of them. Drive an auto otherwise.

My synchros love me for it.

 

^^^ this makes no sense. Skipping gears is lazy? Drive an auto if you wanna skip gears?
Anyways I sk gears all the time in similar situations that the op stated. I dont do it often so im sure the synchros receive almost 0 damage at all.

 

If you want to skip gears without worrying about the syncros... try my method. after getting up to speed in 3rd as in the previous example, clutch in, then shift 4-5-6 then let the clutch out.. it steps the transmission though each sycro solving the issue.

 

Is skipping gears only a bad thing when shifting up gears (going from 3rd to 5th, or 4th to 6th) or is it also bad going back down when making turns, etc.

 

I always go through each gear while upshifting, even if it's just for 1/5 of a second. Often I'll only partially let out the clutch then shift again when going up.

Downshifting I'll do whatever is needed. 5th to 2nd, 4th to 1st, etc. Often though I have a VERY hard time getting it into 1st gear when downshifting if I don't go 3rd-2nd-1st. Especially when coming down from 4th or 5th. But I know I need a fluid change so that may be part of it.