is it possible for a transmission to have a mechanical safeguard in place, where at a certain road speed, the driver cannot shift into a certain gear? i mean, they already make it so that you can't shift into reverse while driving 60mph on the freeway, right? why can't they automatically block off 2nd gear whenever the car is traveling faster than ~58mph so that if you're an idiot and can't shift from 3rd to 4th correctly, you just hit a big fat wall but stay in neutral when you try to move to 2nd gear, and then realize your mistake and settle it nicely into 4th?

is it possible?

 

yeah they block the gates, but the problem is when you powershift into a gear nothing is going to stop you completely. If you REALLY wanted to you could get into reverse at any speed.

 

Actually, I think mythbusters proved that going into reverse after the car is moving forward is impossible.

 

the mythbusters have been proven to be wrong from time to time as well though.. but dear lord, please let them be right!

 

change the way you hold your knob
hold it from the top instead of gripping it around from the right

 

If you're granny shifting like me, click on my signature to watch my video, you could actually feel the gate is locked for 2nd gear. It's hard to get in 2nd once you pass it, but you still can if you pull it hard. I remember from the video, at one point, I was in 5th and I wanted to get into 4th, but accidently misshift into 2nd. I actually felt it and pull it back into neutral. Click on my signature to watch it.

Jason

 

i rev match down shift into 2nd at high rpms alot, especailly before a turn. i wouldnt want that.

 

you're talking about shifting into 2nd gear while the engine speed is UNDER RED-LINE. i was talking about when you're driving like 75mph and trying to shift from 3rd to 4th, and going into 2nd by accident.

i saw some dude do it to his old integra on youtube and he starts saying "oh my God oh my God oh my God" after he spins out and then can't start the car again. i felt bad for him, but come on, learn how to drive?

 

who does this??? 3rd to 4th in our cars is literally a flick of the wrist...nothing more. see my sig for more info.

 

To be honest I've never heard of a 3-4 going bad and hitting 2nd on an H pattern shifter. I have always considered the 3-4 shift to be the easiest possible as you are out of the low gears (less difference in gearing makes shifting easier, so 3-4 is easier than 1-2) and the shift is straight down the center where the stick WANTS to stay (there-by making it slightly easier than 5-6 because you have to keep the stick to the right as it wants to automatically center when it is in neutral).

More common I believe is the above mentioned 5-2 miss shift, as you are already pulling down and towards you, too much sideways pull could force it into 2nd.

On a side note, sloppy shifting usually occurs during down-shifts partly due to the fact that your upper body (shoulders/back being most important) is being pulled away from your seat and there-fore the base of your arm movement is not rooted in as stable a foundation.