Up through all 5 Speeds?

[Drover]

When I'm just casually pulling away from a stoplight, I use all 5 gears, typically shifting before 2000RPM to save fuel. If I need to gun it for some reason (need to get over a lane, need to merge onto a highway) and I've run it well up the RPM range, I'll probably skip a gear, for example jumping from 3rd right into 5th after merging form an on-ramp.

[Narfcake]

Originally Posted by Deez Nuttz

On the older 3 and 4 speed vehicles, the last gear in the transmission was the final gear, of a 1.00:1 ratio. And as I understand, most vehicles then had something like a 3.31 rear end gear all the way on up to a 4.10 gear out back....which meant fairly high rpms doing 65 down the highway.

My '64 Volvo P220 has a 4-speed (1:1 on 4th) and a Salisbury 4.56 rear ... so yeah, they never intended it to be doing much over 60 mph. 60 kph ... it's much more comfortable.

To the main topic ... for either my truck or wagon, I sometimes skip shift, 2nd into 4th or 3rd into 5th, mainly dependent on traffic conditions. Keep the rpms matched between gear changes, and it's not an issue.

[M3 Mitch]

I have never been a fan of skipping gears - I know one guy who drove a Volvo who was very big on skipping 3rd gear for some reason - he was convinced winding out 2nd and then jumping to 4th was saving him a bunch of gas. He had a lot of ideas like this, and he was pretty well convinced he was onto something no one else knew - I can't prove he was wrong but it did strike me as odd.

BMW did some research in the early 80's that indicated most people with a manual should open the throttle more and shift up sooner than they typically do, and could get better MPG without any sacrifice in performance by doing so.

[Sayantsi]

Skipping gears is generally bad practice as it puts more stress on the drivetrain. If you are redlining through one gear, and skip shifting to the one two higher, it is less stress on the drivetrain, but today's close ratio transmissions are designed to be used sequentially for power, mpg, and stress management. Going through each gear maximized engine power, mechanical advantage, and mpg.

Also, when skipping gears, you should at least go into and out of the gate of the gear you are shifting as that helps bring the synchros in line with the flywheel's speed. Not doing so means more work/wear on the transmission parts.