Is skipping gears bad?

[Protege5girl]

I just had a driving lesson......and was wondering if downshifting from say 5-3rd does any damage to the engine? I was originally taught never to skip a gear, but this instructor said it won't cause any problems.

[SunBurst-P5]

It doesn't cause any problems...but when and if you do, just make sure that when you jump down like that you're in the range of that gear....in our manuals it shows the gearing and speeds for each.

IE. If you're going 110 and jump down into 3rd, the engine will rev really high because it hasn't revved down to that "gear" yet. 3rd is usually 50/60 - 80/90 range depending on when you shift (tach range)

[rowan]

Naw it won't hurt anything unless you have a sequential gearbox http://msg.toprotege.com/iB_html/non-cgi/emoticons/wink.gif
If the tranny didn't like skipping gears, you would know. As long as you're going the right speed for the gear .. no worries.

[MP5Navy]

Shifting down by skipping gears is fine, as long at you match the revs. I've downed from 5th to 3rd (to hurry into the powerband) to catch my buddies who try to "rice by" me on the highway. It's not bad for the gear box at all. It also makes sense if you are entering a tight corner at high speed (ie: on the gas in fourth - on the brake for turn preparation - down to 2nd while doing a heel-toe - ride the power band on the exit).

[Bumble G]

all depends

If you're downshifting from 5th to 3rd when you're doing say 5000rpm in 5th. BAD NEWS.

I guess you want to make sure when you downshift that you do not exceed the redline.

A good thing to do is have someone in the car with you and get them to record the max speed @ rpms for eah gear.

For example 3rd gear is max spped of 100km/h
So therfore you don't want to downshift to 3rd if you are going faster than 100km/h

[Protege5girl]

Thanks for straightening that out for me.

[Evil Homer P5]

i've taken 3rd gear up to about 110-120 kph.

lots of times i'd be going about 80 kph in 5th, and drop down to 3rd, but as i was changing gears i was rev matching, so i was on the gas and cluth going into 3rd.

[midnightblue97lx]

When I'm going slow and downshifting, I have to go from 5-3 say, or 4-2 otherwise its pointless. I'll just have to go down another gear anyways. I was test driving a honda accord once in hamilton, and was not on the highway, but some where that the limit was 80 or 90, and I went to downshift from 5-4 but ended up putting it in second, I was doing around 80 or 90 at the time., jesus did that engine scream.