Manual Drivers - Do you skip gears downshifting?

[JackieChiles]

Originally Posted by minn19

I skip gears all the time. In the situation you are talking about I usually go 6th to 3rd. I'll do 4th sometimes, but I do it carefully for the obvious reasons. I also find myself doing 5th to 3rd a decent amount.

Same

Cruise in city in 4/5th and will typically downshift into 3rd or 2nd depending.

[Nikolas]

Originally Posted by katit

I skip downshifting and upshifting whenever I feel needed. That's why any paddle shifters don't work for me

In fairness to DCT and certainly PDK, you can make a rapid multiple shift far faster than a single skip shift with a manual.

[NickyC]

People drive manuals and DON'T skip gears? I never even considered anything but skipping gears lol.

[MomoM3]

No skipping gears here... no need. Personal preference, I guess.

[nbennettksu]

I'm all over the place, skipping up and down. On a down, I'm no stranger to 6-4,6-3, 5-3, 4-2.

When I'm on my uppers I'll go 3-5, 3-6, 4-6... and if I've really hammered out 2nd and don't want to get a ticket, I'll go 2-4.

[kolosy]

re: 6-4 feeling unnatural / fear of shifting into second.. i'm surprised to see people worry about. given the amount of lateral travel the shifter has, i find the 6-4 down shift very natural. you pop it out of 6th, and it's directly over 4th. just pull down. i'm probably still having too much fun with the new ride coming from an f30, but the cruising-in-6th-down-to-4th-to-pass is one of my favorite things on the highway.

[BimmerKay]

I skip gears all the time, when upshifting and when downshifting. I'm just extremely careful to not "money shift" thats all.

[Rayers1997]

Originally Posted by drroc

I go 6-2nd (don't push too hard or you get stuck in the reverse gate). This is useful if you are doing 40mph in 6th, and you need to make an orange light. When upshifting, I skip gears quite a bit as well. 1,2nd, 4th, 6th. or 1st, 2nd, 3rd, 6th. Granted, this is very lazy acceleration in rush hour traffic. This car has so much torque that rowing through all the gears just because of principle, causes more wear on the clutch.

yes, but i try to spend as much time in neutral as possible

downshifting from 6th i usually go 3rd, not 2nd, ive found in 2nd my cars still squirrely enough to lose all grip downshifting that aggressively

[HoldenMI]

Every car I've ever had has been a stick. Of course you skip gears when you downshift for acceleration.

[Alan l.]

I guess I learned it the old school way when manual trans only had 5 gears and 5th was more a overdrive highway gear you don’t always use so downshifting to pass usually just means going from 4th to 3rd.

I also don’t mind rowing through the gears during a downshift to hear the throttle blips. It’s only if I need instant max acceleration (to smoke someone) where I could see the need to skip gears downshifting.

[bmrwrld]

Nope!

[E92 M Sport]

Frequently 6-4 and 4-6. 5th is useless in this car imo.

[Jim B]

Think "money shift".

[redpriest]

6th -> 4th all the time.

[barnsdale]

Originally Posted by gunsmoker

I don't use 5th gear on my f80 and i didn't on my previous audi. No double clutching or anything. I use the rev match except on autocross where. It doesn't matter since 95% of the course is driven in 2nd. I'm afraid to heel and tow on the track where going from 130mph into a sharp corner can be risky or burn some time for my slow heel and toe.

Same, I rarely use 5th. I'm either on the hwy driving in 4th with tons of torque or I am in granny mode in 6th trying to save gas on long drives LOL......95% of the time on the highway it's in 4th though

[gatorfast]

Originally Posted by barnsdale

Same, I rarely use 5th. I'm either on the hwy driving in 4th with tons of torque or I am in granny mode in 6th trying to save gas on long drives LOL......95% of the time on the highway it's in 4th though

What is the point of continuously driving on the highway in 4th? Seems very inefficient and unnecessary no?

[barnsdale]

Originally Posted by gatorfast

What is the point of continuously driving on the highway in 4th? Seems very inefficient and unnecessary no?

I didn’t buy an M4 to be efficient...plus some of the highways I use around my city are only 90KM/hr so 4th is better for those anyways.

Instant torque = more fun than 5/6th gear

[gatorfast]

Originally Posted by barnsdale

I didn’t buy an M4 to be efficient...plus some of the highways I use around my city are only 90KM/hr so 4th is better for those anyways.

Instant torque = more fun than 5/6th gear

Understood but there is a difference between fun/sport driving and simply being wasteful.

But at 90kmph that is a pretty slow speed for a highway. I was assuming you meant 70+ mph (113+ kmph). Driving in 4th gear makes more sense at the speeds you mentioned.

[kolosy]

Originally Posted by pheerIx

Plenty of passing ability while cruising in 6th at 80...ish mph.

this

[G35POPPEDMYCHERRY]

Originally Posted by pheerIx

Plenty of passing ability while cruising in 6th at 80...ish mph.

the passing power in 6th at 80ish is just scary. Ill legit squeeze thru the smallest holes with confidence that the car will just speed up.

[JibSTir13]

I used to pass in 6th but then got in the habit downshifting to 5th (or 4th if appropriate), and passing with some audible drama.

Such a blast. One of my favorite parts of my daily commute when the opportunity arises.

[325iExecutive]

Nope. I do not skip gears - tried changing the habit and found it v. Unnatural to skip gears.