Anybody have any thoughts about driving and shifting 1,3, 5 or 2, 4, 6 instead of climbing through all the gears?

 

No.

 

Whatever floats your boat... Driving nice and easy 1 3 5, or 2 4 6 works pretty well. Going from 4k rpms in 1st --> 1k in 3rd is a pretty big delta so you have to shift a lot slower and wait for those revs to drop... other than that go for it.

 

That may be interesting to do on occasion but on a regular basis I would think it would not be good for the car, especially the 2,4 ,6 shift which would involve plenty of "lugging" starting off in 2nd.

 

I do it sometimes.
2nd gear starts are pretty easy in this car, too.

sometimes I do the 1-2-6 If I'm just doing a quick 0-60 and then cruise.

 

2-4-6 or 1-3-5 is a bit excessive ... sounds like you should have bought the auto I typically skip a gear during relaxed cruising, but not in that pattern. I usually just skip one gear to cut down on the shifting, so either I'll take off in 2nd, or go 1-2-3-5-6

 

I do quite a bit of that around town. Occasionally I'll take off from a stop at a good clip, make the shift into second and then go straight to 6th at about 45 mph. Doogie mentioned waiting for the revs to drop if you want to make a smooth shift, and that's definitely true.

I haven't tried starting off in second. First is such a short granny gear, and the VQ has so much torque down low, that I'll bet it works well without a good deal of clutch slippage. I started off in second here and there in my old Altima 3.5 5MT, particularly on slick roads. No problems.

 

Can I ask...WHY??? If shifting is such a chore, why didn't you just go w/ an automatic? They're plenty fast, and certainly less work...especially if you have to deal w/ "LA traffic" like I do on occasion.

I'm not flaming anyone, just wondering...

* * Shifting...its good for the car, its good for the soul * *

^-^

 

There's no rule that mandates how you should shift and which gear you should choose. Drive it however makes you happy. That's the beauty of a manual tranny, you are in control.

Personally I like to scream off from a light like a teenager so everyone gets real annoyed at me, and then when I get to 50 or whatever the limit is, slap it in 5th and keep cruising, so that's like 1-2-5

...There's nothing like wasting a ton of gas in order to look like a tool and hear the roar of the intake. But hey, that's my prerogative right?

 

I skip gears all the time - save gas and reduce clutch wear.

 

1-2-3-5 or 1-2-5 in "spirited" take off. 1 and 3 are too far apart unless you redline it in 1 st.

 

Hmmm interesting, I've always gone thru all the gears... Then again I enjoy driving a manual so it does not bother me going thru all the gears.

I don't see any harm in skipping gears... Might dirty up some of the spark plugs if you continuously shift to low into a gear (shrug)

 

Fair question, and no flame taken.

kysrsoze struck to the heart of the matter for me too: skip-shifting saves a little gas and reduces wear and tear on the clutch, syncros and other driveline components. I don't skip-shift when I'm driving like I mean it, but sure, when puttering around town the VQ's powerband is so broad and torquey -- and the 6MT's gears so closely spaced -- that skipping gears just makes sense. For me. YMMV.

And no, you won't foul the plugs or put any stress on the lower end unless you lug the engine on a regular basis. The VQ seems to like 1500 rpm on up, so I aim for the lower end of that scale when shifting for maximum smoothness and fuel economy. When I want to get on it, though, I'll aim to have the next shift fall somewhere a few hundred revs below the torque peak (4800 rpm).

And Gthree5, you're right about one thing: If I ever find shifting to be a chore, I'll take up the GeeWillikers automatic-transmission bandwagon.

Don't count on that anytime in the next 50 years.

 

I love my 6MT. I was just curious because I've got a friend with a Z06 and he ends up with some funky shift patterns and was wondering if anybody did it on a G. Auto? I think not.

 

hmmm...

interesting. never skipped gears before. i may consider doing it sometime...