Is 'skipping' gears bad for engine?

The Davestator

I've a habit of skipping certain gears sometimes and was wondering if it makes any difference to my cars wear and tear.

Thanks

AugustusMinimus

Skipping when going up through the gears or when going down the gears.

Skipping going down the gear can cause a bit of extra wear on the brake pads as you will have to use the brakes a bit more. Doesn't actually put any extra stress on the engine or gearbox though.


Skipping gears going up means you have to rev a bit higher than usual so to get up to the correct speed in order to be able to skip a gear. Going too slowly for a gear does put stress on the engine though.

The Davestator

I mean skipping going up - go from third to fifth for example

tuxy

I can't see it being bad for the car. You do have to pointlessly rev the car in third gear so it does not bog down when you go into 5th. You will use more fuel driving this way. If using all gears is that much of an inconvenience to you look into getting an automatic

RandomAccess

The Davestator wrote: »

I mean skipping going up - go from third to fifth for example

It doesn't do any harm.

Decent write up on this driving instruction website,
http://www.driversscotland.co.uk/2010/04/gear-changing-and-block-gear-changing/

This same question pops up every so often on here,
http://www.boards.ie/vbulletin/showthread.php?t=2055654417

RandomAccess

tuxy wrote: »

I can't see it being bad for the car. You do have to pointlessly rev the car in third gear so it does not bog down when you go into 5th. You will use more fuel driving this way. If using all gears is that much of an inconvenience to you look into getting an automatic

Its not really used the way you describe, its useful if you overtake a car promptly but then don't need any further acceleration so you can just stick it straight from third to fifth for example.

tuxy

RandomAccess wrote: »

Its not really used the way you describe, its useful if you overtake a car promptly but then don't need any further acceleration so you can just stick it straight from third to fifth for example.

Yeah that's true, I do that myself but can't think of any other situation where I might do it.

coylemj

RandomAccess wrote: »

Its not really used the way you describe, its useful if you overtake a car promptly but then don't need any further acceleration so you can just stick it straight from third to fifth for example.

+1 or you use 3rd gear to climb a hill and then when you go over the brow of the hill there's a long descent so you just go straight to 5th.

wonski

AugustusMinimus wrote: »

Skipping when going up through the gears or when going down the gears.

Skipping going down the gear can cause a bit of extra wear on the brake pads as you will have to use the brakes a bit more. Doesn't actually put any extra stress on the engine or gearbox though.

Isn't it the opposite?
The engine will slow the car faster in lower gear, it is called engine braking for a reason.

I never skip the gear going up, doesn't make sense to me. The only time i could do it was maybe if i was going to reach speed quickly in second/third gear, and then stick to 4th/5th. This will reduce mpg, but who cares:D

wendell borton

No harm at all as long as you use a gear appropriate for your speed.

Matt Simis

wonski wrote: »

I never skip the gear going up, doesn't make sense to me. The only time i could do it was maybe if i was going to reach speed quickly in second/third gear, and then stick to 4th/5th. This will reduce mpg, but who cares:D

Get a big Naturally Aspirated engine and the whole concept of gears changes. I could move from the top of 2nd to 5th and no one would notice. 3rd to 6th would be normal driving.

Dropping down gears is to jump straight into the powerband and has no connection or bearing on brakes.

Osborne

I believe it's called block changing.

I was advised to do it when learning to drive.

wonski

Matt Simis wrote: »

Get a big Naturally Aspirated engine and the whole concept of gears changes. I could move from the top of 2nd to 5th and no one would notice. 3rd to 6th would be normal driving.

Dropping down gears is to jump straight into the powerband and has no connection or bearing on brakes.

Could do the same, but drive crappy 1.4 - hence it doesn't make sense to me...Most regular cars i drove were the same.

As for dropping gears down - it has some connection with bearing on brakes - if you drive on some roads in let's say Wicklow, going downhill a lot, engine braking will improve your braking, and save your brakes in some cases.
Never think of it as saving brakes tough, as it is just side effect rather done purpose of engine braking.
OT Going to drive Porsche next Sunday over Mondello, so will have a chance to compare... not sure if the 3.2 has a turbo or not, but as it has "only" 270bhp, there is a chance it has none.

Osborne

wonski wrote: »

Could do the same, but drive crappy 1.4 - hence it doesn't make sense to me...Most regular cars i drove were the same.

As for dropping gears down - it has some connection with bearing on brakes - if you drive on some roads in let's say Wicklow, going downhill a lot, engine braking will improve your braking, and save your brakes in some cases.
Never think of it as saving brakes tough, as it is just side effect rather done purpose of engine braking.
OT Going to drive Porsche next Sunday over Mondello, so will have a chance to compare... not sure if the 3.2 has a turbo or not, but as it has "only" 270bhp, there is a chance it has none.

N/A if it's a Boxter. I think they stopped making the 911 3.2's in the late 80's.

Armin_Tamzarian

I had to do an advanced driving course before and they taught to stay in the same gear as you brake approaching a stop.
Then take it straight into Neutral as you are about to reach the point where the car will start to shudder.
I can't see how skipping gears could have a negative effect, once the speed was appropriate for the selected gear.

strokeslover

I saw somewhere that if you go down the gears before coming to a stop(engine braking), the car doesn't use any fuel at all in this situation. Think it was Top Gear when Clarkson was driving the diesel Jag across England.

CiniO

The Davestator wrote: »

I've a habit of skipping certain gears sometimes and was wondering if it makes any difference to my cars wear and tear.

Thanks

Nothing wrong with skipping gears either way (upwards or downwards) provided you do it correctly. F.e if you are doing 80km/h on 5th at 2500rpm and want to go down to 2nd, where rpm would reach 6000rpm, you shouldn't just press clutch, put into 2nd and release clutch, but instead after pressing clutch rev the engine with your gas pedal to match appropriate revs on a gear you want to put (in this example 6000) and only then put the gear on and release the clutch.
That way you are saving excessive wear on both clutch and gearbox, as well as engine by not allowing for sudden rev jump which would occur if you just released the clutch and let engine revs rise suddenly.
The same applies when going up. If you want to change from 2nd at 6000rpm to 5th, after pressing clutch you should wait for few seconds for engine revs to fall down to 2500rpm and only then put 5th ane release clutch.

getz

in the 70s and 80s in the UK skipping gears was expected in the driving test,not to do so would be a fail,but now that is wrong,except in the advanced driving test where you have to learn to skip gears without racing the engine

antodeco

I do it all the time. I do it nearly always on the M50. Driving along, and need to get passed someone quickly. Ill drop from 5th to 3rd, goes from about 2k RPM to around 3.5K RPM. Ill get into the power band straight away for about 1K RPM and then go back up through the gears.

Am I right in thinking that skipping gears shouldnt be done in a turbo?

Mar4ix

i was ,skipping gears when driving with my skyline, when i was approaching roundabout in 4th gear, see nobody on it or near it, put in second gear, go the way i want, and when exit from roundabout , speed up to 50 ish km/h, and then put in 4 th or 5th gear(depends of speed limits in that area) , just to maintain correct speed.

When i sold skyline, i had punto, never did this on punto, as it didnt had enough power , also never thought about it when was driving.

Now in toyota, 1.8 petrol, i some times skip gears upwards, and downwards, but not so often as in skyline.

CiniO

antodeco wrote: »

I do it all the time. I do it nearly always on the M50. Driving along, and need to get passed someone quickly. Ill drop from 5th to 3rd, goes from about 2k RPM to around 3.5K RPM. Ill get into the power band straight away for about 1K RPM and then go back up through the gears.

Whats the point in going up through the gears, if after accelerationg and passing someone, you are planning on cruising again, so you can go straight to 5th, as your speed is anyway higher than it was before when you were on 5th (before overtaking)?
Generally by going up through 4th, you are only wasting fuel.

Am I right in thinking that skipping gears shouldnt be done in a turbo?

Any particular reason for that? Because I cant think of any.

antodeco

CiniO wrote: »

Whats the point in going up through the gears, if after accelerationg and passing someone, you are planning on cruising again, so you can go straight to 5th, as your speed is anyway higher than it was before when you were on 5th (before overtaking)?
Generally by going up through 4th, you are only wasting fuel.

Not sure actually! Maybe I do skip 4th gear, and just dont realise it.

CiniO wrote: »

Any particular reason for that? Because I cant think of any.

Thought there was some issue with spooling at certain revs?

keithclancy

Depends on if its a rental or if its my own car.

Where To

Changing gears is a lot like making love to a beautiful woman.

As long as there is no resistance, horse it in wherever it will fit.

Henry Ford III

Going up through the 6 speed box I use every gear sequentially to use the (diesel) torque to pull the car up to speed.

Slowing down I tend to go 6th - 5th - 3rd......

Ronnie Beck

Armin_Tamzarian wrote: »

I had to do an advanced driving course before and they taught to stay in the same gear as you brake approaching a stop.
Then take it straight into Neutral as you are about to reach the point where the car will start to shudder.

Some clowns running that course.

P.C.

I am so glad none of you drive my car.

Not that what you are doing is wrong, just that I would not let anyone do it in a car that I own.

langdang

Where To wrote: »

Changing gears is a lot like making love to a beautiful woman.

As long as there is no resistance, horse it in wherever it will fit.

Swiss Toni would be the best taxi driver ever, endless "random topic" is very much like making love to a beautiful woman anecdotes

H3llR4iser

Ronnie Beck wrote: »

Some clowns running that course.

Could not agree more...that method belongs to the '70s. In a current car, it will only achieve to lenghten the braking distance as the engine will end up pushing against the braking force - not to mention the undue stress on the transmission when the car starts "shuddering".

I am always amazed about how distorted people's perception about "engine braking" is - unless you're driving a big truck or going down a steep hill, its usefulness mostly disappeared with the last 4-drums equipped car...

Nonoperational

P.C. wrote: »

I am so glad none of you drive my car.

Not that what you are doing is wrong, just that I would not let anyone do it in a car that I own.

Why?

Matt Simis

P.C. wrote: »

I am so glad none of you drive my car.

Not that what you are doing is wrong, just that I would not let anyone do it in a car that I own.

Meticiously going up and down through one gear at a time is more wear on a car (engaging and disengaging clutch over and over and wear on gearbox synchro's). I wouldnt be happy if someone drove my car like that, it would be utterly pointless and also worse on the gearbox and clutch.

As long as the car isnt labouring due to low rev's, block shifting is better due to less actual shifts.