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Thread ID: 107057	2010-02-02 20:51:00	Use of 5th gear???	Billy T (70)	PC World Chat

Post ID	Timestamp	Content	User
854708	2010-02-03 04:28:00	I regularly short-shift 1>3>5, and if starting downhill from lights I've been known to go 1>3 or 1>4, or in extremes (good straight downhill run) 2>5. I had an older Honda Integra for short while in the mid 90s and that was a bit short on torque, but that was an older model and I don't know what the more recent production is like. In just about all conditions around town 1>2 gets me up to 50 with the normal traffic flow then I drop into 5th. Just because a car has 5 or six gears doesn't mean you have to use them all, any more than you have to drive at 180kph because that is the top speed your car will do. I've never heard of anybody in recent times going back through all the gears when slowing down either, that dates back to the days of engine braking when brakes were less efficient and brake fade common. I brake to the appropriate speed and shift to the correct gear, be that 5>3 or 5>2. Why would you want to skip gears? If you are 1 to 3 or 1 to 4, I gotta say your driving doesn't sound right to me. Sound like you rev the **** out of the motor and then change... Well out of the torque range. You'd probably get better fuel figures if you stick to the torque range, and go through the gears properly. The reason you should engine brake is to have control over you vehicle rather than for braking. Freewheeling = bad idea.	Cato (6936)
854709	2010-02-03 04:33:00	IME, it depends alot on the car. I highly doubt that you'd be failed for using 5th, unless you're honking it. Never saw anything like that mentioned in the road code. My usual chariot is a Ford Transit/Tragic, it's a major mission just to get it up to 100, let alone any passing speed. Don't touch 5th unless I'm doing 80-odd, but it depends. Are you cruising, or just going to turn off in 150m?	ubergeek85 (131)
854710	2010-02-03 06:39:00	If you don't like paying the oil companies money drive in 5th, if you do try 3rd or 4th..	paulw (1826)
854711	2010-02-03 06:58:00	I always use engine braking and compliment it with the brakes, Never would I stay in top gear and heave to on the brakes alone. It means you can keep the engine in the torque range which not only gives you more control of the wagon but also has the benefit of ensuring you are in a usable gear when you have finished braking, rather then needing to change gear after braking and before accelerating. This is a required skill when driving a manual, especially in heavy traffic and on roads with elavtion changes and corners. Bingo, especially relevant living in a hilly city like wellington, the gorge and wainui hill rd spring to mind	plod (107)
854712	2010-02-03 07:12:00	As an ex MOT approved driving instructor, I always taught pupils to not go past 4th in town areas, mainly because it is easier if you have less gear changes to go down to when slowing or stopping. A learner driver does not have the same savvy and reflexes that an experienced driver has in any given situation. However it is quite a number of years since I taught and have never heard that someone could be failed by using 5th in a 50 kPH area. Why don't you give a driving school a ring and get an opinion from them. I drive in 5th in Taupo sometimes, it can save on fuel and keeps the revs lower. LL As an Ex MOT traffic officer examiner I have never failed a person for being in the wrong gear as such. The worst I could do was mark them for poor knowledge of gears which is only 1 poor. Three poors got you a fail. But having said that, the practical is subjective in any event. A couple of times I passed where according to the rules I actually had to even though the attitude was totally wrong and I suspected that the applicant was going to be a danger on the road. As an examiner you don't ( well I didn't ) mark poor on the sheet unless it could be justfied. Fifth gear and you stall would possibly be enough to mark poor knowledge of gears in my opinion. Sorry I have no up to date info on this.	Sweep (90)
854713	2010-02-03 07:19:00	A bit more here. Coming downhill I was taught to use the same gear as I would use to travel up the same hill. The Kaimai springs to mind here especially on the west side where I just trundle down in second and the brakes are hardly used.	Sweep (90)
854714	2010-02-03 07:43:00	I've been teaching my son to drive (he's coming along very well thanks) and when we returned from his last lesson, which are being held off the public roads, I commented to my wife that he had now got up to 4th gear as we had found a better site that with much more space and allowed normal road speeds. We'd been using the very large car park at a local venue but they've put speed bumps in all over it to stop hoons and it restricts the space for realistic driving exercises. Anyway, when I said he was gaining confidence so he'd be up to 5th gear soon and we could do more advanced driving including road work, my daughter made the extraordinary comment that he should not be using 5th gear at all. She insisted that her Driving Instructor told her that she must not use 5th around town and must go no higher than 4th. She then said that when he went for his licence he would be failed by the Examiner if he used 5th gear around town and that it was only for motorway use. Has anybody ever heard this suggested? I'd be particularly interested in the opinions of younger members who may have obtained their restricted or full licence in the last couple of years. Cheers Billy 8-{) :confused: a bit poor that they didn't explain why not to use 5th. i can understand the use of lower gears, its simply better control of the vehicle. however i would get him to practice using as many gears as possible. you want gear changing to be a habit. earlier that happens the better. that way they can concentrate on the rest of the driving without having to think about gears. of course all vehicles are different so getting to practice in different vehicles and understand the WHY they are different is a good idea. most of the vehicles i drive will do 5th gear @ 50km/h. some are seriously low geared but other have decent power at low rpm. some do 1000rpm @50km/h, others do 2000rpm @ 50km/h.	tweak'e (69)
854715	2010-02-03 07:52:00	A bit more here. Coming downhill I was taught to use the same gear as I would use to travel up the same hill. The Kaimai springs to mind here especially on the west side where I just trundle down in second and the brakes are hardly used. sounds like a bit from truck driving. go down the same speed you come up. however thats changed a bit now with the higher powered trucks we have today. but its one leason people tend not to teach. going uphill gravity helps stops you, but going down hill gravity works against you. they seam to think hit the brakes and the car will stop instantly. get them to do a full brake on a slippery hill and they soon learn why you go slow downhill. use gears to reduce use of brakes and in rear wheel drive cars to help keep brake balance.	tweak'e (69)
854716	2010-02-03 08:00:00	Another thing Billy T. How old is the Son and what vehicle is he driving when you teach him? Confidence is one thing and ability is another. An open area is one thing but hopefully when he gets on an actual road he does not want to be looking at the gear shift when some idiot goes through a red light or thinks he/she is in the USA.	Sweep (90)
854717	2010-02-03 09:18:00	Another thing Billy T. How old is the Son and what vehicle is he driving when you teach him? Confidence is one thing and ability is another. An open area is one thing but hopefully when he gets on an actual road he does not want to be looking at the gear shift when some idiot goes through a red light or thinks he/she is in the USA. He is 20 and he is driving my wife's Mazda Demio 1.3 import, which is the stripped down basic version and is very light. It goes like a scalded cat and it too is quite comfortable two-up in 5th and 50km/h. We are not currently using an open area (car park), instead we have access to a long private road that is not used in the evenings and it has intersections and other features plus a wide turn-around at each end. He is not at all mechanically minded, so one of the first things I taught him before he turned a wheel was which gear was which, and why, and where to find them without looking. I explained about spring-loaded gates and how to tell where you are in neutral without looking just by the feel. He already changes instinctively without taking his eyes off the road or fumbling, he doesn't grip the gear change knob but guides it by feel instead and as soon as he could start without stalling I taught him how to do a hill-start Billy's way (on a hill of course), which he mastered in a couple of minutes. This is before he had even got above 20km/h or out of 2nd gear. It is a great confidence booster. When I met Mrs T she was driving miles out of her way to avoid making hill starts, so I told her I could teach her how to do it on the steepest street in our area (really steep!!) inside of ten minutes. She mastered it in a lot less than five and it was quite a liberating experience for her as it was one of her biggest fears. For the secret, send a stamped addressed envelope containing a $20 dollar note to............. :) Cheers Billy 8-{)	Billy T (70)
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