38
votes
Accepted
Need I press clutch pedal while starting my car in neutral?
It depends on the specific vehicle. Many modern standard transmission cars in the US have a clutch pedal sensor that will not allow you to start the vehicle if the pedal isn't fully depressed. You'...
- 24.3k
27
votes
Need I press clutch pedal while starting my car in neutral?
Being from Canada, I feel compelled to mention that if you do not depress the clutch while starting when it is at all cold out (let's say < 0 Celsius) you will notice the starter motor labouring ...
- 422
26
votes
Accepted
What's the best gear to leave a manual vehicle in when parked?
The lower the gear, the better the job the engine compression will do at holding the car if the brake fails, that's because a lower gear makes the engine spin faster and requires it to do more work ...
- 14.4k
19
votes
What's the best gear to leave a manual vehicle in when parked?
When I'm on a hill with the front of my car facing up the hill I park the car in first and turn the wheels away from the curb so the transmission is fighting against gravity.
When I'm on a hill with ...
- 347
15
votes
Accepted
Is reverse gear in a manual transmission equivalent to any other gear?
Reverse is pretty equivalent to first gear, for a ratio of around 3.2ish.
If it were any lower, it would be difficult to get started from a stop since the torque just won't be there. If you've ever ...
- 494
13
votes
Does an increase in horsepower allow a greater speed in any given gear?
The answer is no because you mention being limited by your redline. Regardless of power, a certain RPM will result in a certain speed for a given gearing. Chances are the gear ratios were chosen ...
- 13.3k
12
votes
What stops a car window from falling down?
Every window has what's called a window regulator (here's a representative image):
The window itself attaches to the window track. This keeps it steady and level while moving up and down. As you can ...
- 153k
12
votes
What's the best gear to leave a manual vehicle in when parked?
So, looking at a couple common manual transmission gear ratio charts, first gear would be best. Why? It has the highest ratio. Although it is (in the charts I found) very close to reverse.
Here's a ...
- 3,284
11
votes
What differences are there between straight cut and helical cut gears?
Great question! There are several basic differences. Here is my main article that I am pulling from.
Firstly, straight-cut gears produce less side-to-side torque, allowing the engine to deliver much ...
- 5,245
11
votes
Accepted
Does an increase in horsepower allow a greater speed in any given gear?
Summarized Answer
No, HP does not determine MPH in a gear, the gear ratio does. Although there are hypothetical ways that HP can seem to make the vehicle go faster in the same gear, it doesn't ...
- 3,284
10
votes
Is it OK to skip gears on a motorcycle?
It depends on how you do the skipping
If, when you do it, you hear loud clunks, that means you are not matching the RPM's to the road speed, to the transmission.
Motorcycles have a synchronous ...
- 33k
10
votes
Switch from N to D without brake
Should be no problem at all.
The manual is being overly cautious, since the usual case for shifting from neutral into drive is when you're stopped hold the brake will prevent the car from starting to ...
- 14.4k
10
votes
Accepted
Switch from N to D without brake
No harm done
On contemporary vehicles there is no direct mechanical linkage between the gear selector and the automatic transmission.
Instead, the gear selector selects a "state" (e.g. N, D, R, 1, 2....
- 39.1k
10
votes
Accepted
Driving down hill in gear without throttle
As you say you change gear from 3rd to 4th, this means you have changed the gear ratio between the engine and the wheels causing a different engine rpm.
- 34.7k
9
votes
Accepted
My car locks lower gears when on high speed, why?
I'm assuming you have a manual transmission.
Stop doing that, you will damage your transmission.
Your powertrain can be broke down into three sections. The engine, including the fly wheels. The ...
- 16k
8
votes
Accepted
What would happen if you shifted into reverse while you are going forward?
My theory is that the engine would be forced to rotate the other way around, wouldn't it? Then, because of that, the engine would stop, and therefore it will "generate" a lot of force to the ...
8
votes
What's the best gear to leave a manual vehicle in when parked?
First gear when pointing down hill, reverse when pointing up. If your car ends up rolling, the engine will turn in the correct direction. If you park in reverse pointed downhill and your car rolls ...
- 189
8
votes
Does an increase in horsepower allow a greater speed in any given gear?
Well the simple answer is (as you suspect)... No.
With fixed gearing, you are going to be doing the exact same speed at any given engine RPM with 100bhp or 600bhp.
8
votes
Trouble getting in first gear when car is hot
While I agree that Solar Mike's answer is a possibility, you. might check the simple and inexpensive things first.
Try changing the transmission oil/fluid. Sometimes this works wonders especially on ...
- 12.1k
7
votes
Accepted
Why are most motorcycles 5 speed than 6 speed?
There are three considerations when making a low end/small capacity engine
Cost
Reliability
Space available
2 and 3 directly affect 1.
To make a gearbox more reliable you need to make the parts ...
- 2,655
7
votes
Acceleration pickup of a car
How is a 0-100 run done?
The fewest number of gears possible will be used, because that's the fastest way to get to a given speed. Engines typically put out their highest power in a certain band of ...
- 13.3k
7
votes
What does it mean to have a stiff first gear?
After reading the op's question again, following being prompted to by the comment below from @Gargravarr, I realised I needed to update this answer.
I believe that the real reason that selecting 1st ...
- 24.9k
7
votes
"Keep in low gear" driving a gearless electric vehicle
Electric vehicles can "engine" brake by using the drive motors as generators. As they generate electricity they consume the car's potential energy - either from speed or elevation or both. The energy ...
- 14.4k
7
votes
Accepted
Why do we push start cars in second gear?
It doesn't "have to be done in second gear". It just usually works easier to do it there. The reason is simply as you put it, that being it isn't trying to spin the engine as fast in 2nd gear as it ...
- 153k
7
votes
Accepted
Why doesn't a car parked in first gear roll backwards?
Engaging gear increases the effort needed to move the car
Typically (assuming a RWD vehicle):
In neutral: car moves when wheels, axles, diff(s), propshaft & gearbox output shaft turn
In gear: ...
- 39.1k
6
votes
Accepted
How come gears don’t normally change in an automatic car?
Your question is incredibly board because it can be broken into 5 distinct aspects; planetary gear sets operation, clutch and band operation, torque converter operation, control system operation and ...
- 16k
6
votes
Difficulty of shifting down to 1st while moving (manual)
There's much older cars that don't have their 1st gear synchronised. My '76 Triumph TR7 doesn't have it, and I bet your Skoda doesn't have it either. You either have to come to a complete standstill ...
- 2,944
6
votes
Trouble getting in first gear when car is hot
Sounds a lot like the clutch centre plate is breaking up or has oil on it so it is sticking to flywheel face or pressure plate.
Check and replace as needed.
- 34.7k
5
votes
Changing gears at what speed?
I think I got this. someone help me verify...
So I watch the tach and speedo to determine MPH per 1000 RPM in higher gears (3rd,4th,5th). On my car its about 10, 15, 19.5.
[tire diameter (in ...
- 8,443
5
votes
Manual transmission noise
One possibility is that the synchromesh has worn on 3rd gear. The synchro is a clutch that matches the speed of the gears before they mesh together. If the synchro is worn, then the gears will not ...
- 24.9k
Only top scored, non community-wiki answers of a minimum length are eligible