27
votes
Accepted
Does flooring the throttle while traveling at lower speeds increase fuel consumption?
Bear with me, I'm going to clear up a myth, then answer your question. You will see that they are related.
Higher throttle doesn't mean higher RPM. Higher throttle just means more fuel entering the ...
- 5,245
15
votes
What mechanical action is heel and toe (clutchless) shifting trying to accomplish?
Heel-Toe shifting and clutchless shifting are 2 different things. I guess they can be done together....
The one thing both of these techniques have in common is rev matching. There is the RPM you ...
- 8,443
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
14
votes
Does flooring the throttle while traveling at lower speeds increase fuel consumption?
My Volvo V70 (model year 2006) has the digital dashboard fuel consumption meter. I also have a nice, fairly long uphill climb on my way to work, so I've had opportunities to try various methods. This ...
- 452
14
votes
How do I put my automatic car into neutral while moving in drive?
You can put your car into neutral by moving the gear selector into the position marked "N".
- 944
12
votes
Accepted
Skipping gears when downshifting
If your car is slowing down, and you are at a "safe" speed for 2nd gear, then its perfectly normal to skip gears. If you're going the wrong speed and the engine RPMs aren't even close to what they ...
- 13.3k
11
votes
Need to rotate an out of reach bolt or pin
Did you ever wonder why an open ended wrench is angled at exactly 15° ? That's so you can turn a nut a little bit, flip the wrench over, turn it a little bit more, and get the job done! You ...
- 6,569
11
votes
Accepted
Mysterious "5th" Gear on a 4-Speed Automatic?
The transmission has a lock up torque converter.
The torque converter sits between the engine and transmission. It is kind of like a clutch on a manual transmission car. When the engine is idle, it ...
- 8,443
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
Accepted
Should I wait for my car to be completely stopped before putting it in reverse?
It causes more wear on the clutch as you have to ride it a little more, but overall its fine. The syncros will likely wear a little faster also as the output shaft will be spinning in the opposite ...
- 8,443
10
votes
Accepted
Why is it almost impossible to put the car in first gear at high speeds?
There are physical limits to sychronizers.
When you upshift the synchronizer slows the clutch down which is relatively easy. When you down shift the synchronizer has to speed the clutch up which is ...
- 16k
9
votes
What mechanical action is heel and toe (clutchless) shifting trying to accomplish?
I'm going to expand on rpmerf's answer, where he has disambiguated between Heel and toe and clutchless shifting.
I'l briefly explain the driving technique only to better illustrate what it hopes to ...
- 2,196
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
How to make an electronic system know which gear the engine is on?
If the engine had a gear position sensor or you were considering installing one, i'd assume you wouldn't be asking this question. Anyhow, still , if you can install one, that'd be your easiest option, ...
- 2,196
7
votes
Manual Transmission- Can bad shifting destroy transmission
Is it OK to "half-shift" in order to inch forward in tight spots?
This is usually called slipping the clutch and as long as you don't do it for prolonged periods of time will not damage the clutch. ...
- 153k
7
votes
Accepted
Are there cars that can shift to reverse even while moving?
There is a distinction that needs made between an automatic and a manual.
The majority of automatics will lock out reverse above a particular speed usually several miles an hour. If the car is below ...
- 16k
6
votes
Accepted
What mechanical action is heel and toe (clutchless) shifting trying to accomplish?
By matching the engine RPM to the revs in the gearbox, the 'synchro rings' that automatically match the gear speeds in the gearbox for you have less to do.
If you are clutchless changing all the time ...
- 206
6
votes
Manually shifting an automatic transmission?
I've rebuilt a few transmissions (actually a lot of transmissions LOL) and no, manually shifting is just fine. All your doing is replacing the TCU with your own shifts. So your just fine manually ...
- 71
6
votes
Does giving gas while releasing the clutch cause unnecessary wear?
Yes it's okay. As long as you are letting go of the clutch by a little bit and at the same time, you give it a little bit of gas. If you just let go of the clutch without giving any gas in first gear, ...
6
votes
Fuel efficiency and Shifting/RPM
The specific answer to your question lies in the BSFC (Brake Specific Fuel Consumption) map for your engine, combined with the desired output.
The BSFC map shows how efficiently the engine converts ...
- 611
6
votes
Accepted
How would you stop if the ignition switch failed while driving?
The brakes should still work, but without power assist so they take more force. Same for steering. I would shift to N and then brake while heading to the shoulder. I had a K1500 Blazer of about this ...
- 148
5
votes
Does Downshifting (Engine Braking) Cause Extra Wear and Tear?
Some answers correctly identified wear of synchronizers as a possible concern on manual transmission cars, but then they offered double-declutching as a solution. However, it is very hard to correctly ...
- 14.5k
5
votes
Accepted
Is my gas pedal long enough to enable heel-and-toe shifting?
Heel and Toe Pedals
I think to truly heel-and-toe drive well, you need to have a setup similar to the one in the image. Something that's designed to do it proper.
There's some that are super cheap.
...
- 33k
5
votes
Tried to shift but failed at very high rpm how much damage did I cause
Probably Nothing
I don't know what your car model and year are but most modern vehicles have what is called a rev limiter.
Rev limiters are typically electric in nature and cut out the ignition ...
- 33k
5
votes
Reverse is now 1st gear on manual transmission
A little research leads me to believe (aka I could be wrong) that reverse gear in this car requires you to depress the shift knob and move it far left-forward. It also seems that some, but not all '02 ...
- 6,037
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 ...
- 24.8k
5
votes
mercury milan key stuck in ignition, shifter will not come out of park
Yes, there is an interlock between the ignition and the shifter, as well as an interlock between the shifter and the brake pedal. Something could have gotten messed up somewhere. There is a ...
- 6,569
5
votes
Accepted
Shifting on a motorbike by preloading
It won't damage your transmission unless it damages your transmission
You have a shift drum. It has grooves in it around the outside diameter that the shift forks follow to slide gears into gear as ...
- 33k
5
votes
Does flooring the throttle while traveling at lower speeds increase fuel consumption?
By shifting down the gear you just add more torque to be able to accelerate up hill. If you don't want to accelerate uphill you can reduce throttle and keep climbing. That brings you into the constant ...
- 51
5
votes
Accepted
In a manual car, does changing gear quickly put more wear on the synchro's?
Yes. When you change gear slowly, the input shaft rpm has time to drop off before the synchromesh engages, so the speed difference that has to be overcome by the synchromesh is small.
When ...
- 4,422
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