Last night I was driving on a 3-lane road with a 55 mph speed limit and traffic lights. I found myself coming off the line, revving the engine a lot in 1st, going right to 3rd, revving, and then to 5th. Sometimes I went 2-4-5, if I did not come to a complete stop before.

I did not think there was anything bad about this -- certainly the car did not complain -- but I co-worker heard it might be bad for the synchros since they have to negotiate a wider range of rpms than they normally would of you used every gear.

Any mechanics out there know the truth about this?

 

Just wait for the revs to drop before you pop it into gear so you doesn't wear the syncro's. Skipping gears is just fine.

 

Oh, gee, I have driven a standard since, well, for a VERY long time, and I have never had problems skipping gears....Mick

 

Yep, skipping gears is just part of driving a manual. I skip third a lot when commuting to work. There is a lot of 45 mph speed limits, I just get up to 40-45 in 2nd and then put in fourth and cruise.

 

I have heard of problems with fwd transmissions and skipping gears causing premature wear on the synchros. While I don't know if it's true with MINI, but I do know it's not recommended on the Ford MTX-75 manual found in the Contour and Focus....

That being said, I don't skip gears in the MCS.

 

I skip gears in my MCS all the time, but only during relaxed driving.
I've noticed w/ the close ratio 6spd that RPM drop about 400rpm on a usual upshift. That being said... I never skipped gears on my 325 or 330i... 5spds.

 

I rarely skip gear when going from N>1st>2nd>..., but always in the reverse order, e.g. 5th>4th>2nd>N, before stop. Any difference?

 

I accelerate quickly 1-2-3, then put in 6th at highway speeds. So far no problem.

 

That's why we don't drive Fords!

 

I do that as well. It's hard to heel-toe downshift every gear when hitting every gear. I don't skip gears when speeding up as I think the MINI's tranny has gears too far apart in the 1st place and waiting for the revs to drop would be an eternity. But when I downshift, I do a 6-4, 5-3, or 4-2 in order to get enough rpm difference to make it worth while. On the track when the rpm's are higher (and rpm's between each gear is higher), you can heel-toe every gear.

Honestly, my dad has been driving sticks most of his life and he downshifts nearly every gear (without double clutching or heel-toeing) and has never had a problem with the clutch or tranny. On the street, the MINI should be fine with any style as long as it's not abusive.

 

i never skip gears unless i clutch out in N first.

 

I always skip gears...why would you use a gear if you don't need to

 

Just let the revs drop, wouldn't hurt a thing as long as the RPM match when the clutch is engaged.

To minimize syncro wear, keep egg shell (light!) pressure on the shifter at all times, never force the stick into gear.

 

1-2-4-6 usually or 1-3-6 :/ in the city. I'm boring driving but someone has to do it :D

 

It's nice to see this thread. I've been wondering the same thing myself. I've owned many manual trans sports cars: all 4 speeds, a few with overdrive. I almost never skipped gears in those cars, but find myself doing it often in my MCS. I think part of it is because the gears are much closer together (and there's more of them!) on the MINI, and part of it is that the MINI has quite a bit more torque than the MGs, Spitfires, and (gasp) Renaults that I've owned in the past.

I typically accelerate through the gears up to cruising speed, and then skip one. For instance, on the major road near my home, with a 50 mph speed limit, I'll often go 1-2-3--5. That sort of thing.

Feels right, and doesn't seem to hurt anything. As someone else suggested, this is all done at a leisurely pace, and the synchros probably have plenty of time to catch up. If I were in a hurry, I wouldn't be skipping gears in the first place.

 

I agree that skipping gears is the way to go. I do the 1-3-6 or the 1-2-4-6 depending on the speed of traffic. Having a S with extra torque helps. I remember in high school my friend had a 351 Clevland in his Mustang and he could go through all four gears with out any gas, talk about torque. I havent tried in my 428 CJ yet, maybe tomorrow for fun.

 

I skip gears once in a while, and when I slow down, I will go into neutral at certain points, then shift down into whatever "feels" right. Have not ground the gears doing that and my clutch is just fine, too.

 

https://www.northamericanmotoring.co...ad.php?t=50622

 

The scary thing about YYC's thread is that I posted in it ! But that was before owning the car....