Is it hard on a transmission to skip gears as long as you keep it over a certain rpm? (At least you're cutting down wear and tear on the clutch)
For example, sometimes I go from 2nd to 4th or 4th to 6th etc
Second question, is it hard on the transmission to "pop" it out of gear when you are in 4th, 5th or 6th and coasting?
Thanks!

 

You won't hurt anything by skipping gears.

I'm not sure what you mean about popping out. Are you putting the clutch in and putting it into neutral? I see no benefit to doing that (you arent' saving gas, you'll use less keeping it in gear and coasting with your foot off the gas in a high gear.) but I don't see how it would hurt anything, either.

 

By "popping" it out of gear, I mean without using the clutch

 

I don't think it does any damage (maybe someone will correct me.) to shift into neutral without the clutch. However, I like to stay in the habit of never moving the shifter without pushing the clutch first.

 

No problem skipping gears as long as you don't end up lugging the engine or over revving it. 'Do it all the time.

As for popping it out of gear, if it "pops" and it takes more than the usual pressure on the shift lever, don't do it. You are stressing internal parts more than they were designed to be stressed and eventually, something can wear and fail. Just use the clutch. That's what it's for and it's not going to put any wear on the clutch itself if you use it just to take the car out of gear.

 

the clutch on a manual transmission is purposely designed to ease the wear on the transmission when shifting. It is possible to shift gears without clutch (using a lot of force), but it is a bad idea if you love your mini.

Skipping gears has no problems. There is a disadvantage of extra fuel consumption and a disadvantage for additional stress if you really under-rev or over-rev the engine (say you move from 2 to 6 that engine will have a difficult time). I know there are many people who move from 4 to 6 often without any 5th gear.