Selecting low gears at high speeds bad for the car?

Loppysaurusrex

Loppysaurusrex

Well-Known Member
205
65
Not actually engaging the clutch as this would result in a money shift but is merely moving the shifter to 1st gear when say moving at 50 mph to anticipate a stop bad for the car? Every time I shift into it it's somewhat difficult to move the shifter as if my car is saying "hey don't do that"
 
It has a lockout in 1st to protect against doing damage. If you're going too fast, it won't allow you to downshift into 1st gear.
 
@Jake LXer is correct.......... A little "Behind the scenes" ........ Even with the clutch in some of the moving parts in the tranny are moving while yet being connected which may or may not hurt, but it's leaving it in a close proximity of an accidental connection.

And, as Jake said change gears in sequence, changing out of sequence in time will have undo wear on the edges of the gears, like rounding edges, and wearing out synchronizers.

Don't even want to think what could happen if something would make you lose your footing(like some one hitting you, or a pot hole).
 
webby said:
It has a lockout in 1st to protect against doing damage. If you're going too fast, it won't allow you to downshift into 1st gear.
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I thought I'd heard this in hear before, that's a good thing...... Not that I would try it just to see if it works.....:D
 
Monk said:
I thought I'd heard this in hear before, that's a good thing...... Not that I would try it just to see if it works.....:D
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Well you can't even really try to damage it. If you press the clutch and try putting it into 1st, the gear shifter will literally just not go into gear. It'll get stuck between neutral and 1st like you're hitting a wall. You can keep trying as you're slowing down...then it'll magically let you go into 1st when you're at a low enough speed/rpm.
 
webby said:
Well you can't even really try to damage it. If you press the clutch and try putting it into 1st, the gear shifter will literally just not go into gear. It'll get stuck between neutral and 1st like you're hitting a wall. You can keep trying as you're slowing down...then it'll magically let you go into 1st when you're at a low enough speed/rpm.
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That's weird because I can move into first even at money shift speeds at like 40 mph

Haven't tried it at 70 mph, am I damaging it by forcing it?
 
You shouldn't be forcing the car into any gear, let alone 1st gear at 50mph. Why would you ride the clutch from 50mph down to zero?
 
webby said:
You shouldn't be forcing the car into any gear, let alone 1st gear at 50mph. Why would you ride the clutch from 50mph down to zero?
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Ride the clutch?

I thought riding the clutch is halfway engaging it

When I'm going 50 and I see a red light I disengage the clutch and then put it into first anticipating the stop and go

I don't engage the clutch until the light turns green
 
I should say "ride with the clutch depressed" for that long. You actually get better gas mileage by waiting till you're almost stopped before depressing the clutch. There is no reason to try to go into 1st when traveling 50mph or anything unreasonable for the gear you're in. Same goes for trying to go into 2nd while doing 90mph. There is no point, and you do run the risk of blowing the engine on that downshift. There isn't over-rev protection if you would release the clutch accidentally there. Improper downshift accounted for almost every blown engine I saw on the 8th gen.
 
Not to dog pile .......... I've seen several peeps on here who have suggested a more advantages method to the safer ways of down shifting(myself included). To make a point that might stick.... I'm a retired Semi driver(I'm 70 now) and have been driving straight sticks(3 in the column, too 15 in the floor, too 6 by the foot). The best thing we all can still learn from history, is to let the mistakes of others be a warning for us not to repeat.

You may be able to be lucky for a while, but it doesn't hurt to learn the basics the right/standard way, and do the expensive testing on a rental car. The fact that you did this, and then asked us for advise is not in the right sequence for trying uncharted waters.
Glad to hear your cars made it safely so far.

I can see the history lesson Honda(and many other car companies) has learned, just by all the safety features they install in their cars to stop people from accidently doing something to f-up a part of the drive train, or all the warnings for leaving your lights on, and stuff like that. If it wasn't for us peeps messing thing up, they would have never thought of putting synchronizers in trannys......
 
My brother mis-shifted his civic and blew the countershaft and differential...so there is an idea of what could happen if you try to select lower gears at higher speeds..put it this way lower gears are for torque..i.e getting the car to move from a dead stop...id recommend downshifting gradually in sequence or just simply disengaging the transmission from the engine(neutral) and coasting to the light
 
webby said:
I should say "ride with the clutch depressed" for that long. You actually get better gas mileage by waiting till you're almost stopped before depressing the clutch. There is no reason to try to go into 1st when traveling 50mph or anything unreasonable for the gear you're in. Same goes for trying to go into 2nd while doing 90mph. There is no point, and you do run the risk of blowing the engine on that downshift. There isn't over-rev protection if you would release the clutch accidentally there. Improper downshift accounted for almost every blown engine I saw on the 8th gen.
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I'm not actually downshifting, I'm just preparing for it

I move the gear selector to first while going 50 mph because of a red light, but I don't engage the clutch until I have come to a stop or a very low speed such as 10 mph or 5 mph when the light turns green
 
Loppysaurusrex said:
I'm not actually downshifting, I'm just preparing for it
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Just know you should only be using your brakes to slow down. When it gets to a point where you need to accelerate or you're going to stall....put the clutch in and switch gears. Even riding to a stop in neutral has shown to use more gas than just braking in the higher gear. It's your car though so do as you please. Don't force it into any gear though or you'll have transmission and engine bills in the future. Car isn't designed to be in 1st above its normal operating range.
 
Loppysaurusrex said:
Ride the clutch?

I thought riding the clutch is halfway engaging it

When I'm going 50 and I see a red light I disengage the clutch and then put it into first anticipating the stop and go

I don't engage the clutch until the light turns green
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Old school.... Is kind of what you said, if someone rides with their foot touching the clutch it will cause the clutch to get hot and glaze, which can lead to wearing the clutch pad and or warping the plate. leaving the clutch engaged is better for every thing, from panic stops, to standard stops. Practicing for panic stops is a good thing, and thinking ahead is always the best way to slow down what's going on around you while traveling down a road....... Try this on for size...... Look at the road as close to the front of your car as you can and still be able to keep it on the road, it looks like every thing is going by so fast it's making it hard to prepare for a good line though the turn(or to see someone cutting across an intersection with us being able to do something about it in time not to get hit by them.........
Now look down the road as far as you can and focus on the big picture, like when the road turns long before you get to it, it allows us to set up for the situation......... Now while looking down the road make a note to see how slow things are coming at you, it gives you a long time to travel though that space, and more time to smooth out the motions.

What you're doing IS planning ahead by stuffing it into 1st at speed, but practicing how to hit the brakes as hard as you can to activate the anti-skid and still leave the car in gear up until the last moment before the wheels stop rolling is going to get the car to slow down the fastest, the drag of the engine helps the brakes.

An exception: Back in the mid 70's on my mc, I was caught up in a panic stop where I grabbed the front and rear brake like we were taught....... I thought though it afterwards(to see where I could have wow'd it down faster), and the mistake I made was not pulling in the clutch at the last couple of sec., and it was the throttle hand that kept some of the gas on, which was helping to propel the mc forward, if I had let off the throttle "all the way" I would have saved some feet in getting her stopped. So I started practicing my hard stops with that in mind, and learned how to back off the throttle wih palm while using my fingers to pull the brake, easier said than done. But like @webby, said these cars are programed to make the engine back off on it's own under hard stop situations. So to have us push the clutch in early negates why that feature has been installed.
 
Monk said:
Old school.... Is kind of what you said, if someone rides with their foot touching the clutch it will cause the clutch to get hot and glaze, which can lead to wearing the clutch pad and or warping the plate. leaving the clutch engaged is better for every thing, from panic stops, to standard stops. Practicing for panic stops is a good thing, and thinking ahead is always the best way to slow down what's going on around you while traveling down a road....... Try this on for size...... Look at the road as close to the front of your car as you can and still be able to keep it on the road, it looks like every thing is going by so fast it's making it hard to prepare for a good line though the turn(or to see someone cutting across an intersection with us being able to do something about it in time not to get hit by them.........
Now look down the road as far as you can and focus on the big picture, like when the road turns long before you get to it, it allows us to set up for the situation......... Now while looking down the road make a note to see how slow things are coming at you, it gives you a long time to travel though that space, and more time to smooth out the motions.

What you're doing IS planning ahead by stuffing it into 1st at speed, but practicing how to hit the brakes as hard as you can to activate the anti-skid and still leave the car in gear up until the last moment before the wheels stop rolling is going to get the car to slow down the fastest, the drag of the engine helps the brakes.

An exception: Back in the mid 70's on my mc, I was caught up in a panic stop where I grabbed the front and rear brake like we were taught....... I thought though it afterwards(to see where I could have wow'd it down faster), and the mistake I made was not pulling in the clutch at the last couple of sec., and it was the throttle hand that kept some of the gas on, which was helping to propel the mc forward, if I had let off the throttle "all the way" I would have saved some feet in getting her stopped. So I started practicing my hard stops with that in mind, and learned how to back off the throttle wih palm while using my fingers to pull the brake, easier said than done. But like @webby, said these cars are programed to make the engine back off on it's own under hard stop situations. So to have us push the clutch in early negates why that feature has been installed.
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Yea but I'm not hard stopping, I get mpg numbers around 35 avg, I like to coast a lot, I'm not riding the clutch, I never do
 
So when you downshift say from 4th to second... you shouldn't ride the clutch until you get to the desired speed in that second gear?
 
I always down or up shift (even "skipping" a gear in sequence). I need to make a video to prove it/showing what I mean but staying in 4th from 50 to 20 before going to neutral or 1st/2nd helps stopping power and gas mpg. Hitting neutral at 50 and coasting has ill effects not seen till time has been given plus worst mpg.
 
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