What effect exactly does goofy shift patterns have on FE? Things like starting in 2nd and 1-3-5 shifting. My problem is I have a '00 Frontier Crew Cab 4x4 170hp 3.3L V6. It idles high while it's cold, like 1700rpm, so I've been starting in 2nd because even without any gas at all it's ready to hit 2nd as soon as the clutch is up. As soon as it warms up it settles down to idle around 600 and I go back to starting in 1st. Sometimes I do the 1-3-5 pattern because all these gears are so close together. I think this truck is geared for towing, all other driving be damned.
I feel like skipping 2nd and 4th allows me to shift smother while accerating and minimize the time the clutch is down. The literature for the truck says this thing produces 90% of it's torque at 1500rpm, so it's got no trouble moving just itself and me at 900rpm and I usually shift up around 1500. When I skip a gear I'll shift around 2k. Does any or this make any sense to anyone? It's just something I've been thinking about.