Shifting question: First second then fifth, or use every gear?

[Spaghetti Man]

I've gotten a Honda Jazz 2003 with about 251,000 km and first tank I've managed 40mpg with mainly 80-90km driving.

If I am starting in a 80km zone I will go from first gear, second gear then into fifth gear when I am around 60km per hour until 80km cruising speed.

If I am in 60km zone I go first, second then fifth gear around 50km per hour up to 60km cruising speed.

This changes slightly if there is a hill and I need a lower gear than fifth.

My sister says I should use every single gear and not skip any gears.

I think that's silly.

What do you think?

[Fat Charlie]

Skip all you want. Try neutral in bits where you don't actually need to be on the gas.

[slowmover]

I use a four ton pickup. Every gear, every time as per operators manual. And, unlike the majority of owners, the clutch is still original at nearly one quarter million miles.

It’s an attitude. If longevity matters most (true economy) the most conservative use is indicated. If FE matters most (false economy) a faster component degradation curve is accepted.

Choose well

.

[iikhod]

This obviously variates between cars but has anyone actually measured the consumption difference in skipping gears vs every gear in acceleration?

I myself accelerate with all gears. Cars generally go much smoother that way IMO.

[Fat Charlie]

Most vehicles rated below 4 tons aren't designed to haul loads well. They aren't even designed to haul groceries well. They're designed to appeal to focus groups with meaningless things like 0-60 times.

So yes, staying in the part of the band with the most power and climbing steadily through the gears will get your full load smoothly and safely to cruising speed. And because of herd mentality pushed by marketing demands, 2nd gear will take you up to or close to 60 mph: my little econobox will get to 50. Top gear should be a perfectly acceptable way to get from 50 or 60 up to whatever your desired cruising speed is unless you're loaded, on a hill or have some merging requirements. At which point, that's what all the other gears are for.

Automatics do the same thing, made even more pronounced if you engage their "eco" mode. Some manuals have even had a 1-4 skip "feature" to raise fuel economy. I haven't heard anything about it in more recent years, probably because the very few people who go out of their way to buy manuals resent an automatic system making gear decisions for them.

[cRiPpLe_rOoStEr]

Skip-shifting may be an effective fuel-saving measure for some vehicles, but I'm sure it's not an one-size-fits-all approach. Well, even though it seems newer cars have a smaller spread between one gear to the next, I didn't take the risk in the majority of the seemingly-underpowered vehicles I drove.

[jakobnev]

You have to skip-shift well, for example when performing a 2-5 shift you have to spend more time in neutral so the input side of the transmission has more time to slow down, in order to not force the syncro.

[Daschicken]

I tend to use every gear for the most part, adjusting shift RPMs accordingly.
As Jacob hinted at, to skip shift with minimal wear, let the clutch out in neutral and let the RPMs drop until they match for the gear you are going into.
60km/h sounds a little high for second gear, would that be around 4K RPM? Maybe more worthwhile to use 3rd as well.

[oldtamiyaphile]

Last time I daily drove a 1.6 petrol, my best tank was skip shifting 1-3-5.

Most 4cyl cars are so short geared that skip shifting is the way to go.

Remember some GM V8's had a shift lock out that forced you to go from 2nd to 5th to help economy. I don't have any car what will happily shift from 2nd to 5th though.

[Tahoe_Hybrid]

Originally Posted by Fat Charlie

Skip all you want. Try neutral in bits where you don't actually need to be on the gas.

Fuel Cutoff, DFCO on the down hills