On an MT, is there a consensus for skipping gears vs. sequential shifting regards to MPG?

EXAMPLE -
You're at a red light. Assume the next light is miles away, the road is perfectly flat, and the speed limit is 30. Would it be more efficient to get 1st to ~4k, shift to 3rd, and let the clutch out at 2k? Or shift 1st > 2nd > 3rd at ~3k?

 

When conditions allow I have been taking mine to about 3K in 1st and 2nd sometimes skipping 3rd or 4th... If I'm starting off going down a hill I almost always skip a gear or two.

 

I agree that skipping gears is OK and I would skip 4th and go right to 5th when going on the Interstate. I skipped gears all the time without a problem and did not lug the motor. I wonder if that is why I only averaged 40 instead of 50mpg. 3rd gear was a great gear ratio so I did not skip that one.

 

I used to skip 4th because it was broken on my Subaru. Didn't notice any difference in MPG --- but I think a person could hypermile if they were skillful at gear skipping.

 

3rd is a fantastic gear if you need to pass or get on the highway in rush hour traffic (rt 80 in NJ durring rush hour is not a place to try to drive econmicly if you want to stay in one piece).

That said, I tend to just shift early, 3k for first then everything else at ~2.5k.

 

No, it will not help mpg.

Throttle position, not RPM is what you have to be concerned with as far as fuel economy is concerned.

I think skipping gears will actually hurt mpg unless you're coasting.

 

I used 3rd gear a lot. I short shifted to 2nd but I used premium gas with M1 and never had a lug problem even at low rpms. I run the same 28 miles 1 way for 10 years and 3 different cars. The 2004 Civic got 38 to 40 average and the '08 Fit got 38 average but before I traded it the mpg was going up the last 2 tanks with help from the scan gauge I got a high 47 mpg. My '10 Civic is getting around 37/38 mpg and going up with a summer best of 44mpg. I wish I had my ultra gauge in the Fit and I am sure I could get 50mpg in the summer. Honda cars are really consistent on there mpg even with different motors.

I ran the fit up to 3500 to 4000 rpm's most of the time and still got great mpg. Highway speeds up to 70 mph too. Running slower was too dangerous on the interstate.

 

Fuel consumption / distance traveled is what you are concerned with. Throttle position and RPM are irrelevant by themselves without more factors.

Typically lower RPM and higher throttle positions get you better gas mileage. An open throttle reduces pumping losses, but at some point the the ECU will start dumping extra gas in open loop.

In my Honda, I probably would not skip gears unless going downhill.

 

I guess ENGINE LOAD is a better term than THROTTLE POSITION and I will use it as a replacement now

 

Based on what I see on my Scangauge, if I shift early on flat ground without lugging or racing, gets me to a higher MPG sooner. In the long run I don't know if it will matter to total MPG since flat conditions are not too common around where I live, but I will do it whenever it is usable and safe. I like my 3rd for entrance ramps and passing.

 

here is what honda says (i work at a dealer)

Don’t Skip Gears When

 

I remember a guy that raced Corvettes telling me the same thing about 42 years ago..

 

I was just doing some reading elsewhere on the internet, and a good number of people make the same case--that you should not skip gears for mechanical reasons (not MPG)... It does much less wear if you double clutch and rev match. I guess you need to let out the clutch in neutral and if you are shifting up wait until the revs drop before shoving it in gear and letting out the clutch.

A few other tips: I owned a honda prelude for a number of years and 1st gear started to grid when I shifted from R -> 1--eventually I had to double clutch... I've kept that habit on the fit. Also, from what I have read, overtime it may damage the transmission if you shift into 1st while moving...

In general, I would think skipping gears could increase your MPG--since if you find yourself in a situation where you do not need to accelerate, you will generally burn less gas at lower RPMs. In other words, shifting it through another gear will burn more gas since you will keep it at a higher RPM for longer...

 

I have been double clutching so long when skipping gears that it is a habitual thing I don't even think about... As light as the clutch pedal is on a Fit there is nothing to it but it does make for a slower shift and not something you would want to do in heavy quick moving urban traffic.

 

The only times I will skip gears is when I pulled out into fast moving traffic where I will generally skip fourth (I typically put the fit in 5th around 35mph or so) and when I am downshifting to third to really boogie. For the down shift I always double clutch, out of habit mostly, since the third fear syncro in my Civic that I had before was on it's last legs.

 

It is called "Progressive Shifting" and Cummins Diesel has studied it in tractor trailers and put their blessing on it. But those rigs have 8 to 18 gears or more, in a manual transmission. If you going down hill, I think it would be fine, but on the flat???

 

I think this is going to depend greatly on your car. A corvette, i think, probably saves gas going 1-4 directly. I think a Honda Fit, first of all you will stall doing that, but even going 1-3, you would have to rev so high in 1st and then provide so much gas pedal in 3rd (with the computer going to something called "open loop" past a certain load), you will burn MORE gas by skipping.

I haven't - can't - try this on my AT Fit. I did try it in a very structured way in my del Sol, also a very small-engined car. I never found myself to save gas skipping gears and running under supposedly more efficient higher throttle openings. I either matched my normal driving style MPG, or came in slightly under. And this required me to adopt a very not-fun driving style as well as infuriate the people behind me after each stoplight.

So I recommend accelerating at slow but not turtle-like pace in each gear, getting up to speed and trying not to lose it, and just driving less. Obsession past that point is not necessarily unhealthy but not beneficial

 

They are moving away from manual transmissions in tractor trailers. I can tell you the mpg is down with the new automated manuals and shifting is a lot slower than I could shift manually without using the clutch pedal. Most manuals are either 9/10 speed but in mountain areas 13/15/18 speeds are common. I would skip gears all the time and when downshifting you could easily drop 4 or more gears when braking. If you lug the engine the clutch can hop causing excessive wear on the clutch but most of the problems with manuals in trucks are bent shifting forks from inexperienced drivers and the other from riding the clutch.

Most of my skip shifting in the Fit was from 1 to 3 to 5th. I also ran premium which allowed low rpm torque without lugging the motor due to advanced timing. If I went through the gears I would short shift them and always used the clutch. Trucks have dog gears and dont rev that high so speed to gear matching is easier without the clutch. You never want to force a shift and I would sometime shift to 2nd before leaving the clutch out in 3rd and the same with 3rd to 5th shifting to forth if it would not go into 5th the first time.