Yes it is recommended that in a modern manual transmission you can skip gears when going up or down. For example; when accelerating you can if required change-up from 1st to 3rd, though 3rd gear may labour due to low engine revs.
Don't leave the car in gear at stoplights.
You also don't want to leave it in first gear while stopped. So, always keep your car in neutral at a light or longer stop and just keep the brake pedal engaged.
For one reason or another, there are times were you think it might be beneficial to start off from a stop in second gear rather than first in your manual transmission car. In most cases, though, doing that will cause more wear on your clutch.
Gears can be changed up or down. This has nothing to do with the direction you move the gear lever, it simply means that you change to a higher gear (4 or 5) or a lower gear (1 or 2).
As our friend Jason Fenske from Engineering Explained notes, skipping one or two gears on upshifts is relatively safe. You'll just want to let the clutch out more slowly than you would normally, to make sure the engine and transmission speeds are matched, otherwise, the car might judder.
Like upshifting, if done properly, it is perfectly okay to skip gears while downshifting. The trick comes into play where it is much more difficult for drivers to learn to downshift properly, and when done incorrectly, it can damage your car's transmission or cause premature clutch wear.
You will usually have to change from 1st gear to 2nd at around 10mph. Sometimes, in some cars, with enough revs, or going downhill, you can even start a car in 2nd or 3rd gear—although we wouldn't recommend this as standard practice, and certainly not something to show off on your driving test!
Can I go from 5th to 2nd/1st? Yes it is recommended that in a modern manual transmission you can skip gears when going up or down. For example; when accelerating you can if required change-up from 1st to 3rd, though 3rd gear may labour due to low engine revs.
While braking, you should always depress the clutch.
This is one of the most common scenarios wherein people do apply the brakes but forget to disengage the clutch in-turn stalling the car. Well, stalling the car especially with transmission load will take a serious toll on your vehicle's gearbox assembly.
Leave your car in gear at a red light
Even though you were told by your driving instructor that it's a cardinal sin… As well as wearing out your leg muscles, you're also putting needless strain on the clutch. It's much better to put your car in neutral and apply the handbrake to keep it stationary.
There could be a problem with the shifter cable or the shifter linkage from the transmission to the shifter. There also could be a problem with the slave cylinder, causing it to be hard to shift at times. A lot of times when the slave cylinder is going bad, it causes the car to be hard to shift at times.
Within the engine at that point, an over-rev condition will occur and internal-engine components will momentarily spin far faster than what they were originally designed to do. The valve spring keeps the engine's valves seated, opening and closing following the camshaft lobe.
There should be no problem for shifting from 5th to 3rd gear, but you should have a syncromesh gearbox for that and the speed of the Engine will go up momentarily and hence you should be very careful in doing this operation. It all depends on the reason why you want to come down from a higher gear to lower gear.
Remember each car will be geared slightly differently, but a good rule of thumb for changing gears is that first gear is for speeds up to 10 mph, second gear is for speeds up to 15 mph, third gear is for speeds up to 35 mph, fourth gear is for speeds up to 55 mph, fifth gear is for speeds up to 65 mph, and sixth gear ...
If you shift too early, you run the risk of lugging your engine, asking it to move your car forward at an unnaturally low RPM. For more details, and a side-by-side comparison of the fuel efficiency achieved in 2nd, 3rd, 4th and 5th gears at identical speeds on the same stretch of road, watch Fenske's video below.
If you shift down the gears, you will slow down even more - but you'll have probably also noticed the loud noise from the engine that happens if you do this too soon (i.e. if the revs are still too high for that gear). Engine braking will only work when your car is in gear, and not when the clutch is engaged.
Causes of rough shifting include: Transmission Fluid Low or Poor Condition – Vehicles low on transmission fluid or that are operating with worn out or contaminated fluid are likely to experience hard shift conditions.
For example, if you're driving along the highway and you want to pass a slower moving vehicle, a shift from fifth to third may be in order. Rev matching the engine to the clutch will keep the car from jerking, and in the worst case, locking up the wheels.
Engine braking, or shifting gears to reduce your speed, can damage your drivetrain, especially the clutch and transmission. Using your gears to brake when travelling, especially at higher speeds, can shorten the lifespan of your engine, so using your brake pedals lightly is the best practice for this.
In general, you'll want to keep this rule of thumb in mind: the lower the gear, the more power you have available. The higher the gear, the faster your engine runs! With both manual and automatic transmissions, you'll generally move from lower to higher gears as you accelerate.