Hey there. I have one question regarding downshifting to 1st gear: I have read a few times that you should only really use 1st gear to move your car from a stop, yet if I slow down quite a bit to 5-10mph and my RPMs drop under 1000s then the engine makes a loud and unpleasant noise when trying to accelerate again (even if very slowly accelerating). So my question is: should you ever downshift to 1st gear when your car isn't going to stop completely?

The only time I ever downshift into 1st gear is when I'm barely crawling at a speed of 1 or 2 mph and I want to accelerate rapidly. That only happens once in a blue moon. For the most part, I almost never find any reason to downshift into 1st gear at all.

I'm not sure about your car, but my car pulls quite easily from 2nd gear when the RPM is under 1,000 and the speed is around 5 mph. It will actually pull from idle speed (about 800 RPM) without protest. It sounds like your car might be lugging a bit in that kind of situation....

BTW, if your car is moving slow enough, it should slip into 1st gear relatively easily....you'll feel when the speed is right to engage 1st gear without overworking the synchros.

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Yeah, it's fine to do so. It's a general rule to stay out of 1st.. not set in stone. It depends on your vehicle and where the engine falls in each gear. When crawling parking lots, I sometimes have to go down into 1st instead of 2nd depending on speed. My car in 2nd can go pretty slowly but I still have to drop to 1st every now and then.

Oh, and just stop at stop signs, don't be lazy and roll through (I'm as guilty as the next guy at doing it occasionally )

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'11 Ford Fiesta Hatchback SE 5-MT
'97 Honda Civic EX 4-AT

For Pony!

I see no reason not to shift to 1st gear if I feel like it. It's a gear among others.

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All information given in good faith but not guaranteed!

Go ahead and downshift to first. It's harmless, if a little wasteful and annoying. If it takes too long to get into first then you'll want to double-clutch.

Another option, though, is to slip the clutch in 2nd. If you're going far this might be inappropriate but for short distances it'll be fine.

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1980 Buick LeSabre 4.1L 5MT

Put your car in your sig!

Learn to launch/FAQs/lugging/misused terms: meta-sig

Thanks everyone, I have been downshifting to 1st gear more often, when at low speed, and it's been a smoother ride since

Good stuff, what do you drive?

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'11 Ford Fiesta Hatchback SE 5-MT
'97 Honda Civic EX 4-AT

For Pony!

This is my theory. Since I can get into 1st at some pretty high speeds, I definitely make good use of the gear.

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yeah, just don't pull a rob and drop the clutch into 1st with traffic on your tail

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DAS PRNDLSTICK!!

2-Time SS Traitor

I drive a 96 Mustang Cobra

I can't downshift to 1st gear unless the car is completely stopped or I double clutch it, even at 4km/hr I will get heaps of resistance. If its a flat surface then I'll just put it in 2nd gear and slip it until 2nd gear engages.

But a lot of the times when I enter steep inclines on drive ways I will double clutch rev match it into 1st gear because I drive a gutless 4 cylinder and our crappy laws don't let new drivers to drive V8s or "high powered " V6's .

Where do you live?

And if that's the law, why not just buy yourself a turbo 4-cylinder?

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It could be that they have the same "laws" as we do. Driving "fun" cars is "illegal", so if you have one, you pay a lot of "fines" in form of taxes, more taxes, insurance and... did I mention taxes? Also, every time you fill up...

;)

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All information given in good faith but not guaranteed!

The only time I've downshifted to first while moving is when I am in a line of heavy traffic and dropping below 10-15mph. I'll push the clutch in, rev match a bit then pop it to first. Otherwise it doesn't happen.

Forgot to mention that all turbocharged and supercharged cars are illegal for new drivers as well (except a list of like 3 cars which produce like 40kw lol). This is in NSW Australia.

The whole system is flawed though. A V6 Nissan 350Z (which is about 208kw i think) is on the prohibited vehicle list, yet a Holden Commodore with a 3.6L V6 rated at 210kw is perfectly legal. In some states they exempt turbo cars which are under 125kw/tonne power-weight ratio, so a TT Supra with a power-weight ratio of 133kw/tonne is illegal, but a Civic Type R with a power-weight ratio of 150kw/tonne is perfectly legal with zero hassle.

If they do bring the power-weight ratio exemption to NSW then I could get a Skyline R32 GTS, but its a 22year old car with no ABS, airbags or traction control........Then the R34 GT-T would be illegal for me even though it's 10 years newer with ABS, airbags, and traction control.......Again another crappy and flawed system as it limits people to old cars with zero safety features......

Sorry for thread hijhack lol