Stalling in 2nd gear at low speed

[Khannie112]

Hi All,

Thanks for a wealth of information here, I tried searching but couldn't find anything.

Let's say I am coming to a yield sign and I am rolling really slow (say 3-4 mph) and in neutral since I anticipate that I will come to a complete stop but the oncoming cars went by already so now i have a window to go. I put the car into 2nd gear (still rolling at 3-4 mph) and the car then stalls as I release the clutch. If I put it into 1st gear it is fine - except for the occasional buck.

So two questions:

Should I be giving it a little gas before I release the clutch to keep it from stalling? In my old Integra, when I put it into 2nd gear at 3-4 mph it wouldn't stall but in my new car (2.0T Audi A5) it stalls.

If I put it into 1st gear (which I am told you shouldn't be doing), if I blip the throttle a little would that help it from jerking?

Any help would be appreciated - thanks.

[theholycow]

Your options are to double clutch rev match 1st or use what we call the "rolling 2nd launch". The rolling 2nd launch has foot motions a lot like launching from a stop in 1st; you give it a little gas and slip the clutch until everything's hooked up. At that speed, both of those options are good.

[AHTOXA]

I usually do the 2nd gear slip launch in those situations.

[silent425]

It really depends on the situation and what kind of an incline, if any, there is. For what you have described I usually rev match into 1st to avoid lugging in 2nd and then finally shift into 2nd @ ~2000-2500 RPM

However, sometimes I go in 2nd gear, especially if it's somewhat of a downhill situation. Either way, I release the clutch a bit slower and give some more gas if I'm in 2nd at that kind of speed (5mph)

[tankinbeans]

I usually goose it a little bit to get the engine running at higher revs and keep rolling. I've not quite perfected the rolling 2nd gear launch.

I don't see why you wouldn't be able to successfully drop your car in first without damaging anything. The few manuals I've read for different cars indicate that first can be engaged safely, provided you're driving under 15 mph. I generally don't do it all that often because my car is completely happy going slowly in 2nd.

[Reverence]

I would:
1) Rolling no gas launch in 2nd, then add gas. Should be fast since you are already rolling at 3-4mph
2) Rolling gas launch in 2nd, as others have said

both options depending on the situation

[Shadow]

Hi All,

Thanks for a wealth of information here, I tried searching but couldn't find anything.

Let's say I am coming to a yield sign and I am rolling really slow (say 3-4 mph) and in neutral since I anticipate that I will come to a complete stop but the oncoming cars went by already so now i have a window to go. I put the car into 2nd gear (still rolling at 3-4 mph) and the car then stalls as I release the clutch. If I put it into 1st gear it is fine - except for the occasional buck.

So two questions:

Should I be giving it a little gas before I release the clutch to keep it from stalling? In my old Integra, when I put it into 2nd gear at 3-4 mph it wouldn't stall but in my new car (2.0T Audi A5) it stalls.

If I put it into 1st gear (which I am told you shouldn't be doing), if I blip the throttle a little would that help it from jerking?

Any help would be appreciated - thanks.

Hey! We have the same car....

If you're at three or four mph, you should really downshift into 1st gear. If you really want to stay in 2nd gear, then you'll probably need to slip the clutch a bit if you take the transmission out of gear and then try to re-engage it. Either method works just fine, but I'd just downshift into 1st instead. There's absolutely nothing wrong with going into 1st gear in the situation you described.

Another thought: Why would you be in neutral in the first place? Even if you think you will be coming to a complete stop, you can still stay in gear until the last possible moment. Granted, if you stayed in 2nd gear until you were down to three mph, your rpm would probably be close to idle speed, but with the low-end torque these engines make, it would pull quickly and cleanly without any issue.

[ClutchFork]

As some have stated, go out in 2nd slipping the clutch to keep the revs up, or downshift into first. Going into first at that speed can be a bit tricky and cause bucking if not done just so--very slowly and gently engage the clutch should help.

[rml605]

So if you're rolling through a yield sign and no one's coming and your at let's say 5-8mph, would you just slightly blip into 2nd, or would you slip it with no blip?

[theholycow]

If you're going too slow for 2nd already, blipping will only make it worse.

[rml605]

No wonder why I always jump forward when going into 2nd that low.


So just slip it? I usually only go into 2nd 5mph or higher, and i've if im hovering around idle in N, I would try and rev match.

[theholycow]

So just slip it? I usually only go into 2nd 5mph or higher, and i've if im hovering around idle in N, I would try and rev match.

Go and try idling in 2nd to see how many MPH idle RPM is in 2nd. At that speed, neither blip nor slip. To be 100% perfect, if you can do these things 100% perfectly, at lower speeds, slip. At higher speeds, blip. Realistically, at the kind of speeds we're talking about just ease off the clutch and don't worry about rev-matching; we're splitting hairs.

[daleadbull]

In speeds where its too low for 2nd gear but I'm still rolling, I slip it into 1st and massive engine braking almost stops me in my track. What am I doing wrong in this situation or what should I be doing to smooth out this process?

[tankinbeans]

In speeds where its too low for 2nd gear but I'm still rolling, I slip it into 1st and massive engine braking almost stops me in my track. What am I doing wrong in this situation or what should I be doing to smooth out this process?

Are you trying to rev-match? You'll need to go a bit higher than normal since the jump between 1 and 2 is the largest of the bunch.

I've still not perfected this.

[theholycow]

In speeds where its too low for 2nd gear but I'm still rolling, I slip it into 1st and massive engine braking almost stops me in my track. What am I doing wrong in this situation or what should I be doing to smooth out this process?

Go out and do it right now. When the massive engine braking hits, look at your tachometer. Next time, rev-match to that RPM (or a little higher) before engaging. Also, don't let the RPM fall; don't take your foot too far off the gas, and be sure to give it plenty of gas once engaged. It takes a decent amount of accelerator input to keep RPM at high levels like that, even in 1st.

Don't be hard on yourself when practicing. It's tough to get it right.