Moving shifter into first and reverse while car is moving

[FRSstyle]

1. When I'm approaching a stop sign and still moving forward at say 10-20 mph, and while holding the clutch in, is it okay to move the shifter to first to get it ready? I don't release the clutch until a full stop though.

2. When I make a 3 point turn and still moving forward at say 5-10 mph with clutch in coasting, is it okay to move the shifter to reverse while still moving forward?

3. On the flip side, when I'm moving backward and coasting with clutch in at 5-10 mph, is it okay to move the shifter to first?

[theholycow]

1. 10-20mph is way too fast to be putting it into first gear. I recommend you shift to neutral, then later shift into 1st when you're down to 2-3mph. (Side note: If you really really want to put it into 1st at 20mph you can double clutch rev match it. It'll be noisy and dramatic but, apart from wasting fuel, harmless.)

2. 10mph is too much. 5mph depends if you have a synchronized reverse or not. Some newer cars do, plenty of older cars don't. Either way I recommend coming to a complete stop in a forward gear, then shifting to Reverse.

3. 10mph is too fast. I recommend coming to a complete stop in Reverse then shifting to 1st, though anywhere under 5mph shouldn't hurt much.

If you do as you ask instead you'll generally encounter resistance and have to wait to get into gear or, for Reverse, you might encounter grinding. My recommendations will give you a double clutch rev match by default without having to do any fancy footwork.

[six]

3. On the flip side, when I'm moving backward and coasting with clutch in at 5-10 mph, is it okay to move the shifter to first?

How often do you coast backwards at upwards of 5-10 MPH? That is pretty fast.

[ClutchDisc]

3. On the flip side, when I'm moving backward and coasting with clutch in at 5-10 mph, is it okay to move the shifter to first?

How often do you coast backwards at upwards of 5-10 MPH? That is pretty fast.

Good question, exactly what I was thinking!

[FRSstyle]

lol, yeah the speeds are quick.

but i exagerrated to see some repsonses.

[watkins]

Often. I have to back up between long rows of cars at work. I floor it in reverse sometimes.

[Rope-Pusher]

Eyed sey my ants are depends on the vehicle.

Say 1st gear goes up to 30 mph at 6,000 rpm (All together now "First Gear Goes up to 30 Miles per Hour at Six-Thousand Revolutions per Minute"), then 10 mph would be 1/3 of that, or 2,000 rpm. 20 mph would be 4,000 rpm in 1st. Downshifting into 1st gear at 2,000 rpm would mean you were doing considerably less rpm in any other gear and you deserve a downshift. I don't know that I can say the same for 20 mph / 4,000 rpm. It's not going to splode your clutch (you don't have to start to worry about that until ~ 1.5 x engine redline speed), but F this becomes your modus operandi, you will be putting more wear and tear on the 1st gear synchronizer than if you waitied until the vehicle was going slower before you downshifted.

If you don't have a synchronized Reverts gear, you should NEVVAH shift into Reverts while the vehicle is in motion, unless it is in motion on a car hauler, a railroad car, or a ferry boat, with the wheels of the vehicle not spinning. Even if it does have a Reverts synchronizer, they are typically of a low capacity and designed for much slower speeds, like something below 5 mph, or even like 0 MPH, but the input shaft is still coasting down when you attempt to shift into Reverts. The Reverts synchro must work extra hard to slow down the clutch disk and input shaft and then spin them up in the opposite direction of engine rotation. It wood B easier on the reverse synchro F the car was coasting backwards with the engine idling in Neutral, at whatever speed it would be traveling at idle speed in Reverse, but even then 10 mph is prolly mower speed differential than watt the Reverts Synchro was designed for.

When the car is driven in Reverts, the clutch still rotates in the normal direction (direction of engine rotation). F ewer 2 shift into a forward gear while the vehicle was coasting backwards, the synchronizer would have to work extra hard to bring the clutch disc and the input shaft of the transmission to a halt and then continue on to actually spin them in the opposite direction from engine rotation. This puts unnecessary extra wear-n-tear on the synchronizer and then, if you let out the clutch while the clutch disk is still spinning backwards, it adds extra wear to the clutch disk, as the flywheel and pressure plate work to slow the clutch down to Zero rpm and then continue on to spin it in the direction of engine rotation.

[daleadbull]

^ What Rope is saying is, its a really bad idea!

Seriously tho, I hope you were just asking because you were curious and don't intend on doing this in practice. Especially since you're new to manuals, I would not attempt it. 20 mph is way too much and going straight to 2nd or even 3rd would be a much better idea. Also don't stick it in reverse while the car is rolling forward please, you will not like the sound that your poor car will make.

[tankinbeans]

Also don't stick it in reverse while the car is rolling forward please, you will not like the sound that your poor car will make.

Unless, of course, you're trying to rock a car out of snow. In which case you're already going too slowly for anything to really happen (at least that's the idea).

It's not the same as going in reverse with an automatic and then slamming in drive. I cringe when somebody does this. Every. Single. Time.

[theholycow]

Unless, of course, you're trying to rock a car out of snow. In which case you're already going too slowly for anything to really happen (at least that's the idea).

...carefully. The idea is to encourage the car to rock, like kicking your legs while on a swing. If you spin up the tires to 30mph and they're still spinning as you change between R and 1, you're abusing it really bad.

[tankinbeans]

Unless, of course, you're trying to rock a car out of snow. In which case you're already going too slowly for anything to really happen (at least that's the idea).

...carefully. The idea is to encourage the car to rock, like kicking your legs while on a swing. If you spin up the tires to 30mph and they're still spinning as you change between R and 1, you're abusing it really bad.

Werd.

[Boston Fit]

I might downshift into 1st when the car is crawling at 3-4 mph, but no faster than that.

[AHTOXA]

Often. I have to back up between long rows of cars at work. I floor it in reverse sometimes.

When I lived in Chicago and had to parallel park on city streets, sometimes I would reverse down an entire block, to go back to the space I just passed in favor of a possible space closer. I'd be zipping backwards pretty good. You learn fast that fine wheel control is vital at those speeds.

[IMBoring25]

With a manual, you shouldn't usually have to shift during a rocking maneuver. Typically there's a little bit of a rut involved if you need to rock the vehicle, so the vehicle will roll by itself in one or more directions when displaced from the point of equilibrium. Just rhythmically alternate between applying power to the wheels and holding the clutch in as you wait for the vehicle to roll back as far as it will.

[six]

Often. I have to back up between long rows of cars at work. I floor it in reverse sometimes.

What if someone just happens to pop out in the middle of the row? Stopping in reverse takes a lot longer than stopping while going forward at the same speed. Sounds very dangerous.