Downshifting to 1

Gholdwayne · Post by **Gholdwayne** » Tue Nov 03, 2009 9:47 pm

Is it a safety feature when first gear is locked around maybe 15k+ ? sometimes its hard when im on 2nd and its under 1krpm in some situations like give way and stop signs, and when i want to go back to first its just locked, once i tried to push my luck gently and pushed it into first gently and it crunched.. i thought wth ?! with the cluch in all the way ?

given that, i've even seen a video on youtube wherein im certain that the guy is downshifting to first at cornering speeds.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g49RDVHZKaQ

now lucky for him he seemed to compression brake in a corner at that speed with not so much problem by the looks of it, if i did the same thing, i would've ripped my p/s belt already.

eddiii · Post by **eddiii** » Wed Nov 04, 2009 10:38 am

From what i know yes it is a safety feature, u cant shift to gear 1 unless your speed is very low, if u force it, it will crunch as u said, it is to avoid people from high speed suddenly change to gear 1 an blow their engine.

Grue · Post by **Grue** » Wed Nov 04, 2009 11:34 am

Never actually thought about it before to be honest... I never use 1st gear unless i'm completely stopped anyway.

Gholdwayne · Post by **Gholdwayne** » Wed Nov 04, 2009 12:15 pm

yeah but its not exactly going to blow your engine if your on 2nd under 1krpm and want to downshift to 1st, its just annoying that i have to labour the engine sometimes when i could have more power..
actually, ill try it sometime but with rev matching, maybe add some double clutching, and some experimentation.

Fulltiltorgasm · Post by **Fulltiltorgasm** » Wed Nov 04, 2009 1:32 pm

Not just the engine strain also not great on the transmission

Gholdwayne · Post by **Gholdwayne** » Wed Nov 04, 2009 1:49 pm

so pretty much the guy's driving on the video does not bode well on the car ? looks like the car is taking it

Post by **BorepYano** » Wed Nov 04, 2009 2:13 pm

Gholdwayne wrote:so pretty much the guy's driving on the video does not bode well on the car ? looks like the car is taking it

didnt bother watching the whole video, but if it was a tip then u can just down shift it to first from pretty much any crazy speed.
(found out when i was down shifting to 2nd from 4th... so i thought, but she was in 3rd to start with, tap down, tap down, OMFG my organs just shifted fwd by a foot...)

Gholdwayne · Post by **Gholdwayne** » Wed Nov 04, 2009 6:42 pm

pretty sure that was a manual though, the shifting up sound is pretty distinct

Valandis91 · Post by **Valandis91** » Wed Nov 04, 2009 7:59 pm

BorepYano wrote:
Gholdwayne wrote:so pretty much the guy's driving on the video does not bode well on the car ? looks like the car is taking it
didnt bother watching the whole video, but if it was a tip then you can just down shift it to first from pretty much any crazy speed.
(found out when i was down shifting to 2nd from 4th... so i thought, but she was in 3rd to start with, tap down, tap down, OMFG my organs just shifted fwd by a foot...)

BAHAHAHAHHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHHAHA

*cough* *splutter* HAHAHAHHAHAHAHAHAHAHA

Storm · Post by **Storm** » Wed Nov 04, 2009 8:16 pm

BorepYano wrote: (found out when i was down shifting to 2nd from 4th... so i thought, but she was in 3rd to start with, tap down, tap down, OMFG my organs just shifted fwd by a foot...)

Errmm... mines doesn't do that and heither does any other auto car that I know off

It just refuses to down shift above a few MPH, which is just as well as I've tried to do the same as you on a couple of occasions. They must be idiot proof but not Borep proof

Bill

Post by **BorepYano** » Thu Nov 05, 2009 2:56 am

Storm wrote:not Borep proof

lol

I dont know the actual speed, but i'm assuming it was around 30 or 40 when i did it, otherwise I wouldn't be trying to down shift to 2nd...

I'm going to go give it a try (um... as soon as my immobiliser lets me drive my car again)

Gholdwayne · Post by **Gholdwayne** » Thu Nov 05, 2009 1:42 pm

i guess the downshift of a tip can sound like a manual's

REDDERthanyours · Post by **REDDERthanyours** » Fri Nov 06, 2009 6:19 am

mine doesn't downshift in tiptronic to first gear.. sometimes you find yourself going around a corner wishing for a tad more control...

makes you look like you can't steer sometimes...

Eltnot · Post by **Eltnot** » Tue Nov 10, 2009 3:22 pm

Just curious if this really is a feature, or simply our gearboxes dying the in arse? Mine is doing it and I just want to know if I'm about to have to hand over some dollars soon or if it's just normal?

Car is a manual GPX.

elusi0n · Post by **elusi0n** » Tue Nov 10, 2009 4:56 pm

It is possible to downshift to Gear 1 when traveling at 40km/h. If the km/h is any higher it won't work. 1st gear finishes at about 70km/h, 2nd gear finishes at about 120km/h. That's all i have take noticed of so far. Mines a tiptronic

sublime19 · Post by **sublime19** » Tue Nov 10, 2009 4:57 pm

Why would u wanna downshift to 1? I only ever do it if im on a hill about to stop but then have to move again, otherwise always throw into neutral as slowing down, and if i have to go, just stick it into 2nd gear straight away.

Gholdwayne · Post by **Gholdwayne** » Tue Nov 10, 2009 7:43 pm

sublime19 wrote:Why would you wanna downshift to 1? I only ever do it if im on a hill about to stop but then have to move again, otherwise always throw into neutral as slowing down, and if i have to go, just stick it into 2nd gear straight away.

imagine slowing down to a point where it is about less than 1k rpm on 2nd - accelerating from this really feels like labouring the engine and i can hear crunching and the vibration feels big and you just wanna shove it to 1, a the time, it is about 15-20km's.

Post by **aza013** » Tue Nov 10, 2009 8:42 pm

sh*t I drop it into first at 30-40ks when I want to get up and go

Post by **I8A4RE** » Wed Nov 11, 2009 8:47 am

aza013 wrote:sh*t I drop it into first at 30-40ks when I want to get up and go

Agreed, as long as the gear your changing into is not at the top of its rev range, its fine.

Gholdwayne · Post by **Gholdwayne** » Wed Nov 11, 2009 11:43 am

but how do you downshift to 1 at about 15-30k's when its locked ? does rev matching work ?