when i'm in traffic, and people slow down to like 5 mph(not a dead stop) is it ok to go from second? thats the way i have been driving, but a friend (99 civic ex 1.6L vtec) told me that it is bad for the car.
naturally, i insulted him by saying "thats cause you car has no power or torque."

but i'm wondering if he was right. i dont wanna put too much strain on it at a low rpm.

* note, i'm not talking about flooring it, just slowly starting from a 5 roll in second, in traffic

 

It should be fine; as long as it doesn't bog down, nothing bad should happen.

 

Yeah, just don't lug the motor. More likely if your doing that up hill and also don't ride the clutch to much.

 

thanks for the quick response guys

 

I do that everyday, becuase when you put it in first it like kicks real hard nad second is just alot smoother, soo that why I do it,

you should be fine, just dont let it bog, lol

 

What I usually do is put it in first and rev-match. Only when I'm rolling at about 5-15 mph. It takes a little practice but its better to be in a lower gear at low speed. In case you have to dart out of the way or something.

 

With the Stage 2 I can actually use 1st gear... if I get down to 5MPH I'll pop her back into 1st... but if it's 10 or 20 it'll be 2nd. As long as you don't try to go WOT in 2nd from 5MPH it's no biggie... heck, I've even taken off from a dead stop in 2nd before.. b/c 1st was being stubborn and didn't want to engage. Happened like twice.

 

What you're doing is fine for the car and is much smoother. I used to take off in second with my Cobalt all the time as well.

 

Hell, you can go from a stop and it's not really bad for the car. I little more wear on the clutch is you slip it for too long to accell from a stop, but from any kind of a roll, I wouldn't worry about it.

 

no it bogs so bad , i never do it , i always throw it into first , and yes your next questions gonna be well doesnt it buck like a bronco , it does at first but youlll learn to rev match

 

just blip the throttle a little then engage the clutch and you can go in 2nd gear at 5mph just fine. I rarely if ever downshift to first.

 

Whats really fun is when you are going 10 mph, slam it in first and floor it.

Note: THAT IS REALLY REALLY REALLY REALLY REALLY Bad for your car.

 

depends what RPM you are at

 

yeah i have to do this often. sometimes, instead of stop and go, i just lock into a speed no matter how much distance is in front of me. people are so impatient they always speed around just to slam on the their brakes. why r people so impatient...just to get there 5 seconds faster?

 

i actually do this quite a bit!! its fine and really smooth

 

If everyone was like you thered be A LOT more traffic

 

Ive been starting out in 2nd for a few months now and the car is just fine.

 

i dont **** around in first

 

Definately, go to 2nd. First is a very short gear (especially on the 2.2s) and it's just for getting you moving. 2nd is wider and is for getting you accelerated.

On a side note: man, it was weird driving the 'balt for the 1st time after driving the Camaro for so long. I could take turns in 4th all day in the Camaro 4th Gen Fbodies (manuals) came with something called "skip shift". When the car was fully warmed up, and you used under like 40% throttle, it made you shift from 1st to 4th!! Now THAT takes some getting used to.

 

I believe the 6-speed GTO's make you do that as well.