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First gear ......

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Fomoco302

Life is short. Live well!
Bear with me folks I am not naturally mechanically inclined and I marvel at the work some of y'all do to your cars. Question - first gear is so short when moving from rest I tend to use second gear. I do not slip the clutch excessively and I always try to roll up to lights and time it so I don't make a complete stop and pull away in second. Am I hurting the clutch long term ? Your advice is most appreciated.
 
98% of the time I start with 2nd gear as well, but this is my first manual transmission car. so, dont take my word for it lol.
I've had the car for a year, and haven't had any clutch issues... and I learned how to drive stick on this car.
 
I grew up with manuals. This baby is geared so tight, the only time you'll need first gear is if you're racing. Gear has nothing to do with clutch etc. I use second gear from starts all the time. It's less "bucky".
 
No problem at all starting off in second gear. I do it all the time on the street for the same reasons. By comparison, the MT82 2nd gear ratio is 2.43; the old close ratio toploader tranny had a 2.32 first gear.
 
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Sammykjr1 said:
I grew up with manuals. This baby is geared so tight, the only time you'll need first gear is if you're racing. Gear has nothing to do with clutch etc. I use second gear from starts all the time. It's less "bucky".

Are the tracks you go to that tight? Every track I have been to out west you hardly ever go down to 2nd let alone ever going to 1st.

OP- If anything I skip 2nd, but I always start in 1st. Plus we have speed bumps in parking lots here in CA so with as low as my car is there is no way I could go over them in 2nd. My car is too low for my liking with 18s and H&R Race springs. Clearly there is more slip and more wear starting off from 2nd but I'm not sure if it's enough to really make a difference long term or not. Overall # of starts is probably the greater driver of long term wear.
 
dabossinne said:
No problem at all starting off in second gear. I do it all the time on the street for the same reasons. By comparison, the MT82 2nd gear ratio is 2.43; the old close ratio toploader tranny had a 2.32 first gear.

+1, I've been doing this for 30plus years, never an issue.
 
Fomoco302 said:
I do not slip the clutch excessively and I always try to roll up to lights and time it so I don't make a complete stop and pull away in second. Am I hurting the clutch long term ?

Just don't do it in front of five-oh...

Don't ask how I know..

EDIT - Removed NSFW comment
 
Fat Boss said:
Are the tracks you go to that tight? Every track I have been to out west you hardly ever go down to 2nd let alone ever going to 1st.

OP- If anything I skip 2nd, but I always start in 1st. Plus we have speed bumps in parking lots here in CA so with as low as my car is there is no way I could go over them in 2nd. My car is too low for my liking with 18s and H&R Race springs. Clearly there is more slip and more wear starting off from 2nd but I'm not sure if it's enough to really make a difference long term or not. Overall # of starts is probably the greater driver of long term wear.

If you're on a dragstrip. I go over speed bumps in second. It's just so easy to finesse the clutch/gas that I only use first gear while warming the car up.
 
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Sammykjr1 said:
If you're on a dragstrip. I go over speed bumps in second. It's just so easy to finesse the clutch/gas that I only use first gear while warming the car up.

Ahhh ok, forgot about drag strips. I do very much the same thing with my crew cab 4x4 diesel six speed manual. It has a granny L which I'll use from time to time especially in stop and go traffic, 1st which I usually go to when starting, and 2nd which if I'm moving at any speed at all I can easily pull away in. Lately I've been "skip shifting" and going 1-3-5 or 2-4 or 5 and believe it or not it's had a significant impact on mileage. LOL I get better avg MPG in my 6800 lb truck than my Boss. ::)
 

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