ive had my lancer for maybe 3 months and the first month i had it i would downshift to first going anywhere below 20mph, then all of a sudden it started grinding when ever i tried doing that and i never do it now. i just wait till im stopped to put it in forst. usually i dont even use first, instead i start it in 2nd bc i heard that it increases gas mileage. is that true and is what im doing hurting my car at all?

 

Leaving it in second is indeed good for gas mileage, and easier on your trans. For normal driving, you really should only use second when going from a stop or almost stopped. You're on the right track by everything I know.

 

2nd gear = super bogg, what it your on in incline???

 

if you're going like 5 mph on an incline, go ahead and shift gently into 1st. Otherwise, anything above 5 mph won't bog all that much. Or you could just come to almost a stop so that you can shift into 1st again. But otherwise you're faced with the choice: bog a little or hurt your tranny a lot.

 

id rather hurt my tranny than stall

 

i never have a problems shifting into first at any speed
and if i remebr corectly 1st gear is syncrod
but that just from ym exxsperiences ripping trannys apart

 

liq.. where u live dude?

 

I can't find where I read the non-synchro'd first gear thing, but if first is synchro'd I can't see why it would be so difficult to downshift into it. Joe, if you've seen a first gear synchro though then you'd know better than the rest of us. We could always check with the 5g Mirage crew. Same tranny anyway.

 

But if it's syncro'd, why would it not let us shift into 1st until we either go down to 10 mph or rev match?

 

i'm pretty sure first gear dosn't have the syncro mesh and neither does reverse its that way in alot of cars

 

Pgmike, taking off in second is gonna kill your clutch. Do you look for performance or economy? Lugging a motor is just as bad, if not worse than revving it out.

 

economy, except when some civic or jetta challenges. thanks for the info. i wont be starting in secong anymore. its annoying anyway starting out in a crawl.

 

I believe the cars that launch in 2nd are the high torque ones that can not get traction in 1st... such as big block V8s and extremely modded Evos, etc.

 

Correctamundo. The purpose of bypassing first is only to prevent unending wheel spin.

 

wow what insight............ lets cause damage to an expensive item but lets not stall my car out........... WTF are you smoking?

that makes absolutely ZERO sense............