downshifting for speed

[ghosted]

Originally Posted by Ashn_G_1LE

You should be fine, even if you go into third on accident as long as ur under like 70mph ur good, what I quickly do is when I'm downshifting and rev matching I'll do it quick and see what my revs are at and if I need em higher I'll down shift again. You got decent amount of torque in fourth so if your tryna pass fourth is fine. But if your really tryna pick up speed 3rd will do it for u and u won't reach max speed

You can hit upwards of 100mph in 3rd gear....so was your arbitrary choice of 70mph just a random number that you thought sounded good?

[c-57d]

Originally Posted by Homeless Man

I don't see how u can go from 6th to 2nd instead of 4th unless you have a seizure while shifting

I laughed.. with coffee in my mouth... (nose, keyboard...)

I gotta' stop reading this stuff in the morning.

[christianchevell]

Hey there is nothing to stop you from going 5 to 1 also, my stock shifter was always sloppy for the 3-4 gate, miss shifted several times trying to reach third and hit 5th.... so one time going down the freeway some clown pulled out right in front of me after clogging a lane for many miles,( their econo turd was right in front of a van I could not see around).

SO at around 80 MPH passing I had to brake while trying to down shift from 5th on my built ls3. tried a couple times then hit first going for third with the sloppy stock unit.
Prayed and swore so did my wife as a car inches from my bumper ..... and rode it out and passed on the right screaming then back to fourth....you see third is up around 100 MPH + and fourth is only in racing hit right at the end of a quarter on a 3.91 geared car... SO months later a slight tick developed, ( broken spring) , well my engine so strong it was a mystery..having forgotten...well within a 20 mile period it went form investigating clearing codes and checking exhaust to ditching the second spring at my turn to tear off the top end. Tink and that was it, I would say it stumbled taking off and had trouble keeping idle a couple times before Tink.... and that's all she wrote for engine #1

Tore down all the pushrods had a minor bend to them, and yes one dropped valve ruined a head, and the block and connecting rod.

SO yes I run with a MGW shifter that kicks the stocks butt, the sloppy stock shifter: Garbage as does not hit 3-4 gate and should have been a mod I did first, a very costly lesson. ANd should have just tore it down after the over rev but hey it ran great and is my daily..... All it takes is a sloppy shifter that does not like to be in its gate 3-4 with a sloppy return spring and a real damn need to save your bacon......while being pissed and ..... Stuff happens.

[Jasper]

It will let you do it but I find that it takes a lot of force/pull to get into 2nd or 1st when you're at speed. Maybe it's because I'm still learning rev matching. I've dropped to 3rd from 6th at highway speeds to pass with no issue if that gives you peace of mind but I usually hit the gas to bump the rpms as I shift otherwise you'll engine brake somewhat which is the opposite of what you want.

J

[EZurcher]

3rd is my Go-to gear for get up and go on the highway. Unless you are really screaming you are pretty safe. One tip I can give you is to relax and let the shifter do the work. As others have already stated the natural position of the shifter is in the 3-4 gate and you have to push left or right to go to the 1-2 or 5-6. So going from 5th to 4th just pull the shifter back and let the centering springs bring it to the gate and she will slip right in to 4th. The only time I ever miss shifts is when I'm trying to hamfist it into gear.

[EMB135Driver]

Originally Posted by havelegs

I'm not 100% sure on this, but I do not think it will allow you to shift into a gear in which your engine speed will be damaging.

I am 100% sure you are 100% wrong.....the only thing the LS3 has is a rev limiter.....it won't let you blow the engine by failing to shift as you accelerate (it cuts fuel to prevent it). . If you're cruising at 80 and downshift into 1st gear there is nothing to prevent the engine from exceeding redline when it instantly over speeds....it's a mechanical link to the rear wheels which cause it to exceed redline.

I wouldn't worry about hitting 2nd....it's good to about 70.....if you're passing someone going more than 70 and need to shift so quickly you miss a shift gate you're not probably not gonna be around for long anyways.

[pcrdude]

I use third for passing on the highway. It's f-ing awesome!!! Watch out for the 5-oh because you'll be in arrest-territory quickly.

As others have said, install an MGW shifter, let the centering springs do their job, and don't ham-fist the shifter.

[maddoggyusa]

from 5th to 4th is a simple task if you just practice it a few times and realize the shifter always lines up with 3rd and 4th when not in gear. this is the natural position somebody mentioned.

so to go from 5th to 4th you just pull the shifter straight rearward... as you pull it back it will go to middle position automatically and into 4th. don't push the shifter to the left at all!!! this way it can never go to 2nd.

just practice with the clutch in and you'll see. my dad told me this long ago as I was having same kinda of issues as you.

[grahak2]

Originally Posted by ghosted

Haha well no, I tried it. At 80mph, my gearbox allowed me to move my shifter into 2nd gear, so yeah it's doable. However, referring to my other post, you'd really almost have to TRY to do it, or REALLY screw it up to have it happen lol.

Well thanks for checking. Guess I will just have to pay attention to shift right and not get careless. I could always practice some without traffic until I am used to it.

Kevin

[grahak2]

Originally Posted by Jasper

It will let you do it but I find that it takes a lot of force/pull to get into 2nd or 1st when you're at speed. Maybe it's because I'm still learning rev matching. I've dropped to 3rd from 6th at highway speeds to pass with no issue if that gives you peace of mind but I usually hit the gas to bump the rpms as I shift otherwise you'll engine brake somewhat which is the opposite of what you want.

J

Thanks, if it takes a little force to misshift I will just try to be real aware if I am going from 6th to 3rd. Wanted to do this since I got the car.

Kevin

[grahak2]

Originally Posted by EZurcher

3rd is my Go-to gear for get up and go on the highway. Unless you are really screaming you are pretty safe. One tip I can give you is to relax and let the shifter do the work. As others have already stated the natural position of the shifter is in the 3-4 gate and you have to push left or right to go to the 1-2 or 5-6. So going from 5th to 4th just pull the shifter back and let the centering springs bring it to the gate and she will slip right in to 4th. The only time I ever miss shifts is when I'm trying to hamfist it into gear.

Thanks for the tips.
Kevin

[grahak2]

Originally Posted by maddoggyusa

from 5th to 4th is a simple task if you just practice it a few times and realize the shifter always lines up with 3rd and 4th when not in gear. this is the natural position somebody mentioned.

so to go from 5th to 4th you just pull the shifter straight rearward... as you pull it back it will go to middle position automatically and into 4th. don't push the shifter to the left at all!!! this way it can never go to 2nd.

just practice with the clutch in and you'll see. my dad told me this long ago as I was having same kinda of issues as you.

Thanks for the advice. Yah I will practice some before doing it in traffic.

Kevin

[grahak2]

Originally Posted by pcrdude

I use third for passing on the highway. It's f-ing awesome!!! Watch out for the 5-oh because you'll be in arrest-territory quickly.

As others have said, install an MGW shifter, let the centering springs do their job, and don't ham-fist the shifter.

Thanks, appreciate the advice.

Kevin

[grahak2]

Originally Posted by EMB135Driver

I am 100% sure you are 100% wrong.....the only thing the LS3 has is a rev limiter.....it won't let you blow the engine by failing to shift as you accelerate (it cuts fuel to prevent it). . If you're cruising at 80 and downshift into 1st gear there is nothing to prevent the engine from exceeding redline when it instantly over speeds....it's a mechanical link to the rear wheels which cause it to exceed redline.

I wouldn't worry about hitting 2nd....it's good to about 70.....if you're passing someone going more than 70 and need to shift so quickly you miss a shift gate you're not probably not gonna be around for long anyways.

Thanks appreciate the response.

Kevin