What gear do you start/stop in?

i actually skip down i dont know why i forgot to put that in, usually i'll go 9th, 7th (hit the low switch), go to 5th, if traffic is moving very slow then i'll let the rpm's get way down around 800 and click it into 1st.

 

For me, timing lights is not about "not shifting", it's about not having to slow down too much or stop. I would rather slow down and maybe drop a gear or two than have to stop and go back up through them all again.

 

In San Fran CA. you can start in 8Th or even higher on some of the hills around the city, but you will never get up to full speed,B4 using the brakes.
(not recommended)

 

800 rpms in 5th will not allow you to go to 1st. Why would you use 1st gear anyway?

 

I'll often skip gears loaded if I'm going down an on-ramp, for example, and I'm not heavy. Always skip gears if I'm bobtailing...usually start in 5th or 6th, depending upon the terrain.

Loaded, on flat roads, I start in 3rd as a norm, but it could be 2nd or 4th depending upon the load. (2nd less often with the DD15 I have in my unit.).

In school I was also taught to run through all the gears, but I think that was more for practice than to be used on a day-to-day basis.

(Everything above can change depending upon weather conditions, load, angle of attack, and drivers mood!)

 

This was the way I was taught. Only we slipped it into 4th just before we stopped. I only skipped gears on the way up if I was too fast for the next gear. If I let it rev above 1500 my instructor asked me if I trying to kill his engine or some other smart*** remark

 

At first its great to go thru all the gears, learning their speed and rpm range. Once you get it, skipping is easy and shifting in different situations (such as stop lights) becomes second nature..

 

You're right you've got to bring the engine up a little to match the gears to the road speed. I'm talking about the guys that rev the engine when they are up shifting. We've got the lights down to a tee in Las Vegas or I should say we did when I was there. We could even change them to green for us at night if no other vehicle was around. Most of the intersections had a light sensor for emergency vehicles and at night we could hit out high beams and the light would change perfectly and we would just cruise back to get another load. During the day we would count the flashing don't walk sign. We always wanted our attention on the traffic. Some guys would stare at the light and IMHO they're asking for trouble.

Most lights are set up to the speed limit. But of course we're talking a car traveling and not a loaded truck. So you'll get caught ever so often. But let me tell you there's a surface street in Las Vegas called Nellis Blvd and it runs some distance. We would run into the hot rods that would jump from light to light and 9 times out of 10 they would be setting next to us at the last light. So what it boils down to if you catch the light green in the beginning then you might be able to cruise all the way through but if you hit a red light then you might get stuck at a couple of lights. And of course not all lights are the same.

Either way we're only talking about a couple of minutes and a good relaxed driver is much better than one constantly worring about lights. Some days it passes the time to look around and enjoy the view. But you're right if you are going to drive in the city it pays to know the little tricks that makes it easier on the driver.