Coming to a stop during road test.

In Michigan you are allowed to skip gears while down shifting coming to prospective stop, but only one at a time, 10 to 8 to 6 to 4 to 2nd or third what ever you are going to start off in. Same goes for down shifts going down the road.

 

My trainer explained it to me this way. If your truck is coasting, you are not in control of it. If you are coasting in 8th gear @ 25 mph I don't see how you can be in control of the truck. Am I missing something?

 

The guy that taught me said when you are in first you never touch the throttle. It is for just idling around. I also do not see how you could ever downshift into first while moving.

 

I agree. You might technically be coasting "in gear", but when it's time to start trucking again, you aren't in a usable gear, so you're going to be scrabbling and looking for the right gear. Might as well be coasting in neutral at that point.

Scaled out with a 10-speed and 2.62's, and you use first gear all the time. At least I do. I don't usually legit downshift to first, unless I'm grabbing all the low range gears on the way down for practice. I'll drop from fifth to third to neutral. Then once the truck slows to about 2mph, I can drop it in first at an idle and hit the clutch just in time for the stop.

 

I've downshifted to first many times with my 15 speed. Kinda have limited options in gear selection when the driveway is only 400 feet long and all you have are the park brakes to stop it

 

I use throttle in first all the time. How else are you supposed to get into 2nd when you can't let the RPM fall?

No throttle when lifting off. Once clutch is out give'r a few hundred RPM. It'll be fine.

 

This may sound stupid, but when I was driving a manual and on a road with lots of lights I used the Smith System. Remember, you are also looking ahead. You should have a good idea if that light you are coming upon is stale or will stay green for a while longer. Shift accordingly. Most of the time it worked for me. The only part of the Smith System I had a problem with was the advice to use the lane of the least resistance. Sometimes that got a driver in the way.

 

I think we need to clarify the difference between idling in gear - truck in gear, both feet on the floor - and coasting - transmission in neutral or the clutch pushed in.

If you downshift into a gear, then put both feet on the floor, the truck will drag down to 800 rpms (or thereabouts), then sit there all day long (presuming flat ground). This is generally not a good idea for a multitude of reasons, but it is possible.

 

Well I know the theory, and I passed the test, but do I do it in real life? No. I coast a bit, and if the light changes I find the right gear and move on. If it's a stop sign I don't go through the gears. One reason I love automatics. When I take an exit ramp with a sharp turn (usually marked 35 mph) I go from 10th to 5th or 4th depending on the grade. Yeah, I am old with bad knees.