Whilst being driven by Mrs T in the car the other day, it came to light that she only uses gears 2, 4 and 6. Ever. When I questioned this, she said “Well…and obviously reverse when I’m parking”. I’ve never, ever heard of this before. I have no problem with it, if that’s what she wants to do, but my question is this – does it cause any sort of damage or uneven wear? It’s a powerful (>3L) normally aspirated performance car that she drives gently and could quite happily chug along in 6th all day long.
When I suggested that going through the gears might be better, she gave a 10 minute demo of why not by alternately pinning me back in the seat and nutting the windscreen as she shifted through the gears. I’ve deliberately not mentioned what car it is, nor want to delve into eco transgressions or gender issues – just is there any mechanical reason not to do it? All joking aside, she’s a great driver and does the 2, 4, 6 thing very smoothly (it’s taken a year for me to notice).

Is it some kind of psychological aversion to odd numbers?

8 for motorway? 😀

You mean it doesn’t go up to 11?

Tinners wife = Tom Robinson and ICMFP

That’s mad. How does she go round corners smoothly? I mean there’ll be some corners where you want to be in third gear for maximum control for example.

Intrigued…

Well, the odd numbered gears are there for a reason…..

Pulling away in 2nd is going to be harder on the clutch.

I’m guessing being >3L it’s got mountains of torque – in cases where 3rd is ideal, I’m sure it’ll happily pull from 4th. Similarly from a stop in 2nd.

It is a bit odd though!

At least if she wears them out she’ll be able to swap to 1st, 2rd and 5th

Can’t imagine the clutch will be massively happy pulling away in 2nd all the time.

Did it for years with my 156 , still doing it with my work T6. Less is good for my clutch knee. I want flappy change now 😐

Pulling away in 2 will prematurely wear the clutch. Revving to the point the engine will pull the higher gear will waste fuel.

Not something I’ve ever come across before. I do miss gears out, dropping down the box, but never going up.

Good job it’s 3.0 NA lump.. otherwise pulling away in 2nd all the time would be painful! Clutch will be the main thing wearing prematurely IMO

That’s mad. How does she go round corners smoothly? I mean there’ll be some corners where you want to be in third gear for maximum control for example

Coasting?

What about hill starts?

I’m very averse to odd numbers, but this is outside of even my repertoire – might be something to try not to think about…

She goes around corners very smoothly and the car doesn’t protest at all – no chugging, no squealing, no smell of burnt clutch. She told me, tongue in cheek I think, that she’s so used to it by now that “it doesn’t feel right” pushing the lever “into” gear. All v smooth. My only concern is that there could be some sort of uneven 2, 4, 6 cog wear, but I honestly haven’t got a clue from a mechanical point of view

How does she go round corners smoothly?

Probably by slipping the clutch 😕

Not something I’ve ever come across before. I do miss gears out, dropping down the box, but never going up.

Likewise. I think I’d find it awkward to go 2nd to 4th to 6th. The ‘muscle memory’ of up and down the box is too ingrained

4th to 6th is pretty standard for me – often for accelerating to overtake and then returning to a slower speed.

No slipping of clutch and unless she drops below 15mph, it seems the journey is mostly completed in 6th. I wouldn’t have believed it unless I saw it but it’s all v impressive.

Surely it’s more economical to use all the gears smoothly?

I regularly do this in the higher gears, 4th to 6th and back (in fact it wants to go to 6th from 4th and will resist going to 5th) for instance, but use 1st to pull away.

it seems the journey is mostly completed in 6th. I wouldn’t have believed it unless I saw it but it’s all v impressive

😀

That’s a very good question, Glenn. I was wondering similar. Made me question my preconceptions. I’m not sure if it’s a good thing or not tbh!

Maybe if she uses 2, 4 and 6 on even days on the month, and 1, 3 and 5 on odd days. That should balance out.

And she could use reverse every leap year.

While we’re on this subject my wife rarely uses 1st or 6th when she drives my car (not sure when she’s in hers; we rarely travel together in it).

This causes problems as comments along the lines ‘How about we give 6th a go’ or ‘1st is good for starting’ tend to be received badly

Even a 3 litre engine isn’t going to do a hill start in second is it? As above, I’ll often go 4-6 etc

If you value your relationship I’d advise you to drop it. It’s her range rover.

Surely it’s more economical to use all the gears smoothly?

It’s a big modern car. THey’re like these new Enduro bikes. Motorists, like MTBers have become watered down; few can do it to a good standard these days.

Sounds like she would be well suited to an auto

I’ve just double checked and she says that she has *never* used 3rd or 5th and has only used 1st very rarely on the steepest of hillstarts. She reckons it has too many gears anyway and I can’t argue with that. Fair point. Has never burnt out a clutch either and hands down beats me for smooth driving and staying within the speed limit.

Very odd why those car makers would bother with all those extra gears if they didn’t have a purpose?

A friends wife ended up with a fair few points on her licence as she insisted in getting into 5th as soon as possible, so despite being quite a slow driver was often over 30 in a 30 with the engine only just over tickover!

A big NA lump will have no problem with that. V8 mustang coped well enough with 3 gears…
If she’s smooth then probably less wear than a lot of drivers – I’m terrible for lunching gearboxes as my clutch use is rather ‘economical’. Economy isn’t really relevant if she’s driving a performance car, if she wanted 60mpg she’d have the car for that job.

Sounds good to me.. go on what car?

I’ve given up offering any driving advice to girlfriends, every one (and one girl that wasn’t) that’s driven my cars has crashed them into something, usually being my fault despite me being in the passenger seat.

Probably a bad time to ask, but is a worn clutch when you have to push it to the floor to change gear or only push it in a little bit to change gear?

short arms ?

get a 9 speed auto. that’ll be in 5th before you can exit a 30 zone. lots of gear changes keeps it smooth, and saves fuel as a result.

all the gear ratios are always engaged, so they won’t wear unevenly.

odd 😉 way to drive though.

is a worn clutch when you have to push it to the floor to change gear or only push it in a little bit to change gear?

that’s just adjustment. Worn is flooring it from low speed in a highish gear and see what happens to the revs vs acceleration

It’ll probably be fine. Wear will.of course be increased, but unlikely to be to a noticeable degree in the time that you’ll own the car.

I remember reading about a 60s race car with no gears for super light weight. It just made do with a big v8. Not great from a standing start, but competitive elsewhere on track at the time. It also had drive shafts which acted us the top wishbone of the suspension.

I skip gears all the time. But never using certain gears, that’s odd. I’d have thought a 3L block plus never using first would equate to excessive clutch wear.

but is a worn clutch when you have to push it to the floor to change gear or only push it in a little bit to change gear?

Um, you should always push it to the floor to change gear. Can you not drive either? (-:

Are you talking about biting point?

Modern close ratio boxes are here for economy. Car engines have very narrow efficiency bands so missing out gears just means you’re not driving as economically as you could. Mechanically of course there is going to be more wear on the even gears and clutch and i don’t Believe for a second you can drive in 6th gear as low as 15mph without the car complaining, but engines and clutches are pretty robust these days so probably the additional wear and tear will be a problem further down he line for the next owner.

This is why auto boxes are almost always the best option for people.