Is it NEVER right to go into 1st gear once you're moving?

[BadBanshee]

This issue came up in another thread I made where I mentioned that my Toyota Aygo protests when I try to put it in first unless I'm stood still. A few people thought that wanting to put it in 1st gear once you're already moving is just plain wrong. So if you're going at 10mph, the lowest gear you should EVER be in is 2nd gear.

Ofcourse, I realize that the proper way to drive (i.e. the way you should drive on your test) is to use the 1st gear as a "setting off" gear, except perhaps in slow moving traffic up a steep hill. But, when you want to get the best drive out of your car, I thought the whole point of the transmission was to keep your engine within the power band. But if you refuse to go lower than 2nd, then at low speeds you are going to suffer from low torque. In racing situations AND on country drives, I think you are eventually going to come across a sharp corner that requires you to go into 1st. Maybe I've got it wrong and going into 1st gear is going to damage your transmission no matter what car you're in?

So, is the idea that 1st gear = setting off gear, applicable in all situations including racing situations, or not?

[sherman]

Nope. I use first up to about 20mph all the time. If the car is in any other gear below this speed it has absolutely not go or is threatening to stall.

[Daston]

Nope some tight hairpins require a 1st gear. If your car makes max power/torque in high revs then you want to keep it there for as much time as possible.

[Graham]

It depends on the speed on the gearing. No overall rule. I doubt very much though that any normal car has a first so low you cant engage it when moving.

[Graham]

It depends on the speed on the gearing. No overall rule. I doubt very much though that any normal car has a first so low you cant engage it when moving.

[BadBanshee]

sherman said:

Nope. I use first up to about 20mph all the time. If the car is in any other gear below this speed it has absolutely not go or is threatening to stall.

Is that in your RX-8? Just to be clear, if you were going round, say, a blind tight corner on a country road at 10mph, would you be fine with putting it 1st, ready to hit the gas for a swift exit?

[kambites]

I tend not to on the road. I often don't bother to use it from stationary either.

I don't think it's wrong though, I just don't do it.

[S. Gonzales Esq.]

If you're not double declutching of rev-matching your gear change, it won't go in easily.

[Ray Luxury-Yacht]

I rarely go back down into 1st until stationary or in very slow traffic. Most cars don't seem to like it either.

I had an ex girlfriend who used to always do it though, when slowing down for anything. She would do it at like 10 or 15 mph, I'd see her shoving the gearlever forward with a huge shove, and hear the gearbox layshaft go zzzzzz - whiizzzzzzzzz! Horrible...

[davepoth]

S. Gonzales Esq. said:

If you're not double declutching of rev-matching your gear change, it won't go in easily.

There are a couple of places on my commute (slow traffic up a steep hill) where changing down to first is really rather useful, especially in my fairly gutless car.

I guess this "not down to first" thing is a throwback to the early 70s when it was quite common to only have syncromesh on 2nd, 3rd and 4th.

[Ozzie Osmond]

As said above, depends completely on the gear ratios (and engine torque). However, it's pretty darned unlikely you'll ever need to change down all the way to first unless already stationary or on a steep hill.

[kambites]

davepoth said:

I guess this "not down to first" thing is a throwback to the early 70s when it was quite common to only have syncromesh on 2nd, 3rd and 4th.

Possibly, but the syncro on first does seem to be weaker, or possibly is just being made to work harder, in many modern gearboxes.

[SMcP114]

Any corner sharp enough for first should be negotiated using the handbrake.

[williredale]

My dad's MGA has no synchro on first. Does that count?

[LukeSi]

Only when I have slowed to a near stop from moving, however from stationary it will get up to about 30 in 1st.

[Baz Tench]

SMcP114 said:

Any corner sharp enough for first should be negotiated using the handbrake.

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[BadBanshee]

Ray Luxury-Yacht said:

I rarely go back down into 1st until stationary or in very slow traffic. Most cars don't seem to like it either.

I had an ex girlfriend who used to always do it though, when slowing down for anything. She would do it at like 10 or 15 mph, I'd see her shoving the gearlever forward with a huge shove, and hear the gearbox layshaft go zzzzzz - whiizzzzzzzzz! Horrible...

Lol! I wouldn't do it to slow down. The only reason I would put it into first is if I wanted to access that extra torque either immediately or imminently, and I wouldn't need extra torque if my intention was to slow down to a stop.

[BadBanshee]

S. Gonzales Esq. said:

If you're not double declutching of rev-matching your gear change, it won't go in easily.

What does that mean?

[Baryonyx]

I do it, rarely, in the diesel Astras we use at work. Two up, with a car full of kit the wheezing 1.3 coal burning engine really struggles. The turbo lag would make an 80's Saab look responsive. If you're beneath about 2100rpm you've got nothing, and most purposeful drives depend on you keeping the turbo spinning. Some 90' junctions which you need to get a good view out of mean you need to switch down to 1st whilst on the move to exit with any kind of punch. Doing so in second gear could mean an embarrassing and lengthy chug along with your foot flat to the floor and almost no acceleration. A good blip on the throttle as you come down stops the car shunting as you drop into the shorter ratio.

Never had to do it in any other car mind.

[14-7]

Don't forget that first gear is also reverse.