Second gear

[gregwatson]

Does anyone use second gear to pull away? Sounds stupid maybe, but all the other V8's I have owned (automatics) would pull away in second unless you told them otherwise. I've tried it a few times in the GTS-R and it does seem to produce a smoother pull-away, and I doubt it's hurting the clutch any more than using first...

[gregwatson]

Well I'm getting wheelspin in third, so flooring it in first is really somewhat pointless. Pulling away in second is slightly smoother than first but more importantly you're in a gear that has a chance of deploying the car's full torque, and you've got one less gearchange to fit in as you accelerate...

[gregwatson]

Dunno. Suppose it depends how quickly you run out of first gear, and how easy it is to change gear quickly - not that easy with these gearboxes I suspect. I love the meaty feel of the gearchange but it doesn't like being rushed...

[gregwatson]

After all there must be some reason why the autos pull away in second... Especially given that they have fewer gears to start with..

[gregwatson]

Well, my Alpina definitely selects second by default, unless you (a) go to Switchtronic mode and select first, or (b) floor it (in which case it quickly downshifts to first. And I'm 99% certain my 928GTS used to do exactly the same.