Can You Skip Gears When Upshifting?
3 Answers
Manual transmission vehicles can skip gears when upshifting or downshifting. Relevant explanations are as follows: 1. Half-clutch: When shifting gears, it is necessary to depress the clutch pedal to disconnect the engine from the transmission. The reason for depressing the clutch pedal during gear shifts is the significant speed difference between the engine flywheel and the clutch disc. Half-clutch is required when starting the vehicle. If the clutch pedal is released abruptly during startup, the vehicle will stall. 2. Reducing speed difference: At this point, the engine flywheel has a certain rotational speed, while the clutch disc's speed is 0. Rapidly engaging the clutch when there is a large speed difference between the flywheel and the clutch disc will cause the engine to stall. The same applies when shifting gears. If you want to skip gears when upshifting or downshifting, you need to minimize the speed difference between the engine flywheel and the clutch disc.
When driving a manual transmission car, I used to be a long-distance driver in my younger days, often navigating mountain roads. Skipping gears is technically possible, like shifting from second gear directly to fourth, avoiding frequent gear changes. However, you must match the speed: if the car speed is high but the engine RPM is low, it can cause jerking and make the car stutter, which is uncomfortable for passengers; if the speed is too low, the car lacks power for climbing. Doing this frequently accelerates wear on the transmission and clutch, leading to costly repairs. I’ve seen a few buddies who did this often, and their cars needed major overhauls within a few years. Safety first—occasionally using this technique downhill is fine, but for everyday driving, it’s best to shift gears sequentially to protect the car and ensure safety.
I used to enjoy driving manual transmissions. Once on the highway, I tried shifting directly from third to fifth gear, and it felt okay but had obvious drawbacks. The vehicle speed needs to be maintained within a suitable range, such as above 60 km/h, and as long as the engine RPM drops quickly, it's fine. However, beginners shouldn't try this recklessly: if the car lacks sufficient power, it will struggle like losing electricity; while it may seem to save fuel, the engine actually has to work harder to burn at excessively low RPMs, which can end up consuming more. Manual shifting is actually more flexible—don't sacrifice smoothness for convenience. Practice normal upshifts and downshifts more, keeping the RPM between 2000-3000 for smoother vehicle response.
