who uses 5th gear?

[007saab]

i've got a 6sp manual and almost never use 5th gear. If I'm accelerating to fwy speed I use 3rd and 4th and just jump to 6th. Any cruising speed around 50mph and maybe I'll use 5th but it never lasts. Anyone else ignoring a gear?

[PoisonBeef]

i tend to skip 4th....


(5spd manual)

[AKS]

^^^

me too, it gets annoying sometimes in traffic

[afinley]

i use 5th gear when i'm in town, like in 45mph zones. some time though i will go from 3rd to 6th, depending on how fast i need to go, and how quickly i am getting there.

[rogan]

I use it quite a bit as I drive on a long stretch of road that's 45/50.

-Rogan

[brace up]

i use it whenever im shifting out of 4th...

ill use 6th if im cruising on the freeway but ill keep it in 5th if im casually passing people (which i do a lot)

[cusi03]

in my 5spd i use it quite often...must be nice to have a 6spd gearbox.

[AeroCombi]

I tend to try to keep it in the gear that leaves the revs at/around 2000 RPM, which at about 50 mph = 5th gear. Usually though, that's just on the hwy until traffic clears and then it's 6th. For most acceleration I go through 1-2-4-6 or sometimes 1-2-5. So I'd say 3rd is the gear I tend to use the least.

[2.0T XWD]

I will often skip 5th when heading up to 6th, but will always shift down through all the gears.

[Wulf]

I never really understood the need for the 6-speed transmission. What's the advantage over regular 5-speeds?

[navygz19]

Originally Posted by Wulf

I never really understood the need for the 6-speed transmission. What's the advantage over regular 5-speeds?

Fuel economy for one thing. MB likes to toot that their new 7 speed slushbox is "xx%" more fuel efficient than 5 or 6 speeds. It gives the engine the ability to maintain a lower speed at all times.

I would venture to say in a manual it's not much more than a personal appeal. Turbo spool-up is probably a bit faster in a 6 speed.

My last car was a 6 speed and I loved it. It had much shorter gears which made for more downshifting preferences. My 5 speed that I have now has much longer gears and I would assume a bit more lag at lower RPM's in a downshift.

[the.hatter]

i dont think the final gear ratios are that different between the 5 and 6 speed so fuel economy differences are probably negligible.

ive got the 5 speed but ive never really been one to skip gears when i shift. maybe i would if i had the 6 though.

[rideboarder]

I use 5th gear quite a bit in my area, since I drive on roads with a 45mph speed limit. So 6th is just a bit too much, but 5th seems to work great for that.

[afinley]

the main advantage of more gears is that they all can be closer together with the same final drive ratio. it makes for a smoother ride, and allows the gears to better match the powerband of the car

[Double_0_7]

Originally Posted by rogan

I use it quite a bit as I drive on a long stretch of road that's 45/50.

-Rogan

+1...i use 5th for anything in the 40-50 range. it won't stall in 6th, but you can't accelerate to pass people either.

I almost always skip whatever gear is directly before the one i plan to stay in, lol. quick accel is fun. So I often go 1,2,3,5...or 1,2,4...or 1,2,3,4,6...because rapid acceleration through fourth then cruising in 6th is a lot more fun than casually accelerating through all 6 gears.

[the.hatter]

Originally Posted by afinley

the main advantage of more gears is that they all can be closer together with the same final drive ratio. it makes for a smoother ride, and allows the gears to better match the powerband of the car

yea but the downside (it sounds like to me) is you 6-speeders have too many gears to go through so you end up skipping one

thus making it a 5-speed lol.

[2.0T XWD]

Ha - at least us 6-speeders will still have 5 working speeds when 1 gear fails (and enough threads should warn us that this is an inevitablity ...) our poor 5 speed brothers will only have 4, so we'll have the last laugh ... (I hope) The 6th gear may deliver some theoretical benefit, but I still remain to be convinced. More has to be better!!!

Which gears will fail first though, and why does no one complain about failed reverse gears? In fact, why do we only have 1 reverse gear?

[the.hatter]

Originally Posted by 2.0T XWD

Ha - at least us 6-speeders will still have 5 working speeds when 1 gear fails (and enough threads should warn us that this is an inevitablity ...) our poor 5 speed brothers will only have 4, so we'll have the last laugh ... (I hope) The 6th gear may deliver some theoretical benefit, but I still remain to be convinced. More has to be better!!!

Which gears will fail first though, and why does no one complain about failed reverse gears? In fact, why do we only have 1 reverse gear?

ha well put .

quick sidetrack - how do you like the XWD system with the 2.0T? ive read some concerns that people were afraid the extra weight and drive-train loss would bog the car down, making it too slow in straight acceleration. bet the handling is lights out though.

[TXTurbo]

Ditto for skipping 5th. I drive long distances frequently, so after shifting from 4th on the freeway I go right into 6th!

[lexington01]

That's funny. My friend (who has a 5 speed and wishes he had 6 gears) always makes fun of me for skipping 5th. I thought I was the only one!