Remember each car will be geared slightly differently, but a good rule of thumb for changing gears is that first gear is for speeds up to 10 mph, second gear is for speeds up to 15 mph, third gear is for speeds up to 35 mph, fourth gear is for speeds up to 55 mph, fifth gear is for speeds up to 65 mph, and sixth gear ...
2nd gear: up to 15 mph. 3rd gear: 15 – 25 mph. 4th gear: 25 – 30 mph. 5th gear: 30 mph+
2nd gear: 10-20 mph. 3rd gear: 20-35 mph. 4th gear: 35-50 mph. 5th gear: 50+ mph.
Remember each car will be geared slightly differently, but a good rule of thumb for changing gears is that first gear is for speeds up to 10 mph, second gear is for speeds up to 15 mph, third gear is for speeds up to 35 mph, fourth gear is for speeds up to 55 mph, fifth gear is for speeds up to 65 mph, and sixth gear ...
Alternatively when approaching a corner you may change from 4th or 5th down to 2nd without using the gears in between. Care needs to be exhibited to ensure you have the right speed for the gear.
Third gear is usually used for situations where you are driving your vehicle anywhere past the speed of 50 to 60 km/h.
Within the engine at that point, an over-rev condition will occur and internal-engine components will momentarily spin far faster than what they were originally designed to do.
At around 2000-2500rpm (revs per minute), you'll probably need to change up (depending on the variables outlined above). Equally, you should learn quite quickly how the car feels when you need to change down a gear. It will feel like you're losing power—and if you don't change quickly enough, you will stall the engine.
Downshifting can be bad for your car, but not if you do it wisely. Don't downshift without first slowing down to a proper speed for that lower gear. It's best to use a combination of your regular brakes and downshifting, when necessary. Just remember not to ride the brakes too heavily or downshift at too high a speed.
By shifting early, you're causing a lot of unnecessary stress on the engine and transmission. In short, it isn't necessary to come to a complete stop, but if the engine has to fight to change directions, you're shifting too soon.
Shifting too early will obviously stall out your car which is bad, but upshifting at 2,500 RPM instead of 3,000 isn't going to hurt your transmission, gearbox, or clutch. There's actually pretty much only one situation where it could be hurting your car and that's if you're lugging.
When changing gear, take your foot off the accelerator and press down on the clutch completely before switching to another gear. Changing the gear correctly will ensure that your car stays healthy. Listening to the engine while driving will enable you to understand the car when it needs a gear change.
Just cruising at the lower speed in the higher gear will not incur any extra wear to engine or transmission. In fact, you'll see less wear due to running the engine at a lower speed.
The problem is that the difference in ratios between second and first is large. So considering the job of a synchromesh is to bridge this gap, the synchromesh for first gear has to work a lot harder than in the rest of the transmission.
4L is the low-range four-wheel drive setting and can help you maneuver out of tricky situations. If you're using this setting, be sure that you keep your speed under 10 mph, which is because the vehicle is applying more torque for a better grip.
3rd gear: 15-45 mph. 4th gear: 30-65 mph. 5th gear: 65+ mph.
Pulling away in second gear is not generally recommended for engines below 1.8l. Note: Since I wrote this article there has been a revolution (ho-ho) in engine/gearbox design such that many small cars with engine sizes up to 1.6l can comfortable reach 60mph and more in second gear.
At those engine speeds, one of the major concerns is valve float. That happens when the springs that push the valves in the engine closed can't keep up, which can cause the valves to lose control. This leads to the engine not firing correctly, and can result in the pistons hitting the valves and doing serious damage.