31 Dec Selective Gear Changing
Many years ago driving instructors taught their pupils to change up and down through every gear in manual cars because the old cars struggled with anything else and brakes weren’t very good, so we had to use our gears to help the car to slow down in addition to braking.
Selective Gear Changing (also known as Block Gear Changing) is a modern driving technique that has many benefits.
WHAT IS SELECTIVE GEAR CHANGING
Sometimes changing gear in bigger jumps. e.g. 1st to 3rd, 4th to 2nd, 5th to 1st etc.
SELECTIVE GEAR CHANGING UP
A good example of useful selective changing up is when you’re traveling down a slip road approaching a dual carriageway or motorway and accelerating hard in 3rd gear. Reaching a speed of e.g. around 40 to 45mph and you notice that the first lane is clear. At this speed there no point changing into 4th and makes better sense changing straight into 5th gear.
SELECTIVE GEAR CHANGING DOWN.
Slow with the foot brake to reach the speed you want to e.g turn or approach a give-way line at. When you feel the engine getting too slow for the gear you’re in, just put the clutch down so you don’t stall, however there is no rush to select the next gear until you’re close to the speed you want e.g when you’ve slowed down to 10mph and you’re going to stay around that speed then select 2nd gear. However if its a tight turn or visibility is poor you decide to bring your speed right down to 5mph or lower, once you get to that speed select 1st gear and don’t waste your time going to 2nd gear or lifting the clutch until you reach a 1st gear speed.
BENEFITS OF SELECTIVE GEAR CHANGING
The benefits of selective gear changing, especially changing up, is better fuel economy. Missing a gear when changing up if necessary will allow the engine to work easier as you will reach the higher gear sooner, so will use less fuel. Frequent use of selective gear changing down will reduce wear on the clutch and gearbox, both being expensive to replace.
OVERTAKING
A useful selective gear change is to change down from 5th gear into 3rd. If driving at around 40 mph, this will provide a significant amount of power to the engine and allow you to accelerate quicker past the vehicle you want to overtake.