Shifting question

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Nov 23, 1998 | 07:08 AM

Fergus Hammond

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Shifting question

When I was driving a Land Rover, 1st gear was usually useless (at least, for around town; great off-road 'though!). Starting in 2nd was pretty much standard. Obviously, the A4 is totally different. But is staying in 1st still a bad thing? An example:Going up a hill this morning, my girlfriend changed into 2nd at around 3000 rpm, as she's learned to get out of 1st as soon as possible.Would she have been better to wait until around 4000 rpm? And if so, is this generally a good idea? Obviously, going up a hill is different from driving on flat roads but, in general, when do you guys changed out of first? BTW, this is in a 2.8 30v.Any suggestions to help out a new Audi driver would be much appreciated.fergus

Nov 23, 1998 | 09:13 AM

EricB

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Re: Shifting question

Hi, Fergus. I just got my car in April, and it is my first manual transmission vehicle. I climb a pretty good hill every morning on the way to work with a couple of stop signs on it. I usually go up in 3rd to keep the RPM's in the 2-3K range. From the stop signs I usually accelerate to about 3500 RPM before shifing, as opposed to 3000 RPM for non-sport driving on level ground. Hope this helps.EricB 98 1.8TQMS

Nov 23, 1998 | 09:17 AM

Andrei D

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Always use your 1st from standstill! It's why it's there.

Nov 23, 1998 | 10:19 AM

AlexS

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Re: Shifting question

I usually shift to a higher gear when the little needle on the tachometer nears the red zone.Alex

Nov 23, 1998 | 10:25 AM

Fergus Hammond

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That wasn't my question; read again.

Nov 23, 1998 | 11:10 AM

Jeff M

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4000 RPM

4000 RPMs on both of my cars, A4 and a Montero Sport. No negative repercussions.

Nov 23, 1998 | 02:18 PM

Ray Calvo

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General: shift at lowest RPM at which the next gear is not lugging

Been largely following the above advice for about 28 years and 800,000 miles of stick shift driving in normal conditions. I generally don't like high RPMs in 1st - harder on the tranny, driveline and clutch. This generally might be (as Iremember), shift at about 3000-4000 to result in about 1500-2000 in next gear. On a hill start, might increase RPMs somewhat for added power. If you have to floor it in next gear due to too low RPM, you shifted too early. This is a 2.8 Avant, for info.Now, on autocrooss starts, all the above goes out the window.