I was reading transcripts of Pat Goss' online discussions over at the washingtonpost.com and ran across a comment he had which I am curious about. He said that all manual tranny drivers should never put their car in first gear and drive off when first starting the car. He says that you should always put it in a higher gear and then shift into first and drive off. I have never heard of anyone suggesting this before and he offers no explanation as to why people should do that. Does anyone have any ideas?
Here's the transcript, it's the third question down: http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn...012601371.html

 

putting it in second before first will sync the gears so the will mesh properly.
i've done this as a habbit forever.. never have any problems going into first

 

I almost always have to go into reverse prior to first anyhow, i wonder if that counts?

 

The only reason to do that would be if you can't get into first or reverse just the synchro be aligned dead head to head.

It moves the synchros a bit, just enough to help them mesh. Second gear is often easier to get in to make sure people don't bust them taking off a street corner. That's the gear that gets the most abuse.

When it happens to me, I either go to second or back to neutral and blip the throttle. But since the tranny has been running for a while when I take off, it's rarelly an issue. (I start the engine first thing, then get settled in the car. Lets oil get everywhere)

 

Actually the correct thing to do is double clutch any time shifting into first or reverse. To my surprise, nissan put this little "trick" in your owners manual.

When you first get in your car in the morning, while in neutral, simply depress the clutch and wait a moment for the inner-workings of the transmission to stop spinning. It will slide into first gear like a hot knife through butter. If you have been driving and come to a stop(a lot of times you're already coming from a higher gear), let's say you're in second with the clutch pushed in; Take it out of second gear and select neutral, release the clutch while in neutral, depress the clutch again, wait a moment, and then select first. Just like butter!!!

Hope that helps.

 

^excellent post^

 

When starting the car, I generally move the shift lever from 1st to 2nd to 1st once or twice. Its a automatic reflex. I cant remember why I do it. Maybe the technique is a holdover for other cars that I had 20 years ago?