Some ppl stop at second gear and move off

When you come to turn you have to change into second gear to turn but say you slow down and you feel like the car is going to stop how does the car not stall i thought you were meant to put into first gear ? Like some people just stop and wait in second gear and then go off how does that work

Reply 1

Drewski

Some cars can do it. It's not great for them, but it is possible.

Reply 2

laurakyna

It depends on the car, some are more tolerant than others! You need more revs to pull away in 2nd gear and have to be more careful with the clutch control as it's more likely to stall. I don't like it, but have pulled away in 2nd and in 3rd... Note, in icy/snowy conditions its recommended to use a higher gear to pull away to prevent the wheels slipping.

Reply 3

TheDepressedOne

Generally if you want to move off you’d want to be in first gear but some cars can just about manage in second gear. You need to be decent at clutch control to be able to do it.

Reply 4

laurakyna

I second this, when you're first learning its always 2nd gear to turn, but as you get more experience you'll find corners you can't do unless you're in 1st because they're so tight and the road is narrow, and corners you can easily do in 3rd at 20-30mph because the road is wide, there's plenty visibility and the corner is a nice gradual bend.

Really, driving is more about how the car feels than hard and fast rules about how to drive.

Reply 5

NX172

Like others have said, some cars can pull away in 2nd gear.

Many luxury cars with an automatic gearbox are designed to pull away from 2nd gear by default as it pulls away smoother than in first gear - as the first gear may be too harsh / torque-y for a flat road. If your car feels like it'll stall at low speeds in 2nd then it's not designed to do it.

Mine defaults to 2nd gear in Comfort mode and will seldom use first gear unless it's a steep hill start. Only Sport/Race mode will default to first gear for a more aggressive launch or pull.

In terms of racing, l launch from 2nd gear as first gear causes too much wheel spin, resulting in a slow launch. I know people who launch from 3rd gear, too. At the end of the day, it depends on the car. Also, an economy car will also have lower engine idle speeds compared to a high performance car.

Reply 6

xEmilyxx

I've pulled away before in second before. It can be quite easy when you're going through slow moving traffic in second gear and you stop for a moment and forget to go back down to first. That said, you move very slowly doing so, but I am in a 1.2 Ford Ka and in bigger cars you probably move faster from second.

Reply 7

Revolver72

Original post by Anonymous

Works the same way any gear works. You'll need to give it more welly, though, if you're pulling away on a flat. And you're going to risk wearing your clutch quicker than normal if you make a habit of it - particularly if you were on an uphill.

In snow or ice, I'll often pull away in second gear to avoid my rear wheels spinning. It's actually advised to do so. There's also a huge hill near my house, which has traffic lights on it half way down. If I'm facing downhill, I'll often pull away in second gear there.

Just depends on the surroundings, and the car.

Reply 8

nevershear

I can pull away in second (and generally will do in ice to keep revs low) but it's not economical to do so. Theoretically you can pull away in 3rd (and I've done this before by accident and all I could smell was clutch from where rather than question why I was having to give so much power to move simply did what the engine asked anyway)

Reply 9

jesswalton888

Original post by Anonymous

You usually do have to go into first gear, but the higher the revs the more likely you are to set off in gear 2 or even 3 - i wouldn't recommend it but it's something people do.

Reply 10

TheMcSame

Some cars can do it, some can't. Diesels and high displacement petrols excel at this because they have a lot of torque in the low end. The reason higher displacement petrols are so capable is because... Well... They have a high displacement engine, and one of the ways to achieve a higher displacement engine is to increase the stroke. A larger stroke means more torque, that's why HGVs have huge diesel engines that produce thousands of Nm of torque. Your typical HGV will likely be something like a Scania 440, which has a 13L engine and produces 2300 Nm of torque @1000-1300 RPMs. An 8.4L Dodge Viper for example, will produce 375 Nm of torque at just 1000 RPMs. For reference, an Aplina D3 BiTurbo, which is a 3L sports Diesel, doesn't produce that amount of torque until ~1600 RPM.

Diesels also fight to keep the RPMs at or above idle, so if you put load on the engine without touching the gas pedal, the fuel delivery system will respond by dumping more fuel into the engine.