Not necessarily tho. Depends on how much you press the accel paddle. Lets say u are at 5th gear, doing 2.5k rpm and climbing a slope. Even tho you are slowly making your way up, you'll need more power to keep the engine running at 2.5k in fifth gear than to drop to 4th or 3rd and move up at 3-3.5k

A vaccuum gauge will always be a better indicator of FC usage, not the engine rpm

Also, starting from gear 2 or gear 3 isnt a very recommendable thing is because you can kill the clutch prematurely. By balancing in such a way that it transfers enough power for a smooth take off from static, you are actually allowing the clutch to slip more before enough power is transffered to make the car move.

So, if you dont want to stress your clutch and kill it prematurely, dont take off from standstill with other gear than 1st

edit : spelling


BB: down and upshifting without clutching is relatively easy in a synchomeshed gearbox. u dont need to precisely match the engine speed with the gear speed as the syncho will help to mate them. try doing that in unsynchomeshed gearbox and see

This post has been edited by daijoubu: Jan 28 2007, 08:14 PM