Deansdream

Given enough braking to avoid redlining, any harm done, say downshifting directly from 5th to 3rd, skipping 4th? Or should one always go through all the gears?

LlBr

AFAIK, Hopefully you are using only your brakes to slow down and downshifting to the proper gear not to slow down but rather only to resume most efficient power transfer to the road. Proper gear depends on what you want to do acceleration wise. Engine probably has enough torque to handle it no matter which gear. Anybody: please correct me if I'm wrong. Racing or beating the sht outta the car is another story.

Edgy01

It's certainly fine to skip gears up or down, the issue is whether you are skilled enough with the feel necessary to skip a gear and still get a good shift.

John NY-Naples

When I attended the PSDS two day course, the instructors suggested that there is no need or reason to down shift for engine braking. They reasoned that the brakes on these cars, and for that matter most modern cars, are very good, and there is no reason to engine brake. Engine braking was necessary way back when, when brakes weren't very good. Having said all this, if you down shift for reasons other than engine braking, you can ignore this.

LlBr

Thanks for the confirmation. Sounds good to me.

At Law

This is true. It is pretty easy skipping gears smoothly
on the way down. However, skipping gears while upshifting
takes a little skill--to do it right that is.

Now, can you upshift smoothly without using the clutch?

russo

A known attribute of Porsche is their brakes; hence, shifting down to brake is not the optimal method to slow down.

ADias

Please post your VIN so that we can advise people to pass when you sell it.

Sadiq

OP is not asking about engine braking.

At Law

I don't do it on the 997. I just toy with it on the Jeep Wrangler.

LlBr

Adding some humor and with absolutely no disrespect to the OP (who's apparently not even talking about engine braking). My former brother in law used to downshift the [expletive] out of his car to slow it down. It was so ridiculous! Like he thought he was a race car driver or something. Now? He's unempolyed, homeless, divorced, and alcoholic.

Edgy01

Ys, you absolutely can shift gears without the clutch--in an emergency. It just takes some skill and sensitivity to sounds and feelings, to match engine and tranny speeds.

yemenmocha

I only skip gears when upshifting sometimes due to a difficulty in merging with traffic. 1st through 3rd gears are going nicely then realize I have to mellow out to merge, so I'll go from 3rd to 5th. There's no real danger of hitting the wrong gear in this case.

But I fear that someone going from 5th to 3rd could accidentally hit 1st, so I don't think it's a wise idea. Heck I'll usually go 6th to 5th then 4th so I don't hit 2nd by mistake on the freeway.

sharmat

Its so easy to skip 1st going down hill (as in a long drive way). I can easily go right to 2nd.
I do 6- to 4 often as long as the speed is low enough and not for "engine braking"
Also 1st is hard to engage anyway if you are going too fast so i dont worry about accidentally getting into 1st.

simsgw

It's not as tough as it sounds, given that skill and sensitivity. No worse than double clutching a crash box really. However, I wouldn't want to do it regularly on a car I cherished. I've only done it when the clutch master cylinder has failed on a car. Mind you, I haven't had that happen for thirty years or so...

Gary