Starting off in 2nd gear?

[poloplayer]

Does starting off from stand still in 2nd gear damage the car in any way or put excess load on the engine?

[h100vw]

Only going to be hard on your clutch really.

Gavin

[beefa]

reason for wanting to do this ?

[poloplayer]

Reason : Wanting to skip the 1-2 jerkiness in shifting occasionally. Sometimes I get a bit bored too

[Ben_GTI]

Yea it'll just put a bit more strain on your clutch. To make 1-2 shifts a bit smoother, i found changing up a little higher made it easier.

[Wand Weaver]

I tend to do it when I'm pointing downhill and not going anywhere fast (ie, in moderately paced stop-start traffic). If you let the car roll a little and gather up some steam, it'll pull in second quite easily.

Went for a drive in the cool air last night. The Polo seems to gain a ridiculous amount of power in the cold air - it's noticibly quicker (and I drive a bog-stock car). The difference must be even larger with those of you with APR/GIAC/Revo chipped cars. And it also seems to have an affinity to fogging up its front windscreen - turn off the A/C and use the fan and it fogs up on the inside, turn it on and it fogs up on the outside!

[poloplayer]

It's probably my shifting technique from 1-2.
I either:
a) Lose a lot of speed here, or
b) Everyone lurches forward once I press the clutch

[Ben_GTI]

It's probably my shifting technique from 1-2.
I either:
a) Lose a lot of speed here, or
b) Everyone lurches forward once I press the clutch

I find tapping the throttle between the shift helps keeps the rpm up a little to change can make it smoother. In my car with the air-con going, i practically don't lift off during shifts to stop the rpm dropping back to idle.

My dad does what you do in his MPS. He backs off the throttle too early before he shifts and the engine compression throws everyone forward before he depresses the clutch. Annoying as hell.

[poloplayer]

Is it possible to shift up in a manual so smoothly thats its like an auto?

[Funkdancer]

I let go of the throttle just long enough for revs to drop the required amount, then time the release of the clutch with the full depress of the throttle - trying to be smooth yet fast on the shift. If I for some reason fudge it up, I make sure to tap gas a bit so that it's reasonably synched when clutch is released.

For downshifting, heel toe is really the only way to do it.

There's an art to driving a manual smoothly, and I feel I've still got plenty to learn.