2nd gear starts?

Well at the risk of showing how new I am in high performance cars :-), I'm wondering if it hurts my 02 996 C2 to start from a stop in second gear. One of the reviews I read about the car prior to purchasing mentioned it as a way to improve gas mileage. While I don't care that much about that aspect sometimes there are situations where it's nice not to have to shift quickly from first to second but be able to just stay in second. Any thoughts for this newbie? Thanks! Jim

Thats an interesting question, Jim. Similarly, my tip starts in 2nd gear almost all the time. I know that its meant to but I dont know why.

Second gear starts are OK in your 3/4 ton pickup, but not friendly to the clutch in your expensive P-car. There is going to be more clutch slippage pulling it out of the hole in second than there is in first. If you want to skip a gear, skip second, but that leaves you pretty low in the rev range going into third. Fuel economy is largely governed by your right foot, not your left foot and right hand!

Bins Tips are supposed to start in second for the automatic mode. To start in the trans' lowest gear, you have to use the manual shift mode. I imagine flooring it in auto would also kick it down to first. I believe its all covered in the manual. Mike

Exactly. Im interested in knowing why it always starts from 2nd, which the manual doesnt explain.

I find that my 993 turbo starts a hell of a lot smoother in second than the 996 does in second. I can't tell you why though. I really have to slip it to start in second on the 996.

[quote]Originally posted by Bins: <strong>Exactly. Im interested in knowing why it always starts from 2nd, which the manual doesnt explain.</strong><hr></blockquote> My understanding from other posts is that it does this for fuel economy. The service loaner I had was a tip. It does start from 2nd. You have to pretty much floor it from a dead stop to get it to start from first on auto. Maybe the 2nd gear is the real starting gear, and the first gear is designed simply to give you that added ooomph to blast off the line. One unusual thing I noticed on the tip is that it downshifts pretty aggresively when you are coasting to a stop. Most autos I've driven stay on the top gear when you are coasting to a stop. Felt kinda weird to feel the tip downshifting automatically and feel the compression braking as you are coasting down. Have to step on the brake only for the last several feet. Is this a feature of most/all high performance auto's? Regarding 2nd gear starts on the 6 speed, I've often done it when the going is easy. Stopped on a downhill slope, or going through a stop sign (the illegal rolling stop ). Anything else, it feels like I have to slip the clutch too much. Maybe it's because there is more mass that needs to get rolling on the C4S. Might not be too bad on a C2.

My understanding on the Tip 2nd gear start is that the Tip is supposed to "intuit" the immediate driving style. If you want a jackrabbit start, then floor it and you get first. If you want a gentle start because of the cup of coffee you're holding in your crotch, it senses that and gives you a secind gear start. I think it assumes that anything other than flooring it means you're taking it easy. But that's true in the other gears too. Floor it on a straight, brake hard and corner at highe g's, and it holds the gear. Do it for two corners and it downshifts while you brake and upshifts at the redline (which you can't do with the buttons or the shift lever). It seems that most German cars are geared low in first. This allows letting out the clutch with little or no feeding of throttle. This may be due to driving conditions/style in Europe but also seems to be clutch-sparing. At current clutch prices, I'm not too inclined to slip mine. AS

Thanks for the info...