Never know what gear I am in!

[Jocko]

What made me think of this was the issues one poster has had adapting to a 6 speed transmission. I have a rather savoir faire approach to gear changing, making good use of Neutral as well, and this often leads to me not always knowing what gear I am in. I regularly change from 3rd to 5th and 5th to 3rd and quite often change from 2nd to 5th, if road conditions and traffic allows. I don't run a lot of revs most of the time, and I sometimes find I am in 3rd instead of where I want to be, 5th! Throw in changing from 5th to Neutral for a spell, then back to 5th, it is easy to see why I can get confused! A gear selection indicator, on the dash, would be a handy things for drivers like me. Like some of the new bikes have (and F1 cars - so it is not just dozy drivers that need them).
Anyone else ever get confused, or is it just me?

[SuperCNJ]

It sounds like you are driving using the "double de-clutch" technique? With modern cars you don't need to do this owing to the synchromesh gearbox. It wastes fuel and has really no benefit unless there is a problem with the gearbox.

I've never had a problem confusing 3rd and 5th in the Jazz. The MK1 gearbox is a masterpiece, one of the best 5-speed gearboxes I have used. Really smooth and difficult to get wrong. I would suggest you try putting the palm of your hand on the left the gearstick for 5th so you're kind of pulling it towards you, and on the back of the gear stick to get 3rd - so you are pushing forward only. Sorry if this sounds like I'm teaching you to suck eggs, but this was something my driving instructor taught me many years ago which stuck with me.

[richardfrost]

I don't think Jocko is saying he has trouble finding the gears. He is saying he doesn't always know what gear he is in at any particular time, but just instinctively moves to the appropriate gear as and when.

I was very similar until I got my hybrid, now I don't care, even though it tells me the equivalent gear. The only time I think about it is on a long downhill when I choose to go to manual gear selection rather than ride the brakes all the way down the hill. (For clarity, I am referring to my Toyota Rav4 Hybrid here, not a Jazz.)

[sparky Paul]

Getting in the Jazz after my diesel (which has exceptionally long gearing) the revs often make me think I'm in third when I'm in fifth!

The long gearing means that 6th is very rarely used other than on motorways, so it's still effectively 5-speed in most circumstances anyway. I haven't tried to put the Jazz in reverse at 70mph... yet.

[culzean]

My 2016 motorbike has a gear indicator on the dash,  it is useful as when I am in 30 limit I stay in 3rd, 40 limit 4th and 50 limit 5th ( see a pattern emerging here ? ) and is easier than keep watching the rev counter- which means engine not revving too much but not labouring either and will respond quickly to a tweak of the throttle, and you get used to the exhaust sound and know pretty much what speed you are doing without speedo.  Everything above 50 is 6th, just have to drop down a gear when overtaking to breeze past quickly.  Some riders say they only want to know when they are in top gear so that they don't keep trying to change up to a non existent gear ( because the rest of the time 'they are in the right gear' ) and there may be something in that.  My bike will do 50mph in 1st gear (11,000 revs ) some bigger bikes will do over 70.

In the Jazz if you are trying to keep about 2000 revs or below just watch the ECO light or change up arrow, which kick in at about 2K.

I get problems because I often drive wifes Jazz where reverse is in same place as 6th gear on the Civic, and a big oversight by Honda is that you can go straight into reverse without lifting a collar or any other 'safety' device' - on a lot of cars reverse is on the 1st gear side of gate and there is still a collar to lift or push gear lever down or similar - I wonder what Honda was thinking about when they decided on the gate of their cars ?

[Jocko]

As Richard say's, finding or selecting gears is not a problem. When I first learned to drive, 55 years ago, I learned to double declutch, as many vehicles, including my father's car, did not have full synchromesh. I have not double declutched in years, except when I first started driving buses. No, I am happy to swap cogs in a cavalier fashion, missing gears when I don't require them. It is just that I often find I'll come out of 5th thinking I am in 3rd. The Mk 1 gears are all so low. At other times I will be pootling along on 3rd or 4th, believing I am in 5th. The engine is just so flexible.
ECO light? The Mk 1 Jazz does not have such frippery.

[LJs JAZZ]

My Golf has a gear indicator on the dash, very useful at times it is . I too do abit of gear jumping, going from 2nd to 4th or 4th to 6 th etc  The indicator is especially useful with a six speed box, its no use looking down to the gear leaver to see what gear you are in!
I just keep the revs at about 1800 rpm when the turbo has kicked in, and it pulls like a train, its only a 1.4 but the engine is an absolute gem. Vw use this engine in a number of models designated TSI. ( turbo-charged stratified injection ) . The only gripe I have is that the gear indicator would be better placed within the rev counter, so it is only necessary to glance at one instrument .

[sparky Paul]

It is just that I often find I'll come out of 5th thinking I am in 3rd. The Mk 1 gears are all so low. At other times I will be pootling along on 3rd or 4th, believing I am in 5th. The engine is just so flexible.
ECO light? The Mk 1 Jazz does not have such frippery.

Indeed, all the Jazz gears are low, and quite close too.

The other car doesn't have a gear indicator, but it knows what gear you are in - it nags you on the display to change up to 4th, 5th, 6th, whatever the next cog is, when it thinks you are using too much go juice.

[MartinJG]

Jocko

I know exactly what you mean. The engine is so quiet and ratios so close it is easy to lose the plot. Having driven diesels for thirty years, my first impression was that it felt a little bit like a motorbike with the light clicky gear selection and close ratios which is hardly surprising given Honda's heritage. I don't like the first/second ratios and clutch action which can snatch a bit, especially in damp weather before it has had chance to warm up. Consequently, I tend to get into third as quickly as possible and let the engine/ratio do most of the work and then slip through fourth into fifth almost seemlessly once the coast is clear. 

[Jocko]

On a flat stretch, away from lights (such as Kirkcaldy's Esplanade), I usually go 1st, 2nd, 5th. The 1.2 i-DSi will pull happily from 22 - 25 mph in 5th, provided the road is flat and you use a light throttle. As it is only a 30 mph limit there is no problem.

[springswood]

With the 850 Mini I learned to drive in you had to double declutch to go down to second. I find I still do it sometimes without thinking even though it was forty years ago.

I agree with most comments about he Jazz gears. It has taken a while to get the hang of driving my Jazz as smoothly as I'd like. Probably because my rough car history didn't include anything that revs as happily as the Jazz.

I do tend to get out of 1st as soon as I can but then sometimes get bogged down with too few revs in second. 3rd is great for slip roads. I find increasingly I stay in 4th in 30 zones when sat behind someone who drifts between 23 and 30 mph as their attention wanders. You can do it in 5th but it's more responsive and no less economical (according to Torque)

[Jocko]

4th is my go to gear for 20 zones.

[MartinJG]

The MK2 does not like hills. The MK1, as discussed frequently, was certainly better on this front.

[culzean]

The MK2 does not like hills. The MK1, as discussed frequently, was certainly better on this front.

My wife would love an iDS-i engine in her 1.4 MK2 - IMHO it was a much better engine for Jazz as an urban car it is more tractable - it doesn't have that 'dead spot' the i-vtec has where if you change from first to second too early it 'bogs down' and refuses to accelerate until you can coax it over about 2,500 revs.   Can't say I ever stalled the MK1,  wish I could say same for MK2,  and IMHO our MK1's fuel consumption was better than MK2.

[Jocko]

It has been often stated how quiet the Jazz engine is, but today I travelled about 3 miles in 3rd when I thought I was in 5th. It wasn't until I came to a hill where the speed normally pegs back (it didn't today), that I realised I had not changed up. I wish the Mk1 had six gears as I would be unlikely to mistake 2nd for 6th (I hardly ever use 4th).