>> I do that (downshifting 2-3 gears at once) every day while slowing down
>> from the motorway - either 6-5-3-2, 6-4-2 or 6-3-2, depending on place,
>> traffic etc.
>
> Ah, I've never driven a 6-speed vehicle.  From higher gears it would
> probably be less of an issue, but dropping from 3 to 1 can redline the
> engine, at least IME.

I never put the car into 1st gear unless I'm stopped or moving along at a 
constant very slow speed in traffic, the ratio is usually so high that by 5 
km/hr you need to change to 2nd unless you are in a race or something.

On my old 5-speed car I would usually do 5-3-2 when coming to a stop from a 
high speed, in my current 6-speed I would definitely do 6-4-3-2 or even 
6-3-2 sometimes if slowing down relatively quickly.  The only time I use 5th 
gear while slowing down is if traffic is bad and say the speed has dropped 
from 120 km/hr to 80 km/hr, 80 is a bit slow for 6th gear if you are 
expecting to accelerate again soon, but I can do without the high RPM that 
4th gear would offer (both because of the noise and the fuel consumption).

You won't redline the engine if you wait until the revs are down near idle 
before changing down, but doing 3rd-1st is going to cause problems because 
the ratios are so far apart.

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