2002 Chevrolet Corvette Z06: Skip Shift

Don't downplay the horror that is skip-shift.

we had a '94 Z-28 for a few years, great car and we loved it...

but yeah, I may qualify for your definition of dork, I'm usually into 2nd halfway through the intersection and I shift frequently and keep the revs low (current car 2003 Vibe GT, also a great car that we love).

isn't the whole point of the manual that you're in control? so far, over 50,000 miles, I've averaged 28.339 mpg in the Vibe (EPA is 22/28 under new standard, was 25/30 under old standard).

The Camaro, being that I'm a lame-o and never got around to getting a skip shift eliminator, got terrible mileage because shifting to 4th at that low a speed was so mechanically unsympathetic that I just couldn't do it, so I revved it instead.... this was back before we started keeping track of fueling, but that car was average maybe 13-14mpg.

booooo skip shift, BOOOOO I say.

Never was a problem for me in my 00 SS, 01 Z28, or 05 GTO. I even DD'd the GTO in DC traffic.

They should introduce dork-shift on all MT vehicles. Or just eliminate 2nd and 3rd gears altogether.

@dannyzrc: Your Z28 got 13-14 MPG? Wow, that's great. My '68 Z28 got 6-7 MPG. I guess it was because of the 4.88 rear axle, which the car came with from the factory. (I saw it in the showroom and bought it on the spot-- I had no idea what "4.88" really meant, or if I even looked at the specs on the window. Pure lust, and a bad snap decision.)

The only times I manage to activate the Skip Shift in my Z06 is when I'm turning from a stop in town. I like to keep the revs lower in town because I don't really need any more attention from local tax collectors, I mean law enforcement, especially because I have the only silver C5Z06 in the area(that I'm aware of). To make me look like even more of a dork, when the steering wheel is turned I don't see the shift light come on. So now I'm in the intersection in the middle of a shift going "WTF?" Granted this only happens once in a great while so by the time it happens again I forget about it.

An LT1 Z28 is capable of an honest 24mpg on the open road, or better. If you drove it like a normal car, that 13mpg probably could have been 17mpg, and I assume that was mixed driving, biased towards city.

kevm14 is right. I've seen as high as 29mpg with my LS1/6spd Z28, but this was a pure highway drive. I average between 23 and 24 since my commute is mostly highway. The 6th gear ratio is 0.5:1, combined with 3.42 rear gears (both ratios are identical on '94+ LT1 Z28s as well), results in an engine speed of 1800rpm at 80mph which is optimal for fuel economy.

I agree with the other posts here that the skip shift feature is annoying in traffic or at intersections. The first thing I did when I bought the car was unplug the skip-shift solenoid and put a resistor in the harness to disable the feature. In leisure cruising I sometimes still shift 1-4, but at least I'm not forced to now.

kevm14 is right. I've seen as high as 29mpg with my LS1/6spd Z28, but this was a pure highway drive. I average between 23 and 24 since my commute is mostly highway. The 6th gear ratio is 0.5:1, combined with 3.42 rear gears (both ratios are identical on '94+ LT1 Z28s as well), results in an engine speed of 1800rpm at 80mph which is optimal for fuel economy.

I agree with the other posts here that the skip shift feature is annoying in traffic or at intersections. The first thing I did when I bought the car was unplug the skip-shift solenoid and put a resistor in the harness to disable the feature. In leisure cruising I sometimes still shift 1-4, but at least I'm not forced to now.

I can't believe you guys haven't bypassed the 1-4 yet. That would literally be the first thing I'd do if I owned a car with that "feature."

You're a dork; or else you're stuck behind someone at a stop light who, when the light turns green, suddenly forgets how to use that rightmost pedal. Then you experience the joy of watching them take their first baby steps in driving all over again! Meanwhile, your car decides it's going to annoy you and SKIP SHIFT! It's either that or wind out the engine up through 3500 RPM in a sloooooow riiiiiise that steals all the joy out of climbing the rev range. So stop lights were pretty much the only time I'd experience it. It's defeated now, so it's not an issue. :)

Those who seem to be continually plauged by this "feature" should simply shift from 1st to 3rd. These engines create PLENTY of torque to do so very, very smoothly.