I'm in the process of purchasing a black 2000 Camaro SS (M6) and I've got a couple really basic questions for you guys..

First of all, what is the skip-shift? What does it do and why?

I've been reading about some people getting bent push rods from shifting errors. Will the skip-shift affect this in any way? What can I do to avoid this?

This is the first sports car I've ever owned, and also the car I use to learn to drive a manual transmission. I hope this isn't a recipe for disaster! I've got a buddy who's willing to help me learn, and since it is a second (toy) car, I'm not in any particular hurry.

Thanks for your help..

 

skip shift - an annoying little bugger that makes you shift into fourth if you don't take off hard enough in first. while this sounds weird as hell when someone is telling you about it, you will understand as soon as it happens to you. you will pull the shifter down towards second gear, but it will feel like ths shifter is "pushing" itself into fourth.

bent pushrods - when people drag race, they shift hard and fast. sometimes on the 3-4 shift, people will put the car into 2nd on accident. this causes the engine to rev entirely too fast, and the result is bent pushrods. skip shift will not affect this at all. to avoid it, pay attention to your shifts and make sure you shift into the correct gear. that is all the advice that i can give.

sports cars - these cirs will bite the hell out of you if you're not paying attention. you will pick up on what to do in different situations. i suggest (as many suggested to me) that you go into an empty parking lot and try different things out to get a better feel for your car. enjoy!!! i know i love mine!

 

skip shift will only let you shift from 1->4 between speeds of 15 and 20 mph (it is only active when the car takes off from a complete stop. it is not active when the car rolls at all through a stop). if you shift before 15 mph or after 20 mph, it will let you go directly to 2nd. you will notice this because the light is only on between 15 and 20 mph.

as far as getting rid of this ridiculous feature (which many of us have done), you have 2 options: 1) buy the premade skip shift eliminator from SLP or similar vendor, lots of vendors sell this part, and installation is very easy. works perfectly. i think it's about $20. 2) you can make and install your own skip shift eliminator using a $0.50 resistor. check out the following link for directions on how to do this: www.installuniversity.com and go to the !CAGS link in the transmission section.

good luck