[fastball]

Originally Posted by amerhash28

I think I heard someone saying that the camaro has a 1st to 4th shift?whats that?is it for better gas mileage?is there a way to avoid it?because I like to stay in lower gears to hear the V8 singing

Originally Posted by Jeffro19

Pretty sure it is to avoid the gas guzzler tax

Originally Posted by amerhash28

Well we don't have to pay tax here and gas is cheaper then water

Originally Posted by amerhash28

I don't see why there is no way to turn off this feature.

Originally Posted by alex70olds

It's no big deal. I have it, as I had it in my Gen 4 TA. As long as you hit 15 MPH in first, it will never come on.

General Motors has used the skip shift feature for all of their 6 speed manual transmissions combined with V8 engines since the first Corvette ZR1 in 1989.

The GGT is a federal tax that is added to the sticker price of cars with low EPA ratings. The tax is, like every government operation, complicated and really doesn't make sense. Theoretically it's supposed to be imposed car cars that get less than 22.5 MPG combined city/highway, but the 2014 Camaro SS is rated at a combined 18 MPG. So are about 40 other sports cars sold in the USA. So who the heck really knows?

All BMW M series and 7 series are taxed. Both the automatic and manual Corvette Z06. All Ferraris, Lamborghinis, Bugatti, Rolls and Bentley, they all get the tax. Pretty much any exotic you can think of gets it.

Skip shift is an effort to keep your RPMs low if you don't intend to go fast. It keeps them around 1500-2000 by slipping a pin to force your gear shift lever from first to 4th when you go to shift if you're under 15 mph. It locks out 2nd and 3rd.

GM has used skip shift on Camaros (and Firebird/Trans Am) since they started using the 6 speed on the V8 models in 1993. It's also been used on the 2003-06 Pontiac GTO, Pontiac G8 GT, Cadillac ATS-V, CTS-V. Any high powered GM car with a 6 speed manual transmission in the last 25 years has had it.

It's annoying and pointless, and no one at GM has ever given an exact answer as to what the fuel economy of a Camaro or Corvette with the skip shift eliminated really is. I guarantee you a steak dinner at Flemmings GM knows and it's in their Camaro and Corvette documentation. But it does save the manual Camaro and base Corvette Stingray from the dreaded federal gas guzzler tax which can be a couple thousand dollars to $9700. That is what the Veyron got slapped with.

The way the automatics get past the GGT is with AFM and cylinder shutoff. These features can't be implemented on a car with a manual transmission, as that works in conjunction with the automatic transmission and the car's computer to select the gear as well.

Of course, with a Veyron, you can empty it's 17 gallon tank in 11 minutes at it's 252 mph top speed.

So, if you install the part that xgnxs linked to amazon.com in the prior post, that will eliminate skip shift on your Camaro 6 speed manual.

I intend to do this modification the day I drive my Camaro home.