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Is the gearing on this model civic really weird or something?

1st has no power, you almost don't feel as if your moving. 2nd gear feels stronger than first.
What I am describing is not the low torque but tranny gearing. 1st is almost useless then, bam 2nd gear comes and you have power. I also have to rev match when engaging 2nd, even at taking slow corners and such; the gearing just seems abnormal.

Also, my 2nd is really "grabby", the clutch is extremely light, but when engaging 2nd and only 2nd, the clutch grabs and I have to slow my foot up or it's not smooth. Any ideas. . .?

 
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Sounds normal, my 02 EX had a very grabby clutch and first gear was just enough to get you moving, then you had to shift to second. Remeber that the Civic was design to be a economy car that gets good gas milage, its not a race car. When my 02 EX was totalled a couple of months ago I bought a 03 Si. The clutch is smooth as silk and the gearing in the tranny is better, plus of course a lot more power, but instead of getting 35 mpg with my EX I have to settle for 24mpg.

 
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Ya, the 1st gear really sucks on my EX too. And ya, like solar said, 1st is really only to get you rolling, literally.

I find the 2nd gear really good though. I always try to get it into 2nd as quickly as possible after that "rolling" 1st gear start.

 
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Yah ok, it just feels weird, like the tranny isn't connected to the motor, lol, until you shift to second, then it "grabs".

In a lot of cars, 1st is geared to be strong. The civic feels to be geared so 1st redlines fast with no power, to get you to 2nd where the power is.

 
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Ya, 1st is terrible. 2nd "pulls" a lot better if you can call it that. But my car seems to shoot it outta 1st gear. When I go to shift to 2nd it damn near flys outta 1st and gets sucked into 2nd. Not bad i guess, its a lot faster shift, but kinda weird none the less.

 
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weird my first gear seems strong....when I am at the track I can't launch
at a rpm higher than 3,000 without spinning the tires.

 
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Is your civic new? When my car was brand new 1st gear had no power at all just like you said, but after 2000 miles it started accelerating much harder and with better gas mileage. If your car is brand new then just put some miles on it. As for rev matching when turning, that sounds about right...

 
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damn.......... my first gear goes quick as hell......... 1st is better than 2nd in my ex 5 spd...

 
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Yeah, I thought 1st was supposed to be stronger than 2nd. No, my car is broken in, ~3,250 miles.

Nofriends,

Yeah, my stick "shoots out of first", but also my clutch does the same thing near the friction point from 1st to 2nd, I call it "grabbing", the clutch shoots up. I have to compensate by slowing my foot down. It is really ackward to time, and still after 3,250 miles, I am having a hard time finding "rhythm" when shifting.

 
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i dont know about you guys and saying first has no acceleration. First has the best acceleration. I find that if I take it up to 3000-4000 rpm in first and punch it-it accelerates faster than taking it up to 3000-4000rpm in second and punching it.

 
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First gear seems to be strong for me. I feel a lot of head bobbing torque, and the shift into second seems a lot lighter, but can also get me moving. I have about 10300 miles on my 02 coupe DX.

 
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I have a hard time keeping my wheels from spinning in first gear. My car gets alot of wheel hop and torque steer if I drive without disipline. Im totaly not understanding this weak first gear problem. First really puts you in your seat when your wheels arent spinning but its only for a couple seconds and then BAM! Chirp it into second.

 
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Yea same here BAM Frist gear then Bam