MT Questions

[richardM]

Aside from lots of practice.. check out a local sports car club?

Maybe get someone to ride with you, try your car, and see!

My car.. I have no trouble with. I'm not ready to mod it until I see a problem. Could be variations car to car?

Sports car club.

[Ec1990]

This reminds of me of reading a bit up from Ranger over in the Corvette World. He's set most records for stock Corvettes and has a post about proper hand placement for shifting and how to practice it. Similar to Tcoat's recommendation's above.

[tekFRS234]

>

[Ultramaroon]

My mom taught me how to fly. I was doing loops & spins by the time I was 7. Total seat-of-the-pants deadstick landings in a crosswind were second nature but I never got my license.

[Ultramaroon]

Originally Posted by Ultramaroon

Double clutch into first. With a little practice it'll become second nature.

Here's a good thread. http://www.ft86club.com/forums/showthread.php?t=77143

[botbs]

Try shifting at 4000rpm or above, it should help.

[Tcoat]

Originally Posted by tekFRS234

Update: I drove a lot today, mostly country roads in Newberry, SC and downtown Columbia, SC. I noticed a huge improvement driving the way Tcoat recommended. I just used my fingertips to gently guide the shifter and it was perfect. So, the car is a classy lady and doesn't like it rough.

Originally Posted by richardM

Aside from lots of practice.. check out a local sports car club?

Maybe get someone to ride with you, try your car, and see!

My car.. I have no trouble with. I'm not ready to mod it until I see a problem. Could be variations car to car?

Sports car club.

Originally Posted by botbs

Try shifting at 4000rpm or above, it should help.

I get that there are a pile of posts and some go way off topic but does anybody actually read beyond the first one?
(Sorry too many beers and getting crotchety)

[extrashaky]

Originally Posted by Ultramaroon

Here's a good thread. http://www.ft86club.com/forums/showthread.php?t=77143

Seeing the pic there reminds me of the video below. It's rather dry and a little long, but I think it's very good for newer drivers of manual transmission cars to watch the first several minutes of it to understand what's happening underneath. You don't actually have to watch the whole thing to get the benefit of it.

[ame="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vOo3TLgL0kM"]Manual Transmission Operation - YouTube[/ame]

Originally Posted by Tcoat

(Sorry too many beers and getting crotchety)

Getting?

[Braces]

I believe it's been covered, but what about skip shifting and engine braking? Common sense would dictate that both are not ideal, but I tend to do both alot. Any comments?

[billwot]

Originally Posted by Braces

I believe it's been covered, but what about skip shifting and engine braking? Common sense would dictate that both are not ideal, but I tend to do both alot. Any comments?

Actually, "common sense" would indicate both procedures are perfectly OK.

"Engine braking" is actually recommended as a safety practice. Some states actually have laws requiring you to use engine braking under certain circumstances. And the load/stresses on the engine and drivetrain under de-cel are far less than under accel conditions. BTW, anytime you lift, you are engine braking (unless you de-clutch/shift to neutral).

Skip shifting? For many years, almost all MTs had 3 speeds (many early ATs were only 2 speeds. Just because there are 6 speeds available, you certainly don't need to use all 6 all the time.

[ntron1]

Change the Fluid. Sorry I did not have time to search for what kind for you.

[Caspeed]

Originally Posted by Braces

I believe it's been covered, but what about skip shifting and engine braking? Common sense would dictate that both are not ideal, but I tend to do both alot. Any comments?

"Engine braking" dates back to when brakes weren't up to the task of slowing the car with out fade or failure. You engine braked to save wear and tear on the cars brake system. Much like a Jake Brake is used in trucks today.

With the advent of modern brakes, engine braking is no longer needed, or desired (it upsets the brake balance). Unless you're using it to set up a car at corner entry or to change it's attitude mid corner (this is another subject).

The purpose of down shifting is to be in the correct gear to accelerate out of the corner. If you are trail braking deep into the corner you may be carrrying too much speed into the corner to be in the correct gear at or before turn in. You don't need to be be in the correct gear before the turn but rather before you accelerate. Down shifting at max Gs while braking without upsetting the car's balance is where the "Art" of driving come in.

Engine braking sounds cool but it no longer needed.

[Caspeed]

Originally Posted by Braces

I believe it's been covered, but what about skip shifting and engine braking? Common sense would dictate that both are not ideal, but I tend to do both alot. Any comments?

I'll address skip shifting on down shifts. On up shifts you can use it to transition from accelerating to cruising.

When driving Formula cars I would often skip shift on down shifts. The reason being that the cars shed speed so fast under maximum braking that I wouldn't have enough time to work my way down thu the gears. Beacuse I left foot brake I would downshift without usiing the clutch. If you didn't match the RPM perfectly you'd spin out. Do not try this in our cars the shifting system is not the same. The Hewland gear boxes are non synchro using dog rings.

On street cars it can also be handy skipping on down shifts but again you need to get the RPM matched properly to avoid upsetting the balance.

[gramicci101]

Originally Posted by Caspeed

The purpose of down shifting is to be in the correct gear to accelerate out of the corner.

Thank you. It's amazing how many people don't realize that, and will heel-toe down to a stoplight to try and save the brakes.