Manual upshift/downshift and smoothness
 

Hey guys
Basially I've only driven manual twice before I got my MT BRZ. Considering I've only had it for 7 days, I am really wondering how to shift REALLY SMOOTH.
I want to achieve the "blinded eye fold passenger assumes your driving a mbenz tranny" type of smooth.

A lot of my friends and peers have been telling me different things and I really need some knowledge to set me straight. Some say that it just takes practice to find the right point to shift, but I think theres always a trick to it that shortcuts everything.

For instance while up shifting, let say 1st to 2nd. Slowly pressing the throttle while letting go of the clutch slowly seems to keep it smooth and prevents the car from jerking (see saw motion). I'm hearing different things from different people, some of my friends say gassing is not necessary while releasing the clutch and its not a good thing to gas while clutching because it will put wear and tear on it. On the other hand some of my colleges say that its fine to clutch and gas for smoothness because its like accelerating from stop. Though, does that mean i can gas a little everytime i upshift one gear to make it smooth? Whats the truth in this?

Vice versa, while down shifting for a turn, which is the proper way?

1) I have friends who downshift when the speedometer hits the right speed. For instance, making a left turn, 5th gear traveling at 66km/hr, starts breaking, make the turn, hitting around 33km/hr after completing the turn, simultaneously shift to 3rd and accelerate off the turn. (Does this gas the clutch too much?)

or

2) Approaching the intersection, shift to neutral, brake, make turn, blip throttle ,shifting to 2nd or 3rd, slowly let go of clutch after the turn and accelerate. (What I feel uncomfortable with in this turn is not being in gear during the turn, feel unsafe)

or

3) 5th gear down shift to 4 by rematch, then rev match to 3, than 2, then make a turn and just accelerate. (waste of gas, longer duration to slow down but always in gear and not jerky)

So any pros here got proper detailed instructions on how to smoothly upshift and proper downshifting? I'm putting a wild guess that people usually double clutch or single clutch at turns?!?!

One last thing, when downshifting, people say nvr shift to 1st gear... but wut if im in a parking lot and im slowing down to 7km/hr... 2nd gear will stall the vehicle... so shift or not shift?
:sigh:

First of all, take one thing at a time.

It sounds like you just need to keep driving. The more you get used to your clutch's catching point, the better you will be at shifting smoothly. It will come with time.

If you really want to practice; you can hold the clutch at the beginning of your catching point. This will move the car very very slowly and it will help you get a feel for where the catching point is. Just be careful not to release while doing this or you will stall.

Be patient and keep trying! Soon enough you will get a feel for it. Reading about it isn't going to turn you into a great driver, it takes practice. There really isn't any trick to it. Once you've got shifting down there are numerous other techniques you can master for everyday driving. But for now just focus on getting better at catching the clutch smoothly.

You're friends are right, gassing it while releasing the clutch at the same time will cause wear and tear on your clutch. The goal is to gas it ONLY when your clutch is at the catching point.

Just practice and have fun! It can get a little frustrating, but the more you do it the better you will be.

Good luck!

BTW my BRZ was my first MT car as well. I may not know everything, but I am able to drive confidently anywhere I go. Just relax and have fun.

I forgot to post some helpful links that I used as well:

http://jalopnik.com/5230172/how-to-d...ten-easy-steps

http://www.edmunds.com/car-safety/bu...nsmission.html

I wouldn't try this one until you get better, but for future reference I'll post it here anyway.

http://www.edmunds.com/how-to/heel-a...downshift.html

It's important to anticipate what gear you will need for a turn or corner and change into it before you make that manoeuvre. That way the car is stable and balanced which is what driving this car is all about.
A corner taken in the right gear with some power applied, not a lot, will feel like it's on rails. Don't pick too low a gear because the engine is very happy in the 1000 - 3000rpm range, especially in the lower gears.
2nd is too low for most turns and roundabouts if you're driving normally but 3rd is perfect for 20 - 60kph[1000 - 3000rpm] 12 - 38mph?

You do need to balance the throttle against the clutch changing up but use the minimum throttle until the clutch has fully engaged and then squeeze it down. That way you wont harm the clutch. Just a touch of throttle, engaged, press it down more.
Practice doing the changes as smooth as you can and you will soon enjoy getting it right as much as pushing it a bit.

Hmmm yea i guess im gonna work on the whole clutching n etc.
im just paranoid bout not driving smoothly, feels like crap lol...

Change your transmission oil to a quality oil. Motul 300 comes to mind, shifts are smoother and you no longer have that jerkyness especially from 1st to 2nd.

God I miss learning to drive a manual

Is that why my tranny sticks when I try to shift to second from first?? It feels so notchy!!

What do the dealers put in there?

Most of my improvement happened in my first few months of learning but small improvements/adjustments kept going for 2+ years after. Three years after completely mastering my first manual car (upshift/downshift smoothly at various revs without watching the needle), I would still be jerky in my friends' manual cars and it'd take me a few sessions to get smooth in theirs. Six years after learning, I owned 2 (even 3) manual cars at once and it'd take me a few shifts to re-acquaint myself for perfect smoothness when changing between cars. Nowadays, I can change between my cars and drive smoothly without "recalibrating" myself and even drive unfamiliar cars and become pretty smooth within a few shifts.

If you fully understand how the mechanisms work, then all you really can do is focus on sensitivity of your clutch and throttle modulation and timing the millisecond latency between gear shifts. The secret to perfecting smoothness is fully feeling the timing/spatial interactivity among those 3 inputs, identify the perfect points (at various revs), and commit those to muscle memory. But muscle memory requires repetition and there is no shortcut to repetition. It takes years to perfect on your car then years on top of that to reduce the time it takes to adapt in other cars. It can only come through experience. Unless you are born with talent in ultra-sensitivity, coordination, and instant muscle memory.

This. I know for a fact I let off the clutch too quick between shifts, causing jerkiness. It's ALL about technique and understanding WHERE you need improvement.

Paralysis by analysis - ever hear of it? Don't worry about specific mph and shift points. Just drive the thing, enjoy it and the feel will come to you in time. Focus on taking your time, don't rush your shifts and don't over analyze something that involves finesse. :)

You will do your car a huge favor by changing out the transmission and drivetrain oil. I believe the small metal shavings are the cause of the jerkyness, after you take care of those then technique is what comes next.

Hope this helps

To the OP: It takes time to get it down, that's it.

But you're never going to get CTV-like transmission smoothness out of a manual.

The notchyness of a new car's transmission will somewhat subside as the bushings get a bit worn, but to the person asking about the 2nd to 1st shift: if you're doing it while moving (around 10-15miles an hour) it's normal for a lot of cars for this shift to be "harder" to do.

I usually blip the throttle if I absolutely have to shift down into first gear while moving, otherwise coming to most stops, I let the car rev down while in second then put it in neutral.

I didn't really know how to heel/toe, revmatch, double clutch and all of those things until 1-2 years after I learned how to drive stick. And another 1-2 years of using those certain techniques in my daily drive.

Reading about proper shifting and techniques and putting those things into practice really makes you a better driver, smooth or not.

After 16 years of manual driving everyday, it's like breathing.

What's blipping yhe throttle?