New Manual transmission drivers Q&A

[chulooz]

Originally Posted by garsh0p

Another question: How do you properly slow down to make a turn? Let's say I'm getting to a left turn light at ~50mph or so while I'm in 5th gear. I want to make the turn in 3rd gear? How can i accomplish this smoothly? It is bad to let out the clutch slowly while I'm braking and shifting from 5th to 3rd?

While in 5 @ 50mph: floor the clutch and nail the gas once then into 3 and let go of the clutch, all while maintaining proper rpms. The engine will slow you down some and apply brakes as needed.

Once you get very good at that you can try heel-toeing without being overly rough.

[elenien]

Originally Posted by chulooz

While in 5 @ 50mph: floor the clutch and nail the gas once then into 3 and let go of the clutch, all while maintaining proper rpms. The engine will slow you down some and apply brakes as needed.

Once you get very good at that you can try heel-toeing without being overly rough.

When I first read about rev matching, it confused me to no end. It's not something I'd ever been taught. I didn't get what was meant by "blip the throttle" (nail the gas above) or what people meant by the proper rpms. I'd learned to drive stick primarily by feel and almost never paid attention to the tachometer until the FRS (where you almost have no choice )

Eventually I ran across the following post and suddenly things made much more sense...
http://forums.evolutionm.net/2967353-post8.html

I think the key sentence for me was "You want to blip the throttle enough to bring the RPMs up to where they would be in the lower gear at the current speed." Which is mostly a matter of trial and error and knowing your car.

[Lytheum]

i have muscle memory from my mazdaspeed3 still. the clutch was much firmer with longer travel and the gas was less sensitive. i find myself over reving a lot on take off in the brz. stalled twice in two days so far...dont think i stalled my last car twice in two years haha

[Sigh-on-Rice]

Question. If I'm engine braking in 2nd gear, around what RPM should I step on the clutch? 2000 RPM? 1500 RPM? 1000 RPM?

[Nate219BRZ]

I believe im going to need a new clutch sooner rather then later unfortunately... When at a stop light (no hill) with this clutch it seems its either chirp the tires or slip the clutch. What rpms do most of you shoot for on a initial start. Also is starting the car in second gear a bad thing? I seem to catch the cluch better with it in second rather then first. I dont even make it threw the intersection without having to shift, when i start in first. When I first learned stick, it was on a super old car that you had to literally push the gas as soon as you started to take the clutch off the ground. I only know one person who drives manual on the regular, so this is pretty much my place to ask stupid questions. Ive killed the car maybe one time a day, for the last 4 days. Twice yesterday, due to i was in 3rd and thought it was in 1st. Im the noob from hell on this thing its been 10 years since i was behind the wheel of a manual. I am however seem to be picking up the catch point a bit better day by day but hope it dont mess up the tranny to bad.

[Heero]

Questions: When should I downshift if driving up hill?

I do alot of highway driving and it consists of many hills. If I'm taking the hills at roughly 80-100kms an hour, do I need to shift out of 5th (3000rpm)? Or can I stay at 3000? What is too "low"?

Thanks

[serialk11r]

Originally Posted by Heero

Questions: When should I downshift if driving up hill?

I do alot of highway driving and it consists of many hills. If I'm taking the hills at roughly 80-100kms an hour, do I need to shift out of 5th (3000rpm)? Or can I stay at 3000? What is too "low"?

Thanks

You should be able to do hills at that speed in 6th without much trouble...it should be loading the engine about 50% or something at most (calculated this a long time ago for some rather steep % grade) which is totally fine, and this saves you a little bit of gas too. If it feels gutless and that bothers you, 5th should really be adequate too.

[WillieRX]

I find it interesting of all the people's described methods in print.

I guess my best advice is trial and error. Living and driving in the mountains, I have never used my hand brake when at a stop going uphill, or actually for anything unless the vehicle is parked.

Driving a manual is all about getting a feel for it, and manuals are different for each vehicle (in terms of timing, travel etc..). I learned a manual by throwing myself at the wolves (driving in mountains, city traffic, etc...). Two weeks and many stalls later, I got a good hang on driving stick.

[Nate219BRZ]

Ya as the days pass its getting better n better

[cgrey]

Originally Posted by Nate219BRZ

I believe im going to need a new clutch sooner rather then later unfortunately... When at a stop light (no hill) with this clutch it seems its either chirp the tires or slip the clutch. What rpms do most of you shoot for on a initial start. Also is starting the car in second gear a bad thing? I seem to catch the cluch better with it in second rather then first. I dont even make it threw the intersection without having to shift, when i start in first. When I first learned stick, it was on a super old car that you had to literally push the gas as soon as you started to take the clutch off the ground. I only know one person who drives manual on the regular, so this is pretty much my place to ask stupid questions. Ive killed the car maybe one time a day, for the last 4 days. Twice yesterday, due to i was in 3rd and thought it was in 1st. Im the noob from hell on this thing its been 10 years since i was behind the wheel of a manual. I am however seem to be picking up the catch point a bit better day by day but hope it dont mess up the tranny to bad.

Are you still having this problem?

Starting in second is a bad idea, yes. Don't look at the tach when starting out, in fact never look at it. You'll get used to the sound and feel of the car, judge by how smoothly your shifts are, how the car feels.

In a parking lot try getting the car moving with no gas at all and do it a few times, this exercise will help with the clutch. After that it's all practise.

Don't be afraid to rev higher in 1st when going, I wouldn't say redline it off the light every start but you should be able to hit a decent speed and shift to 2nd no problem.

If you're having problems finding the right gear when shifting let the stick center before shifting. Imagine you're in 2nd gear and need to shift to 3rd, pop the stick out of 2nd and let the stick center, now you know you're in the middle of 3rd and 4th. Push up.

Same thing for downshift, if you're having a problem going from 5th to 2nd, say slowing down and shifting for a corner. Let the stick center, now it's left and down and you won't hit 4th by mistake.

Time in the car. No radio fpr a while. Try to improve every shift you make, make a game of it. You'll never stop getting better and even your boring drives in traffic will become something useful.

And don't worry about your clutch. Unless dealt some serious abuse modern clutches last a long time.

[OrbitalEllipses]

Originally Posted by elenien

I think the key sentence for me was "You want to blip the throttle enough to bring the RPMs up to where they would be in the lower gear at the current speed." Which is mostly a matter of trial and error and knowing your car.

Or math.

[Shagaliscious]

When I first started driving stick, I had a friend in the car with me who "managed" the hand brake so I could concentrate on getting my footing correct. This helped me immensely (my friend also drove stick, so he was also coaching me through it at the same time). I would say practice on flat ground to get a good feel of the clutch and exactly when it grabs (if you haven't already). This will also help out with your hill starts.

Originally Posted by catharsis

I never understood why people always roll back at lights or on hills. If you learn to clutch and gas smoothly you shouldn't roll back at all, or atleast most even half of an inch.

I think some people do that to say "look at me, I drive stick"...because I notice it too, they'll roll back like 2 feet.

[Drunknhero]

I have a question too if you guys don't mind answering. Let say I'm driving in 3rd gear and it is time to shift. I would push in clutch, shift to 4th, release clutch all the way first, and then apply gas... Will that hurt my car?

[Want.FR-S]

Originally Posted by Heero

Questions: When should I downshift if driving up hill?

I do alot of highway driving and it consists of many hills. If I'm taking the hills at roughly 80-100kms an hour, do I need to shift out of 5th (3000rpm)? Or can I stay at 3000? What is too "low"?

Thanks

Assuming you are driving up hill in your 5th gear in about 3000 rpm, the question is: do you need to down-shift? It really depends on what you want to do. If you are cruising with no intention of driving faster or overtaking anyone, stay at 5th because you should have most of the torque at that rpm. Unless you are going up some steep grade where the car grunts, there is no need to down-shift.

On the other hand, if you need to pass some slow 18 wheelers and your car is complaining and does not accelerate fast enough, you can down-shift and bring up the rev (rev-match) to get more power to pass that truck.

In short, if you need more grunt, down-shift. Otherwise, just stay in your torque band as much as possible.

Originally Posted by Drunknhero

I have a question too if you guys don't mind answering. Let say I'm driving in 3rd gear and it is time to shift. I would push in clutch, shift to 4th, release clutch all the way first, and then apply gas... Will that hurt my car?

IMO that is fine with a little modification. When shifting: 1. release gas pedal; 2. press in clutch; 3. shift from 3rd to 4th; 4. release clutch fully; 5. press gas pedal to accelerate.

As long you do not mix up your sequence, you should be able to do it quick enough to ensure a smooth up-shift.