Manual upshift/downshift and smoothness

[kchkwan]

I think its my prob, its still not that smooth. The only way its super smooth is when i shift around 2-2.5k rpm while dropping from 4k rpm. Not liking the mini jerk or gear in feeling... Two of my friends drove while i sat in passenger, friggin smooth as hell...

[tracerit]

is it easy to get a smooth start from a standstill? my current 335i 50% of the time will start clicking as i move, it's such an annoyance but after that i can shift smoothly 80% of the time.

[kchkwan]

its pretty easy for me on any gear so far excepty 1st to 2nd, gotten smoother for the past two days.

[BRZfan]

Reminds me when I was in the process of selling my 2006 Mazda Miata. This dude wanted to test drive the car and was considering replacing his 427 Corvette with something more economical. On the test drive he gripped the shift lever like he was using a jack hammer. I thought he was going to bend it or worse, break it. Clutch action was not pivoting from the heel but rather using his whole leg. I could hardly wait to get the car back home. The experience was similar to what one gets from the squeal of a chalk being rubbed the wrong way on a blackboard.

[tracerit]

would you all say it's easier to drive a stick smoother with a car like the BRZ (4cyl, non-turbo torque numbers) vs a high torque/high hp car?

[BRZfan]

No, not necessarily. It gets down to skill and how one's metaphysical balance becomes one with the machine. (zen)

[zc06_kisstherain]

like other members said, you need to get used to your car.
every car is different for engaging clutch point. shifting feel will different as well.
once you get used to driving with your car, you'll know exactly when to shift and downshift. when i drove my previous cars, i didnt even look at RPM and i can just know with speed

[kchkwan]

sry for bumpin my thread, anyone driving the fr-s or brz know if during cruise or in gear, do we have to press the clutch to shift into neutral? For instance if im going at 50km/hr on 4th gear, i'm about to go into a complete stop because i see a red light, so i want to shift to neutral and brake to stop. To shift into neutral is it necessary to press the clutch down and then shift? or just push or pull it into neutral? i've always been pressing the clutch first, but i've been told its not necessary. I've tread just pulling or pushing out of the current gear and into neutral, but i feel like 50% of the time its pressured to stay in gear and not willing to go neutral, while sometimes its really easy to just shift it to neutral. Yes i also know im not suppose to be revving while putting it into neutral.

[sierra]

Originally Posted by kchkwan

sry for bumpin my thread, anyone driving the fr-s or brz know if during cruise or in gear, do we have to press the clutch to shift into neutral? For instance if im going at 50km/hr on 4th gear, i'm about to go into a complete stop because i see a red light, so i want to shift to neutral and brake to stop. To shift into neutral is it necessary to press the clutch down and then shift? or just push or pull it into neutral? i've always been pressing the clutch first, but i've been told its not necessary. I've tread just pulling or pushing out of the current gear and into neutral, but i feel like 50% of the time its pressured to stay in gear and not willing to go neutral, while sometimes its really easy to just shift it to neutral. Yes i also know im not suppose to be revving while putting it into neutral.

I would always use the clutch. That sounds like a good way to end up with it jumping out of gear on it's own.

[Longhorn248]

I put some butter on my shifter and on my clutch pedal, shifts smooth as...well butter I guess.

[mit_peid]

Originally Posted by kchkwan

sry for bumpin my thread, anyone driving the fr-s or brz know if during cruise or in gear, do we have to press the clutch to shift into neutral? For instance if im going at 50km/hr on 4th gear, i'm about to go into a complete stop because i see a red light, so i want to shift to neutral and brake to stop. To shift into neutral is it necessary to press the clutch down and then shift? or just push or pull it into neutral? i've always been pressing the clutch first, but i've been told its not necessary. I've tread just pulling or pushing out of the current gear and into neutral, but i feel like 50% of the time its pressured to stay in gear and not willing to go neutral, while sometimes its really easy to just shift it to neutral. Yes i also know im not suppose to be revving while putting it into neutral.

Yes, you need to press the clutch down to move it in or out of gear or in or out of neutral.

[Porsche]

Originally Posted by kchkwan

To shift into neutral is it necessary to press the clutch down and then shift?

Yes.

or just push or pull it into neutral?

No.

i've always been pressing the clutch first,

Good.

but i've been told its not necessary.

Stop listening to those people.

In fact, it is quite possible to not only shift into neutral without the clutch, it is possible to change gears, both upshifts AND downshifts without using the clutch at all.

So what?

Nothing MEANINGFUL is to be gained, while you would be risking DESTROYING your gearbox over time. Your gearbox should last longer than you will ever own the car, if only you learn how to use it properly and respect the machinery.

The clutch can last you a “lifetime,” too, although if you love doing standing start, racing-style launches you will need to replace your clutch disk with some frequency. That’s “reasonable” given that you wish to do that; just be aware of the unavoidable excess wear and the need to pay for frequent clutch disk replacements. If you consider the dues to be reasonable, then enjoy yourself.

Respect the machinery and take care of your fine new sports car.

This make sense to you?

By the way, it is certainly possible to shift seamlessly, smoother than an automatic transmission, so that a passenger will be unaware that you’ve shifted at all.

Keep working at it and you’ll get there. Just know that I can do it, so I reckon you can, too.

In fact, on the odd occasion when someone rides with my wife, they’ve looked down at the shift lever, suddenly realized the car is a “stick shift,” and exclaimed in amazement that they thought it was the smoothest automatic they’d ever ridden in. They were dumbstruck at the reality. I taught my wife to drive.

Once, a fellow competitor asked my wife for a ride-along during an autocross run. Upon returning, the passenger exclaimed that this was the smoothest CAR they’d ever ridden in! My wife said, “Thank you,” and smiled knowingly.

Heh. She likes that story, and so do I. She learned well. It has NOTHING to do with the car; there’s no such thing as a “smooth” car. There are smooth drivers ... and then there are the rest.

[VoiD]

learning to shift again...

so how do people heel and toe in this car? seems the gas pedal is too low compared to the brake pedal and there is no way I can reach the gas pedal..

[shu5892001]

I have a question regarding down shift and rev match. Say we want to go from 4th gear to 3rd gear, do we do:
1 Clutch in
2 Shift to 3rd
3 Blip
4 and release clutch.

or

1 Clutch in
2 go to Neutral,
3 Blip
4 Shift to 3rd as rev drops
5 clutch out.

It seems the 2nd method is harder to do since there is an extra step and as you blip in Neutral the rev will drop when you shift to 2nd and release clutch.