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jamal posted:Are you just not downshifting at all right now? What do you do when you slow down for traffic or to go around corners? Go to neutral, brake, and then shift to whatever gear's appropriate. I can't figure out how I'm supposed to go from 4th to 2nd in 3 seconds because otherwise I'll get demolished by traffic or worry about destroying my engine. At what point can I downshift and use engine braking vs just destroying my engine?
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Mar 10, 2021 05:04
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BIG FLUFFY DOG posted:Go to neutral, brake, and then shift to whatever gear's appropriate. I can't figure out how I'm supposed to go from 4th to 2nd in 3 seconds because otherwise I'll get demolished by traffic or worry about destroying my engine. At what point can I downshift and use engine braking vs just destroying my engine? Practice. You don't have to go all the way back to first before stopping- I usually keep it in second while rolling up on the car in front of me, that way if it's a light and it changes you just get back on the gas and away you go. At the speeds you (should be) at when coming to a stop, you won't 'blow your engine'. The redline = 'bad' territory, and even then the first little part is more of a...suggestion. Like I say, practice. Find an empty parking lot at night, and treat a light post or something as your stop sign. I usually push the clutch in, start to brake, shift, 'blip' the throttle, and let the clutch back out (which is when you'll hear and feel the synchros then trans do their thing). For your purposes, let the car slow down until it almost starts to lug or stall. This will give you a ballpark of what your speed and rpms are for each gear. Then you repeat into the next lower gear. Combine this with seeing where you end up in regards to your 'stop sign' , and adjust accordingly. Driving stick is much more about knowing the vehicle than the off-on nature of a gas pedal in an automatic.
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Mar 10, 2021 06:03
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It took me years to figure out how to downshift properly and I definitely used the go to neutral, slow down, then put it in appropriate gear method until I was confident in my downshift. So practice it but don't sweat it if it doesnt come right away.
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Mar 10, 2021 06:18
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BIG FLUFFY DOG posted:One question though: when I brake I neutral roll to the stop. Apparently this is wrong and I'm supposed to downshift in case someone's about to rear-end me (I highly doubt I will ever be able to avoid being rear-ended since this almost always happens in super-high-traffic situations at least to me but the car forums insist otherwise). How do I do this without redlining my car or loving up the engine? Am I fine just continuing my bad habit? Remember I have no tach. If someone is about to rear end you while you were approaching a stop where would you go even if the car was in gear? Into the intersection and eat the cross traffic? Into the car in front of you, which will happen anyway if you get hit? If you're a quarter mile away from the light you should be downshifting, but if you're a couple hundred feet away and the light isn't changing anytime soon just coast on up in neutral. There are some people who prefer having the car in gear as much of the time as possible, and will do things like hold the clutch in and be in first gear through an entire red light, but there's not much need for either. Figure out your style and what works for your car and go with that.
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Mar 10, 2021 07:50
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Midjack posted:If someone is about to rear end you while you were approaching a stop where would you go even if the car was in gear? Into the intersection and eat the cross traffic? Into the car in front of you, which will happen anyway if you get hit? If you're a quarter mile away from the light you should be downshifting, but if you're a couple hundred feet away and the light isn't changing anytime soon just coast on up in neutral. There are some people who prefer having the car in gear as much of the time as possible, and will do things like hold the clutch in and be in first gear through an entire red light, but there's not much need for either. Figure out your style and what works for your car and go with that. I mostly do this. Sometimes when I'm sitting at the light waiting I'll start to push the clutch in and shift into first as I think the light it about to change soon. Then of course the light won't change after like 10 seconds so I'll give up and shift back to neutral and foot off the clutch...and then the light will turn green 
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Mar 10, 2021 08:47
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I just slow down in whatever gear I was in initially until I'm almost at a stop. If the light changes before that, blip the throttle and put in a lower gear. If it doesn't , go to neutral. I don't really see a reason to go sequentially through all gears, unless I'm trying to "race" the car in the next lane.
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Mar 10, 2021 09:07
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BIG FLUFFY DOG posted:Remember I have no tach. You don't need a tach to know when to shift, the engine noise will tell you. If the pitch of the engine gets high, it's time to upshift. If you downshift and the engine screams at you, put the clutch back in and go to a higher gear. (I hosed up on a shift yesterday, put it from third into second rather than 4th. Nothing catastrophic, but the car certainly let me know I should have been paying closer attention to my gearbox.) I've been driving a manual for 18 years, and I can probably count on one hand the amount of times I've had to emergency downshift from highway speeds into second or third gear. If you have to emergency slow down, you won't stall the engine if you remain in gear unless you completely stop which is unlikely, so you have a couple of seconds to recalibrate what gear you should be in and then to continue on your way. I'll do the throttle blip when I downshift, it makes it much smoother. AFewBricksShy fucked around with this message at 13:59 on Mar 10, 2021 |
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Mar 10, 2021 13:47
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I find tachs distracting and I end up focusing too much on rpms instead of just driving, I'd much rather listen to the car. On the other hand the engine sounds inside a lot of newer cars these days are fake so you're either rolling a window down too, or using the tach. Downshifting smoothly takes time, practice when you have more than 3 seconds to think about it. Find an empty road and just get a feel for how the car reacts as you drop down the gears. E: Do it without trying to rev-match first, that way you have a better understanding of how much it changes between each step, then once you have grasped that, start blipping the throttle. Also, Garage 54 just did a video on teaching people to drive stick, in their style. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N6ihJtiDVfE Fermented Tinal fucked around with this message at 14:20 on Mar 10, 2021 |
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Mar 10, 2021 14:16
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Fermented Tinal posted:I find tachs distracting and I end up focusing too much on rpms instead of just driving, I'd much rather listen to the car. On the other hand the engine sounds inside a lot of newer cars these days are fake so you're either rolling a window down too, or using the tach. In some cars the noise maker is mechanical, ie a tube shaped for specific acoustics rather than a speaker. If that's the case you can just find the tube and stuff an old t shirt in it.
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Mar 10, 2021 15:02
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For getting to a red light, imo it doesn't really matter if you leave it in gear vs. downshift vs. neutral coast - only bad option would be to coast by just pushing the clutch pedal in the whole time. Last I googled it up the differences are downshifting benefit is trading some wear on the brakes for wear on the sturdier transmission from engine braking helping to slow down. Neutral coasting burns some more gas since the car has to use fuel to keep the engine idling. Leaving it in whatever gear you're in is easiest, saves gas from not being in neutral, then you can just shift to neutral once you start to feel it about to stall out (usually have lots of wiggle room there unless you're in like 6th gear). Personally I usually do one downshift to 3rd or 2nd depending on current speed with a tap to the gas pedal to try and match up the rev speed, but it's just as much for the S&Gs of playing with the shifter and pedals as it is me thinking it really makes an impactful difference.
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Mar 10, 2021 15:50
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mobby_6kl posted:I just slow down in whatever gear I was in initially until I'm almost at a stop. If the light changes before that, blip the throttle and put in a lower gear. If it doesn't , go to neutral. I don't really see a reason to go sequentially through all gears, unless I'm trying to "race" the car in the next lane. teh_Broseph posted:Personally I usually do one downshift to 3rd or 2nd depending on current speed with a tap to the gas pedal to try and match up the rev speed, but it's just as much for the S&Gs of playing with the shifter and pedals as it is me thinking it really makes an impactful difference. Leave it in the gear you're in, unless it's lugging badly and you need to accelerate, at which point, clutch in, shove it in second or third, and go. You have a lot less control over the vehicle in neutral and it's illegal in some places to coast in neutral.
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Mar 10, 2021 17:17
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Krakkles posted:You have a lot less control over the vehicle in neutral and it's illegal in some places to coast in neutral. That's one of those "yes technically" laws, but how on earth is someone going to ticket you? I'm sure they'd find a way if provoked.
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Mar 10, 2021 18:18
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Safety Dance posted:That's one of those "yes technically" laws, but how on earth is someone going to ticket you? I'm sure they'd find a way if provoked. It's another charge if you admit to it. Same as no shoes.
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Mar 10, 2021 18:28
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Sure, but: Rules get made for a reason. Not to say that the existence of the rule always means something is the right thing to do, but it can often provide some guidance to the right choice. Rolling in neutral means you have less control of the vehicle. Don't roll in neutral as a general rule.
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Mar 10, 2021 18:52
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Don't coast in neutral laws are, I'm pretty sure, there for descending long/steep grades. Neutral rolling to your traffic light in suburbia or whatever is like not some big problem that means you should follow the law for moral reasons.
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Mar 10, 2021 20:05
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tangy yet delightful posted:Don't coast in neutral laws are, I'm pretty sure, there for descending long/steep grades. Neutral rolling to your traffic light in suburbia or whatever is like not some big problem that means you should follow the law for moral reasons.  That's definitely not what I said. And you're right, the laws (I'm aware of at least) are there primarily for downgrades. You definitely still have less control of the car in neutral, people in general are very bad at judging whether or not they're on a downgrade, and staying in gear while moving is (almost?) universally a better choice. (I can't come up with a scenario where it's a worse choice, but  )
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Mar 10, 2021 20:29
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A poorly done downshift could cause you to start sliding on a slippery surface. Anyway it's a lot more useful to make downshifts and stay in gear when you aren't stopping, but are just slowing down for traffic or a turn. You need to shift into a lower gear at some point, and it's much better to do that before you need to start accelerating again, and for corners, you should be in gear with the clutch out before you start turning. That lets you smoothly accelerate out of the corner and also lets you use both hands on the wheel and concentrate on the turning and where you're going thing. As far as what gear to be in and when to downshift that is just something you have to figure out. Obviously you can't just shift straight to 2nd at 70mph and let the clutch out (although some cars will do close to that in 2nd gear). So you need to know the appropriate gear for your speed while you're slowing down. In normal driving, say going down a 45 mph street, I'll usually be in 5th. If I see I'm going to need to start slowing down/stop, the first thing I usually do is a downshift to 4th. Then start braking, then downshift to 3rd when I'm down to maybe 30-35. If I'm stopping I don't go lower than that and just pop it in neutral at around like 10mph. Now say I'm on the same street at 45 but I'm turning off. I make those same downshifts down to 3rd, and then another one to 2nd. Then I'm in 2nd gear, clutch is engaged, both my hands are on the wheel, before I start turning. Now I can smoothly transition from brake to gas during and not have to worry about the clutch or shifting while I'm turning. jamal fucked around with this message at 22:09 on Mar 10, 2021 |
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Mar 10, 2021 20:55
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Krakkles posted:
Ah I was just posting for dramatic effect, didn't mean to cause upset. Personally I stay in a gear till about oh 5mph? coming to something like a red traffic light then I'll neutral the rest of the way either on the brake or foot ready to brake depending on exact circumstances.
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Mar 10, 2021 21:01
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BIG FLUFFY DOG posted:I can't figure out how I'm supposed to go from 4th to 2nd in 3 seconds because otherwise I'll get demolished by traffic or worry about destroying my engine. At what point can I downshift and use engine braking vs just destroying my engine? You don't have to go down (or up!) in single gears. You can skip whichever aren't appropriate. I sometimes shift 2nd to 4th when accelerating away. Likewise I'll shift 5th to 2nd with the clutch in as I'm slowing down to some lights that have been red for a while just in case they change as I roll up to them so I don't have to do a quick 1st to 2nd change. You definitely have to change driving habits in a manual compared to an auto, a lot of people seem to drive those like either the accelerator or brake need to be full on at all times. And again it all comes with practice, knowing what gear to be in is about knowing the car. At first you might need to peep the tach and speedo but unless you're wringing the absolute poo poo out of the car accelerating, gear changes on the way down should be pretty similar in terms of what the car will be happy with. If you do wring the poo poo out of the car then deduct like 2500 from the tach for downshifts
Olympic Mathlete fucked around with this message at 11:14 on Mar 11, 2021 |
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Mar 11, 2021 11:06
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Yeah I have a turn onto a descending mountain road that I take all the time, and I just start in first, make the turn, then slowly shift to third and the vehicle picks up just enough speed from the downhill to be perfect for third with no throttle.
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Mar 11, 2021 22:57
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KYOON GRIFFEY JR posted:True in the US as well, at least in my state, but nobody takes the test in a manual transmission car because there are far more ways to get dinged and the license is identical no matter what kind of car you use. Currently here in MA you are using a state provided car. Some kind of Ford hybrid. Source: Just got my license last month. 24 days before my 39th birthday, I might add. Did learn on a manual though, a first gen Honda Fit.
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Mar 21, 2021 00:24
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Interesting. In VT two decades ago it was run what you brung.
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Mar 22, 2021 15:43
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