ok i need some help what do u guys do? i know theres many wrong and right ways to drive a stick.. and no one drives the same.. but i'm having a bit trouble.. when i shift from 1st to 2nd... i shift outta 1st at 3k.. if i'm fast enough with my shift i can get the shift smooth as butter.. but if i take to long or drop more than 1k.. it feels like i'm slowing down like i'm engine braking..

anyways what i do is shift form 1st to 2nd outta 3k or even sooner.. then i let clutch out nice and slow.. when its completely out i than add gas.. but it makes me slow down quite a bit..


i tried a different technique.. i shift from 1st to 2nd.. then as clutch is still in.. i hold the gas at 2-3k then let clutch out... then add more gas till clutch is completely out..its smooth as **** but i do get a funky egg scent.. i'm assuming i'm burning it this way..

help me out thanks

 

man this is going to be hard to explain. nothing beats someone showing you how its done

 

Honestly for regular driving I wouldn't hold the gas at 2-3K...that will induce a lot of extra wear on your clutch. I would just drive it normally, play around with what works but for regular driving I wouldn't be too concerned about maintaining speed; if you're at the strip then I would say otherwise.

It takes time to get used to a manual to get the shifts down perfect but you are going to have to do what works for you...there isn't really a 'textbook' answer anyone can give you.

 

As .ken said hold the gas at 2-3k will induce more wear into the clutch. And yes that egg smell is you burnin your clutch. All i can say is just practice especially if you started driving stick. Just practicing gettin out of first. Thats all you need to kno and all the other gears should be a breeze.

 

Shifting at 3k seems kinda low to me. Yeah, you'll get better gas mileage, but I prefer at least 3.5-4k when shifting. Why would your RPMs drop so much? Do you have a lightened flywheel?
Just shift quickly and it should be smooth enough.

 

but i heard shifting quickly wears down the synchros gradually..

 

what i do when i drive a manual is this,

when im in first i take it up to atleast 3K, then let the gas out and push in the clutch simultaneously, shift not to fast but not to slow, it keeps the pace up and its kind of fun.

i love driving manual cars

 

I thought we had to do some math by looking at the title of this thread

 

w/late model cars, they have a throttle sensor that will keep the engine at whatever rpm you were at when you pushed the clutch in for just a second..so it gives you just a TINY bit of time to shift, maybe a second or a lil more. that way, the rpm doesnt drop too much and you bog or have to manually keep the rpm up.

this sensor went out in my mustang anf for the longest time, i had to blip the throttle twice when i shifted to keep the rpms up when i shifted, unless i was ragging it..which then it didnt matter

point is..dont slam it into the gears or shift super quick..use what lil time the engineers have given you when you push the pedal,by keeping the rpm up w/out you doing anything, to shift proper.
and even if the rpm drops, as long as yoru smooth w/the clutch, itll bring the rpm up and you wont notice much at all.

and if any of you havnt noticed this, get goin down the road and then mash the clutch..the rpm will not drop immediately..it will be sustained for just a lil bit of time.. i know this for a fact in my 88 mustang and my 96 accord.

 

cool guys keep it coming..

 

experience is the key to driving any MT. My MT will act different than any other MT... just a fact of life. You gotta spend time getting the feel for your car.

One hint> make notes of rpm changes when shifting (up or down). This will help you rev match if your running someone from a rolling start

 

not to be a forum *****...

but shortly after i posted i got a chance to leave work and go to town, so i payed special attention to how i shifted and whatnot..heres what i do and what i noticed.

i dont drive my accord hard, so under normal acceleration i shift around 3000 rpm, give or take a few. by the time it takes me to get into the next gear, my rpm drops no more than 800-1000 in any gear..goes in nice and smooth. i never touch the gas pedal, i just pull it in gear.

now, i downshift to slow down..and i just dont slam it into the lower gear..for exp.
i go from 4th to neutral to 3rd..always go to neutral for a sec (so nothing is in a bind). obviously by the time ive done this, my rpm has dropped more than 1000, usually 1500-2000. all you do is just ease out the clutch and watch the rpm rise w/the pedal. if ya do it right, its hardly noticable aside from the engine pitch rising slightly and the inertia changing.

now some of my friends will tap the gas pedal to keep the rpm up and it works for them (heel toe i belive its called?)so, you can do whatever you feel comfortable with.

just figured id give a lil more detail at least on how i do it, though im no pro and havnt been driving for 50 yrs. just be smoooooth and practice makes perfect.

 

i don't think that realy helps me with upshifting..

 

ok here's the deal. on most cars, the gears are about 1000 rpm apart. meaning, at a constant speed, say 30 mph, let's say you're in 2nd at 3000 rpm. if your speed is constant, at 3rd you'll be at 2000 rpm, or 1st you'll be at 4000 rpm. follow me so far? so when you accelerate and shift up a gear, you try to match the revs to the vehicle speed, through the correct gear. so in 1st, if you shift casually at 3500 rpm, when you engage the clutch again the car will be at roughly the same speed, with the engine around 2300 rpm (cuz you usually drop a bit of speed while you're shifting)
conversely, if you're at 30 mph in 3rd at 2000 rpm and you want to go down to 2nd, as opposed to dropping the gear and wasting your clutch to take up the difference in revs, you slowly shift from 3rd to 2nd and simultaneously bring the gas up to 3000 where you know it's supposed to be. that way, when you engage the clutch, it's smooth. this is called rev matching.
when the clutch is engaged (pedal up) the engine and wheels are locked together through whichever gear you happen to be in. when you ride the clutch, you're taking up the difference between your engine speed and wheel speed. that's why you ride the clutch to start. and if you match your revs properly when shifting, you will never ride the clutch. it blows my mind that so many people ride their clutch to downshift. lazy *****! learn how to drive properly!
sorry for the rant but i hope this helps. feel free to pm me with questions if i didn't explain myself understandably.