Unhooked

K so I just bought a brand new 8 MT without knowing how to drive it so be gentle.

The first day was the worst with no one to guide me I was stalling and jerking all over the place.

The second day I looked up on google and finally managed to get the car going smoothly with very very few stalls and still consistent jerks.

Now its been a week and no stalling except for hills with a car kissin my butt since then I get nervous and stall.

Now this is what I want to know. No matter what I try I can't for the life of me shift smoothly.

This is what I do. After I get going the car in 1st I push the clutch give a lil gas to 3k rpm and let go of the clutch. The car shifts bt there is a jerk. Same with 2-3-4. After 4th it gets better..

So what am I doing wrong? Where should my revs be in betn changing gears??

SE3PSynergy

it's all in your footing. You have to figure out how to properly ease off of the clutch while giving the right amount of gas to make a clean shift. It just takes practice, if this is your first MT which it sounds like, you have nothing to worry about, you'll figure it out with enough expirience it'll come naturally.

Napboy

3000 rpm seems a bit high for a normal launch from first gear. however, it's a reasonable place to shift going from 1 to 2 or 2 to 3, etc.

if you're still jerking when shifting, you should still be giving gas as you're letting out the clutch. kinda like you're exchanging gas for clutch. and pause while you're releasing your clutch right where the jerking begins and this will help smooth out the acceleration.

keep practicing and it gets much much easier. and don't worry, you're not doing any long-term harm to your car by testing different methods.

oh, and for daily driving, shifting between 3-4k is about correct. if you are accelerating hard, shift above 5k to get the most out of it.

NgoRX8

iTrader: (1)

Napboy got it right.

i also figured out that the rpm difference is more going 1-2, about middle going 2-3 and 3-4, and less 4-5 and 5-6.

what i mean is you will have to let off the clutch slower on 1-2 because the tranny rpm falls more than the engine rpm on this shift.
on 4-5 and 5-6 you will have to let off the clutch quicker or gas more because the engine rpm falls less than the transmission on these shifts.
^i compared these to the 2-3 and 3-4 shifts.

there's a thread somewhere here that a member made to show this which is pretty cool.

hope this helps

Unhooked

but i was told not to rev the engine too much while changing gears

NgoRX8

iTrader: (1)

you gradually gas as you let out the clutch. its the same as when you launch.

Unhooked

k i know ppl say feathering is bad, bt my Stop-1-2 I always let the clutch out slow then for the rest its fairly quick

RevTo9K

Feathering is fine, and absolutely necessary from 1-2 to drive smoothly. Once you're used to the car, you'll instinctively know exactly where, in the clutch pedal's travel, it begins to catch. You'll be able to get to the catch point rather quickly, through the catch point smoothly, and release the clutch the rest of the way quickly. It just takes lots of practice.

Just don't ever drive around with your foot resting on the clutch, and you and your car will be fine. Good luck.

Raptor2k

There's your problem. You'll be fine, sheesh.

PerformRX-8

well don't over rev as in like don't shift from 1st to 2nd at 9K.... from what i'm reading your a beginner, so just do what everyone says and get the footing down first, and then learn how to rev match.... but eventually you'll get the hang of it! constantly practice driving and sooner or later its gonna be a breeze...

AdRoCK3217

Napboy, he never said anything about 3k RPM launches.

Ok, I'll spell it out for you nice and easy.

From a stop, on a hill...hold your foot on the brake. Slowly let the clutch out, until you see your RPM's very slightly start to drop. This is in effect "slipping the clutch." Sure, it isn't the greatest thing in the world for the clutch, BUT, you will NOT roll backwards. Right after your RPM's start to drop, let off the brake, and give it some gas. You won't roll backwards at all, and you'll go foward :-D.

Now, your rolling along in first, and you want to go to second. Let off the gas completely while simutaneously pushing in the clutch. Put the shifter into second, and slowly let off the clutch, while slowly giving it some gas. If you give it just the right amount of gas, you won't feel the transition to engaged clutch at all. If you give it to LITTLE gas, you will get the "jerk." If you give it to MUCH gas, it will jerk, but no where near as severely as too little gas.

Do this for every gear. I have been doing this every since I started driving manual's, and I don't get the "jerk" anymore, at all.

When you don't roll back on an incredibly steep hill at all, you'll thank me :P. I've had to teach tons of people from my work how I do it, as it's pretty amazing to them that it's a manual, when I don't roll back :D



Happy shifting!

Moostafa29

Its all about practicing. We could all give you all types of advise, but its not something you can just learn by reading. You have to learn by doing it, and going through the motions. A lot of people have different driving styles, so one person may tell you to do one thing, while another tells you to do something else. Try it all for yourself. You will develop you own driving style over time, but its not something you'll learn over night. The first month or two will be hard. By 6 months, you'll be used to it, but still need to look at the rpms to know where you are, and where to launch. By a year, you'll just know the feel, and can tell how fast you are going, just by listening to how loud the engine is in a specific gear. Once you get to that point, you're good.

ALP22

This may be a dumb question, but if you can afford to spend $32k on a new car, why would you then choose not to spend $500 on a couple of driving lessons?

Its the same as people who go out and spend $400 on an iPod or something similar, but are too mean to spend $20 on a case to protect their investment.

No sympathy from me if you break it.

The Ace

Damn, and I was all psyched up and ready to dish out all the "heel-toe", "power-shifting", "art-of-fliking" lessons you would ever want

Practice makes perfect....

Huey52

iTrader: (2)

I too was going to launch into a heel-toe how to. But as Moostafa sagely cites, you just have to work it out for yourself. It won't take long. Just remember to anticipate your gear shift needs, as you would when riding a 10-speed bicycle. Biggest rookie mistake (and dangerous), don't enter a turn with the clutch in. Downshift prior and use engine compression braking. Anticipate.

El Kabong

OMG - How did people learn to drive manual transmissions before Google? Did they look it up in the encyclopedia?

jk - I can remember my grandfather trying to teach me to drive stick and just getting so frustrated he could barely speak beacause he couldn't figure out how to keep me from stalling the car every 100 feet.

-Kabong

RotarySpirit

When you start from a stand-still and have the car in 1st gear, you want to let out the clutch and depress the accelerator while keeping the RPMs the same. That will give you a smooth take off. Once you are completely off the clutch then your RPMs should start going up.

dmc27

The "leg go" part may be the issue. feathering = slower clutch release. 2-6 you can (and should) disengage the clutch as quickly as possible, which will come with practice. 1st takes a little more finesse, and you may be jerking b/c you're letting the clutch go too quick. However, this is the easiest to practice, so practice rookie!!
2nd gear is pretty finicky, and you will find threads here where it is discussed. Basically, 1-2 requires more attention - even from those w/experience.
The last part of your post about revs: You don't really need to worry about revs while up shifting, only while down shifting. Until you have more experience, and get more used to the basics, don't even worry about RPM between shifts (up or down). Since it's new, the 1k - 2k break in time recommends AGAINST high RPM, so it shouldn't be an issue.
Kudos on taking the MT plunge.

Unhooked

dammit I nearly shat my pants the other day. Was driving on the freeway and was in 3rd, wanted to goto 4th bt my mistake went to 2nd. Car jerked a lil (heard tire spin) and rpm went all the way to 9K.

Quickly changed it to 4th and all was good. Hope I didn't do any long term dmg

dmc27

If I were a gambling man, which I am, I'd bet at least 50% of members have done the same. Don't sweat it.

chr1s

Heh, I've been driving manual for 10 years now and I still do that on occasion. Like dmc said, don't sweat it.

I applaud you for buying a manual car without knowing how to drive one, it's the only real way to learn and infinitly more fun than an automatic.

agoodcave

For hills, use your e-brake to hold you from rolling backwards and as you let the clutch out, release the e-brake. You can hold the button in and just lift up on the handle, then all you have to do is let it down.

Mike

User24

iTrader: (1)

Staring at the RPMs was a real hindrance when I started learning to drive manual on RX8. I just couldn't learn it that way. Eventually during the first few days I stopped looking for "proper" rpms, kept my eyes on the road, and have been fine ever since.

I gave it a look the other day getting the car out of the parking lot, and I find I'm just crossing 1000 RPM by the time my left foot is completely off the clutch. I don't know if that is high or low, but I don't care. At traffic light intersections, I probably release higher to lessen the chance of a stall, but I'm just not sure where because I've never chanced a glance in that situation.

The one thing I'm left wondering, and maybe you are having this issue as well, is: In reverse, there's usually not enough room behind the vehicle to even let the clutch out completely. So for the 5 or 10 feet I'm in reverse, my left foot is on the clutch the whole time. Just wondering if experienced shifters do this as well, or what they do differently.

ucleadguitar

iTrader: (1)

It is normal to not completely come off the clutch when in reverse.

dmc27

^Especially in this car. If there's any obstacles around, I'm barely rolling in reverse b/c the visibility has some tough spots.