I am still a learner at stick, but I was wondering how do I get a quick burst of acceleration. For example if I'm on the freeway, and I want to get over a lane but I need to speed up really quickly in order to make it, do you downshift to the lower gear or downshift two gears or what do you usually do and what gears/mph are you doing this at.

 

 

You want to downshift! This will get your RPM's up, and put you in the meat of the RX-8's powerband. Fith and Sixth are not good acceleration gears so you want to get into 4th. The safest way to do that is to match your rev's, and downshift into fourth. Rev matching and downshifting take some practice so before you start attempting it on the highway work out the bugs in a parking lot, then try it out driving on local roads. The last thing you want to do is screw up a shift at 70 mph.

If you need to learn rev matching search the forum I am sure there are some threads about it.

 

Lets say you're crusing at 70 in 6th and you want to get up to 85 quick. The best way is to push in the clutch, blip the throttle to the floor (just a quick press and release, don't hold it), shift into 5th, don't release the clutch, shift into 4th, let out the clutch smoothly, get back on the gas.

This is rev-matching, and you should learn to do it when you downshift. The reason you go into 5th even though you don't let the clutch out is that its easier on the syncros to mesh sequentially and will let you shift faster. If you go a little slower, you can skip 5.

 

I think I rev match already, but I don't know. When I come into a turn, I usually hold down the clutch and downshift and then I want to accelerate out of the turn, I just get the RPM's to around 4000-5000 and slowly let the clutch out and it goes smoothly usually.

I've downshifted to 3th when in 4th a couple of times. Say I'm going 40mph in 4th, and my rmps are too low in 4th, so I push the clutch it, shift to 3rd and bring the rpms to around 4000-5000 and then slowly let the clutch out and it shifts fine and the RPMS stay up around that level and then increase.

Is this how you should be down shifting? Also, I've never downshifted two gears before, is this harder or what?

 

You've got the right idea with bringing up the revs, but it seems like you might be bringing them a bit too high. The whole idea to rev-matching is to get the RPMs exactly where they should be for the next gear down without letting the synchros adjust your RPMs at all. This all comes with practice and it's not going to kill your car if have trouble matching the RPMs exactly.

Also, downshifting two gears isn't necessarily harder, it's just going to take a little bit more revving to match everything up.

 

Depending on your speed, downshift to whatever gear will bring your RPMS to 5K and up.

 

I agree. Drive everywhere in 3rd!! :D






PS. Don't really drive everywhere in 3rd, it's just a VERY fun gear...

Congrats and have fun.

 

If you're in 6th, shift down to 3rd. If you're in 5th, shift down to 3rd. So it's like what Expo said: doesn't matter what gear you're in at the time, just get it into 3rd. 3rd is the most flexible gear and the most important/critical "transition" gear.

 

third is definately the best gear, but only downshift from 6->3 on the highway when you really know what youre doing and if you need it. 6->5 is worthless, so most of the time its 6->4. typically at those speeds you blip it to 7k or so, but as you get more comfortable w/the car youll learn more precisely. start to watch your rpms and learn what mph youre at for ever 500 rpm. itll give you a general guidline and then instinct will take over from there.

 

Learn the redline speed for each gear. For maximum acceleration, shift so that you drive at the highest RPM you can without exceeding redline (or at least try to stay under fuel cut-off, which is 9500 RPM in the RX8).

Be careful not to over-rev when downshifting. For example: say you're traveling at 75 MPH, you try to shift from 5th to 4th, and you put it into 2nd by mistake. You'd hit 10,000 RPM and this could damage the engine (well, briefly hitting 10k probably wont hurt the RX8's engine as rotaries are more durable at high RPM than piston engines... but you don't want to make a habit of doing that nor would you want to hit higher RPMs).

Also, it doesn't make sense to downshift to an RPM too close to redline because you'll just need to upshift again. I usually shoot for downshifting to between 5k and 7k, depending on the situation.

 

That was the first thought I had when I read the first post. It's true, drive in 3rd gear and you would have no problem with quick acceleration at all. If you want to be safe, shfit to 4th gear. It's a lot gentler but stil quick.

 

I was in my friend's 8 and was watching shift. I asked him if I can shift for him. We were on 6th and he said down shift to 4th by passing 5th. I didnt know you can do that. I have an auto 8.

 

I don't believe that with most cars today that you need to shift sequentially through the gears, even if you are not letting out the clutch. I routinely shift from 6th to 3rd as I'm exiting the highway. The key is know what rpm to have the engine at when you let out the clutch.

 

Don't downshift....just actively plan your driving better to avoid situations where you NEED to downshift.

 

^ That too is a great tip! Planning your drive makes downshifting or passing unnecessary.

 

I guess, to be clear, I'm talking about always scanning traffic, and positioning one's car in a place strategically...sorta like chess:

"I bet that guy, who is wondering a bit to the right, will get over into my lane w/o looking..."

"Uh-oh...that guy three cars ahead is camping in the left lane - I need to pass this guy on my right, so I don't get trapped behind the dangerous/wreckless left-lane camper"...

that sorta thing.

 

hehehe but your auto 8 is soooo cute:D

 

:D :D :D

 

hahahahaha ahhhh and while you are at it put some nos on your new srt-4:p LOL

 

I agree with two concepts brought up but there needs to be clairification on how to do this correctly w/ double clutching.

Example you are going 60 and want to get to 85 quick while starting out in 6th gear.

Press on clutch, slip her into neutral, release the clutch, press on gas to rev match, press clutch and slide her into 3rd and unleash. You'll be at 85 in a few seconds and at redline. (know speeds of car at redline in all gears)

This is a fairly bold move as the rev matching is around 6000rpm. Most of the time at freeway speeds I'll drop to 4th to accelerate since its easier.

But do not try the above w/out rev matching! Not only will you decelerate, wear your syncros, you'll likely unsettle your car to a dangerous extent.

 

^^all very good points...i know b/c this is how i do it:D


ooooo and you are from the good ole d.c. as well:D nova here

 

This goes without saying, but drop down the gear while you are still going in a staight line not in the middle of the lane change especially on wet or snow covered roads. If you don't rev match correctly, the jerkiness could cause your car to go into a spin.

Likewise, when downshifting for turns, it's best to downshift while you are still in a straight line.

Basically get all of your shifting done before you enter the curve and then focus on hitting the apex and accelerating with maximum exit speed.

 

i normally look at my rpm's before i drop down to a certain gear. u can sometimes tell what gear to pop into by looking at your rpm's.

normally when i down shift, i cycle backwards through my gears in case i dont need to go all the way down to 1st or 2nd. depending on traffic and if i am using my clutch to slow me down a little, ill rev match.

im gonna be teaching my wife how to drive a stick again with my new WRX. she learned from a heavy clutch in my old mustang.