93rdcurrent

I can't help it (unless I'm in snow) I love to shift at between 5k-9k. Anything under that and I feel like an old man. LOL to the old men out there. As an FYI here are some driving tips for MT:

1) When starting on an incline where the car is tending to roll backwards use the e-brake to hold the car in place until you feel the clutch begin to grab and then slowly ease off the e-brake and it will keep the car for rolling downhill into someone else. Practice this maneuver and you will see what I mean.

2) When starting on a slippery surface (ice and snow) torque is your enemy. Try starting out in 2nd gear, you get less torque and it is relatively easy to keep the car from stalling. Also keep the rpms down.

3) You can drive relatively slow in any gear to save gas. But if you are in 6th gear going 55 mph and you decide that you want to pass someone shift down to 4th or 5th to keep from bogging the engine.

I was going to add a whole list of weapon types allowed to be used from your car depending on the day of the week and transmission type here as my 4th informational but I decided against it since I will undoubtedly offend some readers...

FirstSpin

A MOST helpful thread!!! And timely (for me). Just yesterday I asked a seasoned MT veteran at work how you stop the bogging (didn't know the term at the time) at low speeds in touch-n-go traffic. He said to feather the clutch or to shift into 3rd where I'm normally in 2nd. Having no precise concept of what feathering the clutch is, I assuming it's easing in and out of gear, I've tried shifting up to 3rd and it's maybe somewhat better but not perfect by any means. This is my first MT and I've had about six weeks with it. I've learned to "eye the traffic" as described herein. I'm working on the bog-thing and look forward to coasting in first gas-free.

Here's an off-topic question (well off the original topic) but in keeping with the theme of newies needing MT advice... Does it hurt anything to skip a gear? I find myself going 25 or so in 2nd (I'm not sure but reasonably fast for second) and spending all of 3 seconds in 3rd and then moving to 4th. Well over the past two weeks or so, in those semi-hi-rev 2nd gear situations, I've just been sliding over from 2nd to 4th. It FEELS like it's an okay thing to do. It's a smooth shift and the car doesn't choke down or otherwise complain. I also will skip 5th when I'm moving from 4th to 6th at 70 mph. Am I screwing anything up by doing this?

Thanks for the thread and the teaching. It has been a huge help and special thanks to vampyre for having the cojones to ask the question in the first place!!!

i3man

I'm no Einstein when it comes to car mechanics but IMO it does no harm. I do recall one thread I read here where someone said it is harmful...I don't know why it would though. I commonly skip 5th when getting on freeways. If it doesn't go GRIIIIIIND when you shift, should be ok :p

This thread says it's ok.
https://www.rx8club.com/showthread.p...skipping+gears

93rdcurrent

As long as the rpms and speed is up skipping gears won't hurt the engine or tranny. However, and maybe this is just a habit with me, I like shifting and you will get more torque and hp out of the car if you go in sequence while shifting.

i3man

I think most of us skip the gears when we've already reached our cruising speed in a lower gear. We get leadfootitis going up through the lower gears and before you know it you're at cruising speed and you've only hit 4th gear :p

Astor

Ok, FWIW, if you are on a hill going up and let the clutch catch with no gas, or much worse hold yourself on an incline with the clutch it will wear on your clutch and tranny. I know a guy, all he did was take off from 2nd gear, or hold himself on hills with the clutch instead of the brake, he went through about 4 clutches and 2 trannys.

Jsuzuki

I've been taught to stay off the clutch as much as possible. So that means while waiting at light, I'm in neutral with clutch disengaged. My Miata ran 80,000 miles before I got a new clutch. The transmission was still in fine shape at 170,000 miles when I sold it.

Vampyr

Man I am going through that EXACT same thing I just started skipping gears two days ago! Using the same pattern as you described....2nd to 4th and 4th to 6th ....

And as far as the thread you're welcome it seems to be really helping a few of us! Just more proof that everyone here has a great attitude and unless you're whining about Gas Mileage or Flooding you can ask just about anything.

beachdog

Started reading this thread just before going out for some errands so then I was paying attention to what was going on. I've got over 35 years w/MT on cars, trucks and bikes, so it's mostly a feel thing for me.

The gas pedal is very softly sprung on the 8. Combine that with the free revving nature of the 8 and you have a setup that is easy to drive even for a beginner, but a little challenging to get just right.

When I first started to drive, I was taught to pretend that there was an egg between your foot and the gas pedal. This obviously isn't how you do things when you want to drive agressively, but works especially well in traffic.

Earlier in the thread folks were asking about going slow in bumper to bumper stuff. Did a little experimenting. Not only can you creep along at 3-4 mph in first, you can also creep along at 9-10 mph in second. It's all a matter of how sensitive you are to the gas pedal. If you grew up with automatics, it might take a while, but the gentler you work the gas, the easier it is to move the 8 in traffic.

A couple of other pointers for the folks new to MT. Leave the stereo off until you're on the highway. Driving an MT, especially learning an MT, requires connection to the vehicle. Feeling and hearing what the car is doing are equally important. When you really pay attention to what the car is doing, you will be able to pull away from a dead stop without giving any gas at all. Not that you want to do that all the time, but it will prove to you that the 8 has a lot more torque than you thought.

One of the earlier posters mentioned that he didn't "pre-rev" before releasing the clutch. That's my style too, and I have never replaced a clutch with less than 100k mi. on it.

Vampyr

Not Pre-revving is going to take some serious stones for me to do but I am really going to try to learn to do it that way, before my over-revving bad habit gets out of control.

If I stall, I stall, but getting that friction point down pat is the key for me.

*gulp* wish me luck!

SCiMMiA

The car goes 5 in first with no gas. I've never driven another stick that does that. That's nice.

Vampyr

BTW I've been waiting to apply gas until Friction point going into 1st the past day and a half. It's been a little touchy and I've felt close to stalling, but NO stalling so far and it's been rewarding to discipline myself to doing it right.

Thanks again to all who contributed to this thread.

Arcane

good job...if you feel yourself starting to stall, press the clutch in a little bit and begin to balance gas/clutch again...

as soon as i got a small hang of stickshift, i drove right into traffic and forced myself to get consistent (at the expense of the drivers behind me when i stalled)

Krankor

Why on EARTH did you resurrect this antique?

TDG

I had a nerve racking moment yesterday.... In downtown Toronto.. Trying to go into an underground parking lot. Went down this ramp that I swear was almost 45 degrees. The door is on a motion sensor so I slowly approched the door to trigger it to open. As I got closer I noticed the sign that said closed on weekends.

Now I am stuck about 3 feet from this door on the biggest downward incline ever!!... oh... did I mention it was raining!! NO JOKE

I've only had my car 6 months but have been driving MT for years. I've never been so nervous. Used the Ebrake Technique...... stalled the first time and rolled foward about a foot... AHHH!!!

Tried a second time and got the tires spining... and I wasn't stoping this time, I skidded up the hill.. correcting as I went. Made it safe to the top and was so releavied.

I've was so worried for my precious 8.... but we made it out alive! :-)

Freddie

Jsuzuki had the best reply so far, even though he didn't use the magic words . . .

Double-clutch ! ! !

That's right -- practicioners of this apparently-lost art can enjoy the sensation of their transmissions slipping into a lower gear with only a slight nudge, all with zero wear on synchros and clutches (maybe a tiny bit of extra wear on the clutch linkage, admittedly).

This has been discussed to DEATH ! ! !

But man is it awesome in al manner of driving situations, like when you're down to 8 to 12 MPH coasting up to a red light, which then graciously turns green.

Crazy Rx-8 Driver

coasting in first gear was how i learned how to drive a stick. i would start on a flat plain and use the clutch to start the car and slowly coast in first with no gas and then eventually added gas to go. this taught me about clutch engagement at first.


now, starting on a hill was a different story, i would brake, let the clutch out slowly until you feel it start to grab and the rpm dip down, then i'll apply the gas and go. usually this doesnt over rev the car as much and its easier on the clutch i think.

Freddie

^^^^^
In tough uphill or downhill starting situations like the one described by TDG, I am not shy about using the handbrake.

hoosier

I liked the comment Beachdog made about turning off the radio to connect with the car. Back when I started driving, didn't have a radio. True words. My advice, just go out and try everything and you will get the hang of it pretty quickly. Only advice, don't ride the clutch. Another way to ride the clutch other than keeping yourself on a hill with it is just resting your foot on the clutch, even only slightly, will wear the clutch prematurely. I have never ridden the clutch and never had to replace a clutch. Bad thing about a clutch is stop and go driving in traffic. No real good thing about it, alot of clutching just the same. No matter how smooth I try to be in first, I still get the jerks once in awhile, in that case I sometimes just get some speed, clutch, put it into neutral, declutch, and coast. If I coast I usually do not hold the clutch in. I put it into neutral and take my foot off the clutch. Double clutching inbetween shifts is great for the syncros but I rarely do it; although, I rode with a guy who took a VW bus through its paces by double clutching and I was impressed.

jonspurs

Sorry to resurrect an old thread, but is this whole lurching/jerking/kangarooing thing still happening? Reason I ask is because this is a drive-by-wire car, and I experience this problem, but I've driven other DBW cars and they all remain smooth given the same slow moving circumstances. I'd have thought Mazda would have released a PCM/ECU update...or have they already and that I'm not aware of it?

Cheers,
Jon

ferg

yeah this car dont need gas, you can run it on your imagination

kersh4w

iTrader: (3)

i want to know...

why is bogging down the engine bad?

is it like wheel hop while drag racing? the stuttering is bad for the drive train?

racerboy59

bogging down uses more fuel and obviously doesn't give the power you need.