Shifting and Downshifting
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Joined: Apr 2004
Posts: 260
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From: Vancouver, BC
Shifting and Downshifting
I've seen postings with manual tips, but I think I need some advise geared towards the 8 specifically.
My last MT car was an old 85 Dodge Colt I drove over 10 years ago.. needless to say, I'm rusty.
With the 8, the manual suggests these shifting points:
1-2 14mph
2-3 22 mph
3-4 29 mph
4-5 36 mph
5-6 46 mph
With the colt, the upshifting intervals were much larger, and I was less concerned... I'm finding with the RX8 I have to shift pretty quickly 1-2-3-4 in a matter of 3-4 seconds from standstill. That normal?
My second question is downshifting.... 5th is my cruising gear. When approaching a stop, I usually downshift to 3rd at 20 mph, slow to about 15 mph and throw it into neutral and brake. Is there any harm in doing that, or should I stick to 5-4-3-2-1 downshift sequence?
Any advise would be greatly appreciated!
My last MT car was an old 85 Dodge Colt I drove over 10 years ago.. needless to say, I'm rusty.
With the 8, the manual suggests these shifting points:
1-2 14mph
2-3 22 mph
3-4 29 mph
4-5 36 mph
5-6 46 mph
With the colt, the upshifting intervals were much larger, and I was less concerned... I'm finding with the RX8 I have to shift pretty quickly 1-2-3-4 in a matter of 3-4 seconds from standstill. That normal?
My second question is downshifting.... 5th is my cruising gear. When approaching a stop, I usually downshift to 3rd at 20 mph, slow to about 15 mph and throw it into neutral and brake. Is there any harm in doing that, or should I stick to 5-4-3-2-1 downshift sequence?
Any advise would be greatly appreciated!
Whaaaa?
Joined: Aug 2003
Posts: 623
Likes: 0
From: San Diego, CA
The shift recommendations in the manual are pretty conservative.
I find (for me) the following works pretty good:
When accellerating, I generally shift at about 5000 rpms
If I'm accellerating "hard" I'll wind it up to about 7500 rpms in each gear. For maximum fun, the shift point is when the beeper comes on.
When coasting around, I am generally in a gear which has the engine running around 4k rpms. If the rpm's fall below 3000, I will generally downshift, if they go above 5500 I'll upshift.
For accelleration, I'll downshift to a gear that get's the engine running up around 5500 or so rpms (eg: that's 55mph in 3rd gear)
When slowing down, I'll sometimes downshift, but not all the time. The downshifting you mentioned sounds about right, and you don't generally have to downshift all the way back to first. If I'm slowing down I may downshift to 3rd as I'm slowing but then when it's getting too slow for 3rd, I'll push the clutch in and then it's brakes etc. to stop.
The car has plenty of revs and you should use them, the recommended shift points in the manual are far to conservative IMO.
I find (for me) the following works pretty good:
When accellerating, I generally shift at about 5000 rpms
If I'm accellerating "hard" I'll wind it up to about 7500 rpms in each gear. For maximum fun, the shift point is when the beeper comes on.
When coasting around, I am generally in a gear which has the engine running around 4k rpms. If the rpm's fall below 3000, I will generally downshift, if they go above 5500 I'll upshift.
For accelleration, I'll downshift to a gear that get's the engine running up around 5500 or so rpms (eg: that's 55mph in 3rd gear)
When slowing down, I'll sometimes downshift, but not all the time. The downshifting you mentioned sounds about right, and you don't generally have to downshift all the way back to first. If I'm slowing down I may downshift to 3rd as I'm slowing but then when it's getting too slow for 3rd, I'll push the clutch in and then it's brakes etc. to stop.
The car has plenty of revs and you should use them, the recommended shift points in the manual are far to conservative IMO.
Whaaaa?
Joined: Aug 2003
Posts: 623
Likes: 0
From: San Diego, CA
The three photos in the sig are hosted on a separate webserver and in my signature I have [ img ] links to them...
The only relation to the avatar is that the tach from the avatar is taken from the black car
The only relation to the avatar is that the tach from the avatar is taken from the black car
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