I've never owned a stickshift that was worth examining my driving habits too hard, so now that I have a nice RX8, I've been thinking a lot about the how, when, where, and whys of shifting.

So with that in mind............

Suppose you are driving a city street. Suppose you are in, I dunno, 2nd gear and ready to shift into 3rd gear when you notice there will be a slight bump in the road right where you will probably put the clutch in and shift. A bump along the lines of one piece of the road not being flush with another piece of the road. Nothing major, nothing worth hitting the brake, yet noticeable enough. Do you:

a) Shift into 3rd anyway, paying the bump no mind-
b) Stay in 2nd until you, get past the bump, then hit 3rd after the bump-
c) Shift, stay in neutral as you pass the bump, then hit 3rd the moment after clearing the bump.

???????

My concern is the health of the clutch, unnecessary wear, etc.

Or am I just overthinking things?

 

this would be overthinking things

 

i never thought about this....

 

how would that cause any damage to the clutch? rofl...

 

as long as its not a speed bump then it should it be fine because i dont see why this would damage anything unless you bottom out for going too fast. anyways i have been in these kind of situations before and it never really bothers me, but for me i would probably just hold the clutch or maybe a slight tap on the brake just so i would slow down during the bump and accelerate away after it.

 

Yeah I think you are over thinking this wayyy too much.

 

i think about this too. because when you hit a bump the rpms get a bit of a bump too.

i tend to avoid shifting while hitting bumps. besides, if im going to hit a bump, i want 2 hands on the wheel.

 

I can see how it might affect it. I wouldn't be surprised if it causes a slight bit more stress on the transmission but I cant say for sure that it would.

 

that's when a wheel is off the ground for a split second and spins freely in the air...

 

I have been shifting before, on top of, and after those bumps.

Sometimes the motor feels like it spins out of control until the tires touch again.
That happens when I am on the bump and speed away too fast.

It can't be that wrong, because 26,000 miles can't be wrong.

 

Or he is in neutral, doesn't have good leg control, and is allowing the bump to move his right leg which can depress the gas pedal a bit more.

I rarely enjoy shifting on a bump or flaw in the road, so I usually do one of your 3 options, depending on what the flaw is.

And yeah, I overthink everything.

 

My brain hurts.

 

lol me too. thank god its friday.

btw tc, where is Answer D. All of the above

 

Since no one actually answered....

I do C) -- clutch in, pass the bump, then clutch out into whatever gear I feel is a better choice after the bump. I find it to be softer on the suspension this way.

 

How about this.. If you're in an intersection, in second gear, ready to shift into third, do you:

A)Shift just incase you get T-boned and accidentally slam your foot onto the gas causing unnecessary fuel cutoff
B)Clutch in so you don't stall if you get T-boned
C)Turn the music down so you can hear the car that's going to T-bone you trying to stop?

 

Answer:

D) Leave it in 2nd so you have more torque available when you punch it to get out of the way of said vehicle that's gunning for your door...

 

I'll go with C. I used to live in SA your toast on every road there. When I left I was convinced that the roads had abused my 8.

 

If you chew gum while going over a speed bump do you lose a tooth or bite your tongue? Well your trans is alot stronger than your gum chewing

 

I'd go with C.

More important: if you realize you're going faster than you'd like, brake before you hit the bump but take your foot off the brake just before hitting the bump.

Ken

 

Agreed. I usually want to be able to dodge the car about to pwn me as best as possible.

 

I had to take note of this on the drive this morning.

Seems like the best thing to do, is just keep the same gear. Maybe not tap the brakes, but just ease off the gas at the right time.

And don't just speed off the bump or there will be too much spinning and serious, serious damage everywhere.

 

yeah i do that for speed bumps too. pops the front end up for a smooth transition.

 

The whole idea was sarcastic, you've ruined it for me

 

I'd stay in 2nd and go into 3rd after the bump

 

If you have to stop and think about something like that, I can't imagine how you manage to drive a stick in the first place.

You shouldn't have to think about when to shift or when to push in the clutch or when to pop it in neutral and let the clutch out etc...at least not often. You have other things that you need to think about while driving, like the guy who's about to merge into you across two lanes of traffic while you're worrying about pushing in the clutch to go over a bump in the road.

Do whatever, it's fine, shifting while going over a bump is not going to kill your car. And yes, you are overthinking things, to a ridiculous degree.