Syncro's don't like shifting by floating the gears, especially if your holding the shifter "feeling" them.
taught badly at driving a manual
- Thread starter The motor guy
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I've had 9 vehicles, 5 have been manual. I've been driving manuals for 36 years at this point however current car is an auto. I guess I don't really think about this anymore. But the basics of driving stick and to answer your question, you fully release the gas, push in the clutch, shift, release clutch/give it gas but of course this is done smoothly with some overlap which is likely why you had some jerkiness...it takes practices and isn't really an on/off affair. The double clutching, skipping gears etc. is all unnecessary. I also am not a rev-match downshift person driving normally around town...there is little reason/need for this method IMHO unless you are in a performance driving environment where you are banging gears into corners etc. even though many manual aficionados will do it anyway (and make sure they talk about it b/c the first rule of stickshift club is....TALK about stickshift club hahaha)...I never saw anyone do that in my life until I was much older and I spent a lot of time in manual vehicles as a kid going places with friends' parents and siblings (and many performance vehicles have auto-rev match now anyway). I know there have been some lengthy posts here on the 'tog about how folks drive manual specifically w/r to downshifting/rev-matching, etc. I have taught my three children all to drive in the manual car we have in the fleet without issue. It takes practice but isn't a bad skill to have even though the likelihood of being in a situation to have to know how drive a manual is v. low.
I learned on my dads 1981 Chevy K20. Non-hydraulic clutch and a heavy duty 4-speed cast iron transmission with a granny gear. That thing was a leg workout!
Sorry, I reread my previous post and it wasn't exactly accurately stated.
Double clutching is used to match the transmission input shaft speed to the transmission output shaft speed for the gear you want. The output shaft speed is determined by the speed of the vehicle. But you can control the input shaft speed by putting the transmission in neutral, engaging the clutch, and controlling the engine speed with the accelerator or throttle. Then once they are matched, just push in the clutch and the gears are synchronized at the right speed and can be engaged without grinding.
Experienced truck drivers can do it so perfectly they don't even need to use the clutch.
Double clutching is used to match the transmission input shaft speed to the transmission output shaft speed for the gear you want. The output shaft speed is determined by the speed of the vehicle. But you can control the input shaft speed by putting the transmission in neutral, engaging the clutch, and controlling the engine speed with the accelerator or throttle. Then once they are matched, just push in the clutch and the gears are synchronized at the right speed and can be engaged without grinding.
Experienced truck drivers can do it so perfectly they don't even need to use the clutch.
I learned on dead easy 84 Jeep CJ7 with 4 speed with 4.2L straight six.
Our drivers ed car was a manual Sentra so learned there too. I have zero desire to drive a manual now unless a speciality car like Dodge Viper , Acura NSX or Italian exotic.
Daily driving nope!
Our drivers ed car was a manual Sentra so learned there too. I have zero desire to drive a manual now unless a speciality car like Dodge Viper , Acura NSX or Italian exotic.
Daily driving nope!
^ Yeah if you can do 75 in 3rd that's an acceleration gear. 5th is a cruising gear. 4th is for hills, I guess.
For unfamiliar cars I like to blip the throttle off idle while working the clutch. Blip, blip, blip. Easier to control than holding my foot at 1500 RPM. Once the clutch starts taking up then I stop blipping and keep my foot where it should be via muscle memory.
For unfamiliar cars I like to blip the throttle off idle while working the clutch. Blip, blip, blip. Easier to control than holding my foot at 1500 RPM. Once the clutch starts taking up then I stop blipping and keep my foot where it should be via muscle memory.
I've had 11 vehicles, 8 of them manuals. I think that meets the definition of an anachronism. Possibly me too.
I currently have one 6 speed manual and one for single pedal driving. They're both enjoyable to drive, just different.
I've driven the manuals to high miles and only replaced one clutch, "while we were there" when the linkage broke.
My son had a 2018 civic 1.5t 6MT. Easily the most refined gearbox I ever rowed, i think it even had dual synchros on 2nd. There was a lot of rev overhang programmed into the ECU. You either had to shift early, which the 1.5t would happily support, or delay clutch release if you were shifting at 3k, or accept there was going to be some clutch rub during the release. Most of the time when I drove it, I’d shift early as it had plenty of torque. Rev overhang not withstanding, it felt great and I kept threatening to get him a short shift kit for birthday or Christmas.
I learned on a 10hp IH Cub Cadet!
The clutch in our '00 Jetta lasted at least 220K/14 years and was original when I sold it. I don't think I put a clutch in any of the manual vehicles I owned.
Same here. Most the time it seems the rear main seal goes before the clutch goes.
Teaching a manual is tough if the student doesn’t understand the mechanics of what does WHAT. I tried teaching my daughter by describing the gears, the clutch and the relationship of engine speed to wheel speed etc so she could have the mental picture needed to fetch the right gear for any situation that arises while driving.
She interrupts me, “JUST TELL ME WHAT TO DO”. I said, “we are done, get out of the car.”
She interrupts me, “JUST TELL ME WHAT TO DO”. I said, “we are done, get out of the car.”
We've only had a few vehicles that we kept long enough to pass the 200k mark, but the only clutch we did was proactively, because the flywheel failed (VW). After 249k it looked like it had an easy 250k left to go. But I wanted a stronger clutch for when I put on a bigger turbo, so out it came.
So, so much for driving easy and getting the most out of it.
So, so much for driving easy and getting the most out of it.
After driving automatics most of his life, my dad decided he needed a 5-speed Accord in 1990 (his first manual car since his old VW Bug). I think his tendencies for cheapness prevailed here.... The car had no options whatsoever, No AC, no radio, no center armrest, no passenger's side mirror, etc. Anyway, I think 5 forward gears might've been more than he bargained for. He had a habit of shifting every thirty seconds or so, regardless of vehicle speed or RPM. He was constantly lugging along at 25 MPH in 5th gear. The engine was never in the power band.
I had an '80 that was exactly that spec. You're right, it really was an easy one to drive!
Yep, had a friend that bought a little Scion xA and he wore the clutch out by constantly shifting the thing way before it ever got into the power band, lugging the engine all the time. He apparently learned to drive a stick on some V8 truck, which has an entirely different power band than the tiny little 1.5L 4 cylinder in the xA. I explained to him what he was doing wrong after I rode with him in it one time and he was dumbfounded because he thought that he needed to get to the highest gear as fast as possible so he would get the best fuel economy. Yeah, no, not how this little engine works. Sometimes he would even start out in 2nd gear for no apparent reason at all. I was surprised the transmission lasted the 80K miles that it did.
I once owned a Nova with a 3-on-the-tree, so I was able to demonstrate that skill somewhat amusingly when I was working at a construction site where the laborers there were provided with a Ford truck for their use hauling stuff around the site. At some point, the truck had to go to the shop for several days, so the company gave them an old beater to use in the meantime - a much older truck with a 3-on-the tree. Trouble was, none of that crew knew how to drive it! At some point, I mentioned I knew how to drive it, so for the next several days they would come to me once or twice a day and ask sheepishly if I can come move their truck for them. I was the youngest guy there, and working for a totally different company, but for those few days I was their hero.
JTK
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When I was a boy, rutabagas were 2 for a quarter. I'm kidding on that.. I think.
As a youngster I was very interested in cars and most things mechanical for that matter. My parents owned many manuals and would let me start and warm up the car before we went places. I leaned how to take off in first / reverse at a very young age going up/down the driveway.
Now with 3 grown kids and one minor, only one would have the interest in learning a manual. They pretty much have zero interest and no understanding of vehicles.
I owed many myself and don't care to anymore unless it's a fun vehicle, non daily driver type.
As a youngster I was very interested in cars and most things mechanical for that matter. My parents owned many manuals and would let me start and warm up the car before we went places. I leaned how to take off in first / reverse at a very young age going up/down the driveway.
Now with 3 grown kids and one minor, only one would have the interest in learning a manual. They pretty much have zero interest and no understanding of vehicles.
I owed many myself and don't care to anymore unless it's a fun vehicle, non daily driver type.
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