First time 6mt owner, few questions

[smav03]

aj5.0: I can relate b/c this is my 1st manual. I've had it for ~6 weeks now and love it. there's been good responses to your posts but i'll add a couple thoughts.
If you can afford it, buy a beat up car with a manual and drive it around for a month before buying your new car.
definitely read about driving a manual and watch some youtube videos, too, but remember-until you actually do it you're not getting the feedback from the car and coordinating the motions, etc. you can only learn it by doing it. you can read 100 books about playing the piano but until you sit down and start playing you won't develop the "motor skill" required to play.
finally, when you do start don't be so tough on yourself. you're gonna stall a couple of times. don't freak out. believe it or not, in a month it'll be second nature.

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[NightmareMoon]

1) is it bad to start off in second?
Yes, it will wear the clutch faster. That's what first gear is for. Wearing the clutch out isn't the end of the world, as they all get replaced as a wear item sooner or later

2) in traffic is it bad to "ride" the clutch without giving it gas so I can idle with the flow of stop and go traffic?
Yes, don't ride the clutch. Do it when needed but if you make a habit of it it will wear out faster. Using a low rpm in second is fine (first is only for getting moving when stopped, use second and up while already underway)

3) when I downshift is there a certain amount of "blip" I have to give the throttle so the car doesn't jerk?
Yes, but it's gear AND rpm dependent, and takes about a year of regular practice to get really good. In general, blip enough so the RPMs are falling when you select the new gear but not so much you surge forward.


4) if I don't rev match can I just let the clutch go slowly to avoid car jerk?
Yes of course you can. Street manual transmissions are built to change gears smoothly if the clutch is used slowly.

5) when making turns should I be in gear? Or can I just fully engage the clutch to a neutral position?

You always want to be in gear, so you're ready to power out of a bad situation with little to no notice. Same thing for coasting down for a stop, it's (rarely applicable) but better to be ready to scoot if something happens suddenly. For sporty driving it's doubly true you want to be in gear to help manage the car with the throttle during a corner. Downshift while braking in a straight line so you don't upset the car if you have a jerky shift, then start the corner already in the gear you want to be in at the exit of the corner. If you shift while cornering near the limit and botch the shift you make upset the car enough to break traction, so downshift before cornering unless you've got mad rev match skills. Make sense?

 

[nicktechla]

Good to see a lot of new MT drivers

 

[NightmareMoon]

I'll add leaning to heel-toe is very helpful for blipping the throttle while simultaneously braking for a stop or corner. It's easy to blip while not braking, but most useful rev match downshifts need to be made while slowing the car down in a straight line, thus the 'heel-toe' technique for blipping while braking. Rev match shifting while cornering is dangerous until you're a real pro, and then it's just iffy.

In really old cars the gas pedal was _below_ the brake pedal not beside it like modern cars, so the technique should really be called left ball of foot / right ball of foot for modern era cars, since the toe and heel are not really used. Doesn't exactly roll of the tongue so we're stuck with the misleading heel-toe name. If you see someone twisting their foot perpendicular to get a heel on the gas pedal, they have superhuman flexible knees. Ignore these guys no matter how fast they are it just doesn't work for most of us. The S550 pedal make it pretty hard to heel toe with the side of the foot for those of us with small or normal sizes shoes, due to the large (safe) gap between the brake and gas pedals, so don't be ashamed of buying some aftermarket pedals to help.

 

[partyelmarty]

I'll add leaning to heel-toe is very helpful for blipping the throttle while simultaneously braking for a stop or corner. It's easy to blip while not braking, but most useful rev match downshifts need to be made while slowing the car down in a straight line, thus the 'heel-toe' technique for blipping while braking. Rev match shifting while cornering is dangerous until you're a real pro, and then it's just iffy.

In really old cars the gas pedal was _below_ the brake pedal not beside it like modern cars, so the technique should really be called left ball of foot / right ball of foot for modern era cars, since the toe and heel are not really used. Doesn't exactly roll of the tongue so we're stuck with the misleading heel-toe name. If you see someone twisting their foot perpendicular to get a heel on the gas pedal, they have superhuman flexible knees. Ignore these guys no matter how fast they are it just doesn't work for most of us. The S550 pedal make it pretty hard to heel toe with the side of the foot for those of us with small or normal sizes shoes, due to the large (safe) gap between the brake and gas pedals, so don't be ashamed of buying some aftermarket pedals to help.

Why would you suggest that to someone who doesn't know how to even properly drive a manual transmission in the first place...

 

[NightmareMoon]

He asks about blipping so that's how and why it's done.

Also a new driver has a better shot at learning to do it well than us old fuds with our old habits. I didn't go into the pros and cons of double-clutch downshifts did I?

 

[partyelmarty]

Blipping can easily be done without that method, if you're quick and smooth enough. Suggesting a new MT driver to attempt to learn heel to toe on the streets is just asking for trouble. Not smart.

 

[NightmareMoon]

I've taught a few adults to drive manual. In my experience most new stick drivers will be able to decide their own comfort level for trying new stuff, and I give them the credit to do so.

I'm not promoting heel-toe for a beginner so much as cautioning from trying to shift/blip/whatever during a corner, which is what really gets people into trouble.

Also it's good to inspire new manual transmission driver to go beyond the basics when they're ready, and that more advanced techniques are available and highly rewarding to master. The learning process doesn't end with not burning up the clutch.

 

[partyelmarty]

You're completely missing my point.

 

[Horse]

It is my opinion that it should only benefit the (new) manual drivers to know (of) those advanced techniques. They don't have to learn the advanced techniques at the beginning.

Many manual drivers learned how to drive manual cars from (some of the) so-so drivers. As a result, the learners never got exposed to (or told of) the techniques. Just imagine that the instructors/friends simply tell the learners to `just slam it in the lower gear' for downshifting (and never mention the need for rev match).

So, my philosophy is that the (manual) drivers should learn how clutch/gear/sychro/transmission work and how/why techniques such as rev-match/double-clutch/heel-toe are needed. Then the learners can make their own decision on whether they will practice those techniques.

 

[xfyre101]

4. Also depends, if you are in 5th doing 50mph 2000rpm and you drop in 2nd, you are going to wear the fuck out of the clutch by let it go slowly dragging the engine up to 5000rpm. Use rev match.

why would you ever do this kind of shit.. use the freaking breaks man

 

[jasonstang]

why would you ever do this kind of shit.. use the freaking breaks man

It's for if I am cruising and suddenly some street racing needs to happen, lol.
You just clutch in, press gas pedal rev to 5000rpm and go to 2nd, release the clutch and go.

 

[Charles147]

Good to see a lot of new MT drivers

Yes, we don't want these autonomous/nanny transmissions to take over!

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