learning stick! i need u guys help

[BBB]

when i'm rolling in neutral to a stop and light turns green... say I'm at 15-20mph... how would I know whether I should go into 2nd or 3rd? Also how do I stop it from jerking.... slip clutch every time?

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[RMA]

If you are only going 2 or 3 mph...

1) Clutch in
2) Shift into second
3) Let clutch out and feather throttle on nearly the same as if you were doing a dead stop second gear start

If you are going 5+ mph you likely can just let the clutch out without any throttle and just deal with the harsh engagement.

This !

 

[Charles147]

when i'm rolling in neutral to a stop and light turns green... say I'm at 15-20mph... how would I know whether I should go into 2nd or 3rd? Also how do I stop it from jerking.... slip clutch every time?

15-20mph...straight to 3rd to be smooth...2nd if you want to be on the aggressive side. 15-20mph dump into 2nd I'd rev it up a tad, drop to 2nd, and feather the clutch out to keep the wheels planted.

practice, practice, and more practice!

 

[BCeagle08]

when i'm rolling in neutral to a stop and light turns green... say I'm at 15-20mph... how would I know whether I should go into 2nd or 3rd? Also how do I stop it from jerking.... slip clutch every time?

When in doubt try the higher gear. The worst thing that happens is some bogging because you too low in the RPM range.

If you go with too low a gear, you will have some synchro stress and some clutch slipping. Not the end of the world but it's not something I'd make a habit out of.

 

[Lord Thunder]

2c from a 'euro guy', where manuals are the default.

If I am coasting towards a light, I have it in 2nd gear to 'engine brake'. Only when I really need to seriously apply the actual brakes and the engine approaches the point where it may start struggle/stall,I engage the clutch. If the light turns green before you've come to a stop, just let the clutch come back up and apply the gas as needed.

Key is also that you should not run into anyone in front of you too much .. try to match speeds with whoever is in front of you while you approach the lights. This makes sure you can just accelerate without any risk.

Off topic: Lovely topic ;) Always warms my heart to see so much well meant advice.

 

[fionic]

T

I would never put the car into first gear unless you are coming to a dead stop. You will murder your synchros going into first while the car is rolling.

nah, you should NEVER downshift into 1st. 1st should only be used to get going.

 

[peetucket]

As others have said, no need for 1st gear unless you are at a dead stop. Straight into 2nd or even 3rd when you are slow but still moving. Even from a stop, I sometimes use 2nd for a smoother start and one less shift. Even my 170 HP Mercury could go from a stop without lugging in 2nd, the Mustang will have no problem. Also useful to do in poor traction conditions (snow, wet). In fact, the first time my wife test drove a GT at the dealer, she pulled the car out and commented that she just wasn't feeling the power. Turns out she was starting out in 3rd. With 425 HP, there wasn't much lugging if you work the clutch correctly, just reallllllly slow.

 

[Kwyjibo]

I have 2015 Mustang GT pp 6MT. (3.73 Gears)

When coming to a red light and it suddenly turns green, and you're still on neutral while moving slowly (around 3-5 mph RPM are below 1k), can you change to 2nd gear or 1st gear? since you're already moving?
or
There are times when the vehicle is moving so slow that i feel i need to be in first gear but its hard to down-shift to 1st!

I got my Mustang without really knowing how to drive a stick either.

As long as your car is moving/rolling, you can just give it a little gas to bring up the RPM and get into 2nd gear.

I'm assuming that you coast in neutral while approaching a red light because you are still trying to figure out how to smoothly downshift and do not want to risk jerking and lurching your car while in traffic on a main road.

Knowing when to downshift at the right combination of speed and RPM will take some practice. From my own experience, it is much easier/smoother to downshift from 6 to 5 and 5 to 4 at high speed since the RPM jump isnt that much especially when you rev match. downshifting from 4 to 3 and 3 to 2 will be smoother if you slowly but smoothly let out the clutch instead of dumping it. also, dont be too eager to downshift into 3 or into 2 when your speed is still above 30/20 MPH or the RPM will shoot up and lurch you forward.

There is really no way around it. you have to learn how to down shift.
say you are driving 30-45 MPH locally in 3rd or 4th gear. if you dont know how to down shift, then you have no choice but to put your car in neutral and coast because staying in 3/4th gear while you slow down will stall your car. Coasting in neutral could be potentially dangerous if you need to move in a hurry. But if you know for sure that the red light is not going to change any time soon, then you can be in neutral then coast and brake to a full stop. but wait and brake for as long as you can before the car gives you the first indication that it will stall with further speed reduction, THEN put it in neutral. this way, you can always hit the throttle and speed up if the light suddenly turns green in case you didnt have to put it in neutral

 

[113]

I got my Mustang without really knowing how to drive a stick either.

As long as your car is moving/rolling, you can just give it a little gas to bring up the RPM and get into 2nd gear.

I'm assuming that you coast in neutral while approaching a red light because you are still trying to figure out how to smoothly downshift and do not want to risk jerking and lurching your car while in traffic on a main road.

Knowing when to downshift at the right combination of speed and RPM will take some practice. From my own experience, it is much easier/smoother to downshift from 6 to 5 and 5 to 4 at high speed since the RPM jump isnt that much especially when you rev match. downshifting from 4 to 3 and 3 to 2 will be smoother if you slowly but smoothly let out the clutch instead of dumping it. also, dont be too eager to downshift into 3 or into 2 when your speed is still above 30/20 MPH or the RPM will shoot up and lurch you forward.

There is really no way around it. you have to learn how to down shift.
say you are driving 30-45 MPH locally in 3rd or 4th gear. if you dont know how to down shift, then you have no choice but to put your car in neutral and coast because staying in 3/4th gear while you slow down will stall your car. Coasting in neutral could be potential dangerous if you need to move in a hurry. But if you know for sure that the red light is not going to change any time soon, then you can be in neutral then coast and brake to a full stop. but wait and brake for as long as you could before the car gives you the first indication that it will stall with further speed reduction, THEN put it in neutral. this way, you can always hit the throttle and speed up if the light suddenly turns green in case you didnt have to put it in neutral

This guy has it right. It took me a solid 3 years of driving manual to feel comfortable engine-braking via downshifting, especially for when I wanted to go around corners. It's still one of the more difficult things to do in an MT car. Once you learn that then heel-toeing is the next bit. But for OP, one thing at a time.

 

[MagneticA]

Learn to downshift, it's great. It also saves on your brakes. I always wonder why people insist on getting a manual transmission, but only use it for accelerating. That's kind of like buying a candy bar and only enjoying half of it.

 

[fionic]

heel-toeing is the next bit. But for OP, one thing at a time.

I wish I could do this on my car. Need new pedals.

 

[OppoLock]

Learn to downshift, it's great. It also saves on your brakes. I always wonder why people insist on getting a manual transmission, but only use it for accelerating. That's kind of like buying a candy bar and only enjoying half of it.

Having manual paired to a big engine with a loud exhaust is the greatest. Rifle shot downshifts sound great (and you can control how aggressive the blip is) and each upshift feels like a dramatic sequence of loading another salvo of rockets.

Want to leave work and go drive now. :(

 

[Lord Thunder]

Heh, I just realized I assumed you would know you have to gradually downshift (ending up at 2) to slow down using your engine. It's hard to explain how to really do it, I never look at the RPM gauge to do it, so I don't really know the RPM ranges. I just go by the sound of the engine. If the revs sound too high, shift up, if the revs sound too low, shift down. Heel-Toe-ing is not really something you need to master for daily driving.

 

[futbol90x]

thanks guys ill be watching some videos on how a clutch works on car so i get a better understanding. ill try youtube!

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