Starting in first gear

[Horse]

Oh i gotcha. So you want to skip going through the rpm's in one gear, so you drop down one to let you accelerate faster. Interesting concept.

Exactly, we downshift not JUST because we are slowing down.

Even the auto cars do this--when you floor the gas, it will shift to lower gears.

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[Codog23]

I find that my 15 GT moves in first just by letting off the clutch slowly. You can literally start tapping the throttle after you start moving. Also clutch releases pretty high up. I think a good way to get the feel of when the gear engages is to release the clutch very slowly in Reverse on a slight decline. I don't even have to use the throttle when I back out of my driveway. Bottom line slow and steady on the clutch release with minimal slow throttle. Once you have the feel in first all the other gears fall right in place.

 

[larze123]

Thanks for the tips guys. It's just really overwhelming, getting a car, and learning to drive manual all in 2 or 3 days. Its stressful for me to think about certain situations, where i seem to have endless questions about what to do here, and what to do there. Guess I'll just figure it out. Guess it's better to learn manual at a young age anyway, considering most in my generation won't even learn manual. Kind of exciting to know that there will always be more techniques to learn as i progress in ability.

 

[cush]

Would that be bad at all starting in second gear all the time ?

That kind of thing is not good fro the clutch... When you're first learning you need to hear and feel the engine to know if your revs are high enough, unless you intend to stare at the tach....maybe turn off the stereo, just a thought.

 

[e30og]

Hey guys this is my first manual transmission car. I've never driven one before this. Basically I watched a couple YouTube videos before I got my 15gt. I think I've been doing pretty decent. But now and then I have difficulty starting in first from a complete stop and I stall, which is pretty embarrassing. Is there any tips or advice you guys can give me? I'd really appreciate it.

easy does it. Practice. Also the clutch and syncros are fresh cut. once they are broken in the shifter will feel smoother and the clutch will be less grabby. Just focus on controlling the initial engagement, even if it means giving up hard launches until you get better, well worth it.

Also it says your in Illinois. When the weather gets even rainy just be real easy in first and second (and third?) gear. They get sideways easy even in rain/snow mode.

 

[volsfan0911]

Hmm i just told my dad the what you guys said about rev matching and he responded by saying that if you have to rev the engine when you downshift, you are simply picking the wrong gear, or not breaking enough. Any counters i can throw at him?

Yes. The entire point of "rev matching" is to get the engine speed the same as the transmissions rotational speed (hence the term). The clutch is there to decouple the engine from the transmission on demand. Synchros are analogous to stopping a spinning bottle by jamming the cork into the mouth. So let's downshift from 3rd to 2nd. 3,000 rpm in 3rd gear = a higher rpm in 2nd (I'm going to pick 3,800 as an example). If you 'unhook' the engine at 3,000 rpm and then blip the throttle to get revs up to 3,800 rpm, then 'hook' the engine back up to the transmission by letting out the clutch at that point then voila, there is no synchro needed and the gears mesh (change) smoothly because they're at the same speed now. Also the car won't be upset and you won't slam forward due to engine braking, etc.

Someone else mentioned heel and toe shifting. Their explanation was dead on - you're getting TWO things done at the same time with ONE foot. Since a picture (or video) is worth 1,000 of my words, observe a master doing this It's a little slow to start but watching Senna make a NSX dance around a track is worth it........

 

[TiE2000]

There is too much advance technique going on in this thread, he's only been driving a manual transmission for a few days.

Lets start off with the basics.
1st gear starting, as others have said, an empty parking lot is your friend. This is THE hardest thing to learn and the most important. Once you have this mastered, downshifting, heal toe, no lift shifting will all come in time. Focus on mastering the 1st gear start first. Everything else is irrelevant until you learn this.

start off with clutch fully engaged, and your foot on the break. Let off the break and place your right foot on the gas. slowly start letting up on the clutch until you feel the car to start to "shutter" this is the sweet spot. get a feeling for how far up you must let your foot off the clutch to get to this shutter. immediately re-engage the clutch and break. rise and repeat until you are comfortable with it.

Now lets combine pressing the gas with the clutch. try to start giving gas to the car just before you hit the sweet spot on the clutch. the first few time may be a bumpy ride, or an all out stall. Thats ok your learning. As an FYI as you are learning you going to burn the clutch a bit. this is caused by keeping some presser on the clutch too long while accelerating. To get around this, once you find the sweet spot for both the gas and the clutch, completely remove your foot off the clutch pedal, once you are moving. Again rinse and repeat.

As for coming to a stop. yes down shifting is a very valuable skill to learn, but it should come after you have mastered upshifting. and proper speed / gear for rolling turns (city driving. More on this later) For now, when coming to a stop or when slowing down to take a turn, engage the clutch and put the shifter in neutral. (as a habbit, i've always moved the shifter right, then left twice, to make sure I am auctuly in neutral. Once you are sure you are in neutral release the clutch, and use the break to come to a complete stop.

I also use this method, to teach proper grear for rolling turns. 90% of the time if you are in any gear higher than 2nd when taking a turn, you are going too fast, or you bogging out your engine. (this is for city driving only). At times you may need to be in first, but that is rare, 2nd gear is the optimal gear for rolling turns.

At first, use the neutral method when taking a turn, then put the car into second once you have cleared the entire turn, or once you have reached the half way point to give it some gas.

Over time, you will learn to downshift into second prior to taking a turn, and you will not need to put the car into neutral. and you'll let the motor do all the speed adjustments for you.

do all this for a couple of weeks, master them, then come back and learn proper down shifting and heal toe, and maybe some no lift shifting

Hope this helps.

 

[souprmage]

Well said.

Leave the advanced stuff for after you're comfortable with the basics. Well after.

 

[MagneticXV]

There is too much advance technique going on in this thread, he's only been driving a manual transmission for a few days.

Lets start off with the basics.
1st gear starting, as others have said, an empty parking lot is your friend. This is THE hardest thing to learn and the most important. Once you have this mastered, downshifting, heal toe, no lift shifting will all come in time. Focus on mastering the 1st gear start first. Everything else is irrelevant until you learn this.

start off with clutch fully engaged, and your foot on the break. Let off the break and place your right foot on the gas. slowly start letting up on the clutch until you feel the car to start to "shutter" this is the sweet spot. get a feeling for how far up you must let your foot off the clutch to get to this shutter. immediately re-engage the clutch and break. rise and repeat until you are comfortable with it.

Now lets combine pressing the gas with the clutch. try to start giving gas to the car just before you hit the sweet spot on the clutch. the first few time may be a bumpy ride, or an all out stall. Thats ok your learning. As an FYI as you are learning you going to burn the clutch a bit. this is caused by keeping some presser on the clutch too long while accelerating. To get around this, once you find the sweet spot for both the gas and the clutch, completely remove your foot off the clutch pedal, once you are moving. Again rinse and repeat.

As for coming to a stop. yes down shifting is a very valuable skill to learn, but it should come after you have mastered upshifting. and proper speed / gear for rolling turns (city driving. More on this later) For now, when coming to a stop or when slowing down to take a turn, engage the clutch and put the shifter in neutral. (as a habbit, i've always moved the shifter right, then left twice, to make sure I am auctuly in neutral. Once you are sure you are in neutral release the clutch, and use the break to come to a complete stop.

I also use this method, to teach proper grear for rolling turns. 90% of the time if you are in any gear higher than 2nd when taking a turn, you are going too fast, or you bogging out your engine. (this is for city driving only). At times you may need to be in first, but that is rare, 2nd gear is the optimal gear for rolling turns.

At first, use the neutral method when taking a turn, then put the car into second once you have cleared the entire turn, or once you have reached the half way point to give it some gas.

Over time, you will learn to downshift into second prior to taking a turn, and you will not need to put the car into neutral. and you'll let the motor do all the speed adjustments for you.

do all this for a couple of weeks, master them, then come back and learn proper down shifting and heal toe, and maybe some no lift shifting

Hope this helps.

Thanks ! I appreciate all the help guys. I'll just have to keep practicing ! Just worried that I'll destory the clutch on my new car

 

[Lord Thunder]

Thanks ! I appreciate all the help guys. I'll just have to keep practicing ! Just worried that I'll destory the clutch on my new car

The clutch can handle some abuse, it's not made of glass.

The advice above is good, so just practice it. On downshifting for turns: In my (albeit European) experience, city turns (the 90 degree ones) are done in 2nd gear 99% of the time. If it doesn't 'fit' you are going too fast anyway. Broader turns such as on/off ramp loops at highways are taken en 3rd gear most of the time.

My driving instructor always told me: 1st gear is only used to drive away from a full stop. All other low speeds while still rolling 2nd gear is what to use.

 

[Dirtleg]

Thanks ! I appreciate all the help guys. I'll just have to keep practicing ! Just worried that I'll destory the clutch on my new car

Don't worry about the clutch. I removed mine on my 07'GT with 150k and it had plenty of life left in it. They are stout pieces for the most part at stock power levels. Just enjoy your car, learn to drive it casually until it's second nature (No thinking required to start/shift) and then focus on heel and toe/rev matching. Once you have that in your pocket you'll be as good as 90% of the manual drivers on the road.
Be patient it will all happen sooner than you think.

 

[anotherneon]

These cars have so much torque that if you let the clutch out slow enough you wont have to apply gas. Do that a few times to see where the "catching point" is and then start adding a tad bit of gas, also turn hill assist on and see if that helps.

 

[fionic]

With my 5.0 there is no way I can get started without touching the gas.

really?

 

[Lord Thunder]

These cars have so much torque that if you let the clutch out slow enough you wont have to apply gas.

This. When using the gas you can actually drive off in almost any gear. I think I managed to drive off in 5th gear once in me 1.6 EB Focus (by accident,as I forgot to downshift after coming to a full stop). You just accelerate really, really slowly

 

[Horse]

There is too much advance technique going on in this thread, he's only been driving a manual transmission for a few days.

Lets start off with the basics.

.....................

Hope this helps.

I agree that, for beginners, it is the basics that should be emphasized. It does not make practical sense to teach a rookie the technique of heel & toe.

That said, it IS beneficial for a beginner to know OF these advanced techniques.

I learned this the hard way. When I was learning stick shift, I learned it from a friend who told me the basics (but never let me know of the advanced techniques, even if he did know them). So, back then, when making a turn, I would clutch in and hold it down, apply brake to slow down, hold the clutch down throughout the turn until it's time to speed out of the turn. This was how I was told, which I thought was the correct way. Anyway, I kept doing this (making a turn by holding the clutch down) for man years (as I did not know better). This finally changed once I started reading/learning correct ways to drive manual cars (mainly on the Internet, such as Youtube, etc.).

Now I always rev match when downshifting (which I think is a skill every manual driver should know, and I won't call this advanced). I also heel-toe during (even) daily driving. I always keep my car in gear (except for the moments when I shift, of course) and in the RIGHT gear. In particular, when making a turn, I heel-toe downshift before entering the curve to make sure my car is in gear (and in the right gear) throughout the curve. (In fact, I always do double-clutch downshifting and double-clutch heel & toe, although many would say that these are not necessary now that all cars have synchros.)

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