Hello! New Manual Driver

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theholycow
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Re: Hello! New Manual Driver

Post by theholycow »

fa22raptorf22 wrote:If you shift from 1st at 1000rpm this will happen.
This depends on the car. In my VW (800rpm idle) it doesn't bring me down below idle because of close-ratio gearing. In his SRT8, his idle is probably 500-600rpm, leaving plenty of room.
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fa22raptorf22
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Re: Hello! New Manual Driver

Post by fa22raptorf22 »

theholycow wrote:
fa22raptorf22 wrote:If you shift from 1st at 1000rpm this will happen.
This depends on the car. In my VW (800rpm idle) it doesn't bring me down below idle because of close-ratio gearing. In his SRT8, his idle is probably 500-600rpm, leaving plenty of room.
Eh, yeah. Depends. If I shift to 2nd at 1K, I will almost stall in 2nd. My idle is 750, and the engine will continue to run at 250 rpm. You can absolutely crawl in 1st haha. 1st at idle + brake = extremely low speed lol.
pbsd
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Re: Hello! New Manual Driver

Post by pbsd »

Thanks a lot again guys... So I have been driving today just giving it a little gas while releasing the clutch. It does make the shifts smoother, however, I feel like there is less torque or tension on the gas peddle after the shift has been made. So it seems like i either give it a little gas while the clutch comes up and loose some power, or don't give it gas get the finger from the guy behind me who is just about to kiss my bumper. I would really like to get this down not only for myself but because I need to teach my wife. Yikes!
This is such a great forum. I love to have some people who actually care about this stuff and go out of their way to help.

So again... to give it a little gas while releasing the clutch or not, is it just a choice from the lesser of two evils? Oh, and I was watching the show Top Gear I don't know if anyone has seen it, but they have a pro driver test all their cars around their track and he seems to shift really really fast. How the heck does he do that? If I tried I think my wife would go through the window.

As always I am really looking forward to the responses.
Oh by the way I don't know if it's relevant, but I am currently driving a new vw jetta.
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RomPirate
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Re: Hello! New Manual Driver

Post by RomPirate »

pbsd wrote:Thanks a lot again guys... So I have been driving today just giving it a little gas while releasing the clutch. It does make the shifts smoother, however, I feel like there is less torque or tension on the gas peddle after the shift has been made. So it seems like i either give it a little gas while the clutch comes up and loose some power, or don't give it gas get the finger from the guy behind me who is just about to kiss my bumper. I would really like to get this down not only for myself but because I need to teach my wife. Yikes!
This is such a great forum. I love to have some people who actually care about this stuff and go out of their way to help.

So again... to give it a little gas while releasing the clutch or not, is it just a choice from the lesser of two evils? Oh, and I was watching the show Top Gear I don't know if anyone has seen it, but they have a pro driver test all their cars around their track and he seems to shift really really fast. How the heck does he do that? If I tried I think my wife would go through the window.

As always I am really looking forward to the responses.
Oh by the way I don't know if it's relevant, but I am currently driving a new vw jetta.
THREAD JACKER!! :D
The way i got around to understanding the time to give it gas is while the clutch is starting to bite and nearly fully engage. Doing this keeps the engine from engine braking even if for a second. Its really just practice practice practice. What I found that helped me was to ask my passenger to watch the revs. When shifting to another gear, if the revs go up it meant I shifted too slow (or not enough gas coming up), if the revs go down i did it too quick (or too much gas). Some people here will swear by not looking at the tach but thats the way I learned to fix my errors. (combined with the input of the car of course). I'm going to say that going on the gas would be the lesser of the two evils. Or rather the proper way to do it. It makes sense to me (and hopefully you) that manual driving should be as smooth as possible. And if you think about the way you described it, is having the person behind you almost rear end you sound smooth to you?

Take what I say lightly i've been driving for about 3 weeks... Some of the more experienced drivers here will soon barge in and drop the OWNED hammer on me. I hope i've done some good though :D (maybe)

as for the Stig, well its a pro. It all takes practice..
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RITmusic2k
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Re: Hello! New Manual Driver

Post by RITmusic2k »

pbsd wrote: I feel like there is less torque or tension on the gas peddle after the shift has been made. So it seems like i either give it a little gas while the clutch comes up and loose some power, or don't give it gas get the finger from the guy behind me who is just about to kiss my bumper.


Not sure what you're describing here... you're saying your car feels more powerful when you shift without throttle input?
pbsd wrote:Oh, and I was watching the show Top Gear I don't know if anyone has seen it, but they have a pro driver test all their cars around their track and he seems to shift really really fast. How the heck does he do that?
The Stig. Top Gear is to automotive buffs what the Sistene Chapel is to Catholics. Shifting quickly is, as you might imagine, a very abrupt and jarring process. The faster you shift, the more stress you're putting on the driveline, and the rougher the transition from gear to gear will be. But, it's faster by far from a racing perspective. It's always a tradeoff between smoothness and speed. Sports cars are built to endure this.

You'll learn your vehicle over time; you'll figure out how much gas you need to give it under different circumstances to get the takeoff you want. Unfortunately, no amount of typing can take the place of experiencing the act with a seasoned driver at the wheel. If you have any friends that can help you with this, don't hesitate to ask for their help. As always, enjoy the learning process in the meantime, and best of luck to you!
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theholycow
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Re: Hello! New Manual Driver

Post by theholycow »

pbsd wrote:So it seems like i either give it a little gas while the clutch comes up and loose some power, or don't give it gas get the finger from the guy behind me who is just about to kiss my bumper.
I don't understand why you would lose power by stepping on the gas (vs. not stepping on the gas at all), and you seem to think you're accelerating faster by not using the gas pedal...does your car perhaps have rev hang but cancels it if you step on the gas? Rev hang is when you take your foot off the gas pedal but the engine stays at the same RPM, not going back towards idle.

Anyway, don't worry about the people behind you. Your Challenger SRT8 is a very large car that is intimidating in a few ways -- nobody wants to rear-end a brand new car that appears expensive!
So again... to give it a little gas while releasing the clutch or not, is it just a choice from the lesser of two evils?
Pretty much. Once you're more confident with driving well, you can work on perfecting your technique.
he seems to shift really really fast. How the heck does he do that? If I tried I think my wife would go through the window.
He's probably double clutching (an advanced technique) and he's probably accepting a rough ride that would send your wife through the window?
Oh by the way I don't know if it's relevant, but I am currently driving a new vw jetta.
Oh, where'd you come up with that car? Borrow it from a friend so you can learn to drive manual on something other than your Challenger? Anyway, it does change things slightly, but everything said in this thread still applies. What year is the Jetta? Which engine is in it? Is it brand new, or does it have a few miles on it?

I learned on (and drive daily) a brand new 2008 VW Rabbit with VW's 2.5l I5 engine and 5 speed transmission.
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theholycow
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Re: Hello! New Manual Driver

Post by theholycow »

RomPirate wrote:Some people here will swear by not looking at the tach but thats the way I learned to fix my errors. (combined with the input of the car of course).

Some of the more experienced drivers here will soon barge in and drop the OWNED hammer on me. I hope i've done some good though :D (maybe)[/b]
I have to agree with you. People say to listen to what the car tells you, but if your engine is quiet & smooth, your clutch is numb, and so on...if the car isn't talking in the accepted ways, the tachometer is another way to communicate. What's wrong is dependence on the tachometer; if you stare at it all the time it can slow down your learning. It's like training wheels on a bike, except you eventually remove the training wheels.
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pbsd
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Re: Hello! New Manual Driver

Post by pbsd »

Hi all...Thanks yet again for all of the responses. I don't think I was clear when I was talking about the power on the shift thing. So here goes.
It seems like if I don't give it gas while the clutch is coming up, then later after the shift is complete when I accelerate there is more power or torque or tension on the gas peddle. If I do give it some gas while the clutch is coming up then the shift is smoother, however after the shift is complete and i hit the gas again there seems to be less power.

Like the gas peddle is a little numb or something.

I hope this helps clarify things. Sorry if the question is dumb just trying to get a handle on this.

As always I appreciate everyone helping.
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theholycow
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Re: Hello! New Manual Driver

Post by theholycow »

It sounds like something you might be imagining.

However, the Jetta's drive-by-wire throttle could be doing what it thinks you want rather than what you really want. You can thank overengineered German computer programs for that.
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pbsd
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Re: Hello! New Manual Driver

Post by pbsd »

How do I know how much gas to give it without burning up my clutch. Unfortunately what this guy that I know told me about how giving it gas even a little while letting out the clutch will burn up the clutch has really got me paranoid. I know that I am repetitive and sorry if i'm a bother I just don't know who is telling me the correct thing. Hopefully I will be able to use this info to one day help someone else.
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