First Time Manual Driver - 3 Month Update

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MH86
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Re: First Time Manual Driver - 3 Month Update

Post by MH86 »

tankinbeans wrote:
theholycow wrote::lol: A moo horn would be awesome.
MH86 wrote:my car has a decent amount of torque (I think 184 lb-ft at 1400RPM)
You might want to double-check that...I'd believe it at 4100RPM maybe. At 1400RPM that would be a large diesel engine.
If I recall he has a turbo of some sort. This isn't out of the realm. Ms. Frizzle has 270 torques at 2500 with 3 seconds of overboost.

Edit: I checked the old thread and he has the 1.4t Jetta SE with 150horsepressures (5000 Copernicans per sol) and 184 torques (1500 Copernicans per sol).
Yeah, I've got the turbo 1.4 liter. Although it's not really that fast or anything.
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Re: First Time Manual Driver - 3 Month Update

Post by Teamwork »

I know what you mean about those "practice runs." Even when traffic is moving, I often find myself in situations where traffic slows to 15-20 MPH, which can be handled in 3rd gear if I don't need to speed up at all (which isn't usually the case). I've found that downshifts to 2nd gear need to be rev-matched perfectly to be smooth. I'm guessing that eventually, muscle memory will kick in and rev-matching will go smoothly. While on the topic of rev-matching, I haven't really found a need to rev-match my downshifts into 4th or 3rd. I typically don't skip gears when I downshift, so I'm guessing that's why I haven't found it necessary?
That's just about the thresh hold for my car in 3rd gear... is 15-16 mph it starts to get luggy in 3rd. If I was going to kick down to 2nd at 13-14 mph I would definitely blip at the very least before hand or again "hold" the throttle. You could ease into it but it just wouldn't be that graceful. "Rev-match downshifts into 4th or 3rd"- I'm assuming from 5th and 4th? I mean with closed ratio's I'm pretty sure it isn't totally necessary but I typically will blip whenever I can/remember. I've skipped down gears from 6th to 4th (probably the most commonly) and 5th to 3rd. 6th to 4th I'd say is a fairly common passing maneuver downshift though in my car it really brings out the power. If I'm being more casual about it, I would only need to drop to 5th. 5th to 3rd the same idea in essence.
Interesting. I realize that my car has a decent amount of torque (I think 184 lb-ft at 1400RPM), but I still don't like 3rd gear at 15-20 MPH - it feels like it's borderline lugging at those speeds. Anything above 20 MPH though, and 3rd and 4th gears are just fine.
I think we got lost in translation or you missed the fine print on this one. It's not that I never go down into 2nd (I need to shuffle into 2nd A TON) when crawling home in rush hour but in normal (ideal) traffic conditions I wouldn't really go from 4th to 2nd really. I pretty much use 2nd gear to pull me out of stints when I short shift out of 1st or to crawl/coast in moderate traffic. If I'm in really heavy traffic, talking about go 9-10 mph and stop, rinse and repeat I'll even try and stay in 1st gear though I hate the way it feels. Less foot dancing since I can get literally down to 4-5 mph without the engine groaning.
I've tested hill start assist when nobody's around me, but it still makes me feel uneasy. I'm pretty sure that I can feel when hill start assist has kicked in, even when my foot's on the brake. It kind of feels like extra pressure on the brake pedal. I think I feel uneasy about hill start assist because I like to rev the engine a bit before I start letting off the clutch, and acceleration cancels hill start assist.

I think you'll get there. I'm actually surprised that I was so "daring" so early on about this but my prior route forced me an exit ramp hill everyday, no avoiding. I just tried it one day and never looked back. Not to say that my E-brake method didn't work well the few days I did it but I just liked simplifying the process to what I already was working on without adding the variable of the e-brake. It sounds like in the instances where you are using this method you have a bit of time to prepare yourself and get ready- which is fine.
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Re: First Time Manual Driver - 3 Month Update

Post by theholycow »

tankinbeans wrote:184 torques (1500 Copernicans per sol).
Holy much torque near the clutch fork! With that kind of muscle in a smallish car, is there any need to ever exceed 2000RPM?
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Re: First Time Manual Driver - 3 Month Update

Post by MH86 »

theholycow wrote:
tankinbeans wrote:184 torques (1500 Copernicans per sol).
Holy much torque near the clutch fork! With that kind of muscle in a smallish car, is there any need to ever exceed 2000RPM?
In many cases, no, although I sometimes stay in slightly lower gears around 2200 RPM if I'm driving in traffic, partly out of laziness, and partly because I think it's a waste to keep shuffling back and forth between gears if I can just stay in one. When I'm moving from a dead stop, that torque doesn't make itself presentable unless I give it about 1500 RPM (which is just above the torque peak).

Which engine did your Jetta have?
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Re: First Time Manual Driver - 3 Month Update

Post by tankinbeans »

theholycow wrote:
MH86 wrote:That second picture makes me think of cowpower (kinda like horsepower, except a cow instead). Those engines would really moo from cowpower!
That's what my car has, 125 cowpower. It's kinda like horsepower, but it's usually pretty lazy unless you really manage to incite a stampede, then nothing in its way will stop it.
This makes me wonder how much power a cow produces. I imagine it's a lot since cows are pretty much big muscles, but your comment about laziness makes me wonder if it would be useful for machinery.
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Re: First Time Manual Driver - 3 Month Update

Post by MH86 »

Teamwork wrote:
I know what you mean about those "practice runs." Even when traffic is moving, I often find myself in situations where traffic slows to 15-20 MPH, which can be handled in 3rd gear if I don't need to speed up at all (which isn't usually the case). I've found that downshifts to 2nd gear need to be rev-matched perfectly to be smooth. I'm guessing that eventually, muscle memory will kick in and rev-matching will go smoothly. While on the topic of rev-matching, I haven't really found a need to rev-match my downshifts into 4th or 3rd. I typically don't skip gears when I downshift, so I'm guessing that's why I haven't found it necessary?
That's just about the thresh hold for my car in 3rd gear... is 15-16 mph it starts to get luggy in 3rd. If I was going to kick down to 2nd at 13-14 mph I would definitely blip at the very least before hand or again "hold" the throttle. You could ease into it but it just wouldn't be that graceful. "Rev-match downshifts into 4th or 3rd"- I'm assuming from 5th and 4th? I mean with closed ratio's I'm pretty sure it isn't totally necessary but I typically will blip whenever I can/remember. I've skipped down gears from 6th to 4th (probably the most commonly) and 5th to 3rd. 6th to 4th I'd say is a fairly common passing maneuver downshift though in my car it really brings out the power. If I'm being more casual about it, I would only need to drop to 5th. 5th to 3rd the same idea in essence.
Today I played around with the throttle more in my downshifts to 2nd and realized that it really does need to be held steady at the right RPM to be smooth when the clutch is let out.
Interesting. I realize that my car has a decent amount of torque (I think 184 lb-ft at 1400RPM), but I still don't like 3rd gear at 15-20 MPH - it feels like it's borderline lugging at those speeds. Anything above 20 MPH though, and 3rd and 4th gears are just fine.
I think we got lost in translation or you missed the fine print on this one. It's not that I never go down into 2nd (I need to shuffle into 2nd A TON) when crawling home in rush hour but in normal (ideal) traffic conditions I wouldn't really go from 4th to 2nd really. I pretty much use 2nd gear to pull me out of stints when I short shift out of 1st or to crawl/coast in moderate traffic. If I'm in really heavy traffic, talking about go 9-10 mph and stop, rinse and repeat I'll even try and stay in 1st gear though I hate the way it feels. Less foot dancing since I can get literally down to 4-5 mph without the engine groaning.
I know what you mean about 9-10 MPH in 1st gear. You can get down 1-2 MPH lower than I can without the engine complaining; I've actually tested this with the digital speedometer display in the Driver Information Center between the analog speedometer and tachometer.
I've tested hill start assist when nobody's around me, but it still makes me feel uneasy. I'm pretty sure that I can feel when hill start assist has kicked in, even when my foot's on the brake. It kind of feels like extra pressure on the brake pedal. I think I feel uneasy about hill start assist because I like to rev the engine a bit before I start letting off the clutch, and acceleration cancels hill start assist.

I think you'll get there. I'm actually surprised that I was so "daring" so early on about this but my prior route forced me an exit ramp hill everyday, no avoiding. I just tried it one day and never looked back. Not to say that my E-brake method didn't work well the few days I did it but I just liked simplifying the process to what I already was working on without adding the variable of the e-brake. It sounds like in the instances where you are using this method you have a bit of time to prepare yourself and get ready- which is fine.
That is quite impressive how daring you were from the start. Today, I tried relying on hill start assist on a hill and ended up stalling for the first time in a few weeks because hill start assist needs you to start letting up the clutch before giving it gas (and my feet are used to giving some gas just before letting up the clutch). Luckily, the light was already red when I stalled, so nobody honked. For now, I'll be using either the e-brake method or the "find the friction point with your foot on the brake and switch to the accelerator" method in traffic and I will continue testing the limits of hill start assist when nobody's around (and I remember to try it). Besides, I find either of the first 2 methods simpler to process than using hill start assist, but to each their own.
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Re: First Time Manual Driver - 3 Month Update

Post by tankinbeans »

You lot habe me wondering if my hill assist cancels upon application of the petrol pedal. I'll have to play around.
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Re: First Time Manual Driver - 3 Month Update

Post by theholycow »

MH86 wrote:When I'm moving from a dead stop, that torque doesn't make itself presentable unless I give it about 1500 RPM (which is just above the torque peak).

Which engine did your Jetta have?
I had a 2008 Rabbit with the NA 2.5 making similar horsepressures and torks but at higher RPM. It had normal-driving torque right from idle. The car was geared like a Honda though, so I used up all 5 gears by 25-30mph and wanted another 5 gears.
tankinbeans wrote:This makes me wonder how much power a cow produces. I imagine it's a lot since cows are pretty much big muscles, but your comment about laziness makes me wonder if it would be useful for machinery.
Pretty sure they were harnessed for stuff, just not as much as the more common Oxen and Horsen.
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Re: First Time Manual Driver - 3 Month Update

Post by Teamwork »

You lot habe me wondering if my hill assist cancels upon application of the petrol pedal. I'll have to play around.
Curious to know the response also- I mean it makes sense that would be a pretty easy implementation to make the guidance unobtrusive. I've actually confirmed in MK7 Golf/GTI's there is a setting for how sensitive hill start assist is. I didn't mess around with it but it's definitely in the menu's with two options (besides off- so 3).
I know what you mean about 9-10 MPH in 1st gear. You can get down 1-2 MPH lower than I can without the engine complaining; I've actually tested this with the digital speedometer display in the Driver Information Center between the analog speedometer and tachometer.
I rely on my digital read out when I'm crawling in low gears. I know once I dip below 7 mph it's easy back into 1st gear (I hate this). I don't know how well I'd do choosing gears and such if I turned this feature off because I find the traditional speedo in this car hard to read at a glance.
That is quite impressive how daring you were from the start. Today, I tried relying on hill start assist on a hill and ended up stalling for the first time in a few weeks because hill start assist needs you to start letting up the clutch before giving it gas (and my feet are used to giving some gas just before letting up the clutch). Luckily, the light was already red when I stalled, so nobody honked. For now, I'll be using either the e-brake method or the "find the friction point with your foot on the brake and switch to the accelerator" method in traffic and I will continue testing the limits of hill start assist when nobody's around (and I remember to try it). Besides, I find either of the first 2 methods simpler to process than using hill start assist, but to each their own.
I typically roll back maybe a little if I'm not being good about it but it's more or less how I operate. Even on level ground I'm setting the gas either before or simultaneously with finding the friction point in 1st. It really sucked when I started out... like it was constantly lingering in my mind this one exit ramp before I even got into the car. I actually never stalled on it and like I said it was unavoidable for 5 days a week (that's pretty good stats IMO). I actually have stalled recently kind of day dreaming and a long red light but I'm not super paranoid about it like when I first started. I pretty much just did an "oops" and restarted back up and went on my way. It humbled me in a good way though I think if that makes sense.
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Re: First Time Manual Driver - 3 Month Update

Post by MH86 »

Teamwork wrote:
You lot habe me wondering if my hill assist cancels upon application of the petrol pedal. I'll have to play around.
Curious to know the response also- I mean it makes sense that would be a pretty easy implementation to make the guidance unobtrusive. I've actually confirmed in MK7 Golf/GTI's there is a setting for how sensitive hill start assist is. I didn't mess around with it but it's definitely in the menu's with two options (besides off- so 3). [/ quote]
That's interesting that you've got sensitivity settings for hill start assist. My menu doesn't offer settings, so my bill start assist will just have to stay.
I know what you mean about 9-10 MPH in 1st gear. You can get down 1-2 MPH lower than I can without the engine complaining; I've actually tested this with the digital speedometer display in the Driver Information Center between the analog speedometer and tachometer.
I rely on my digital read out when I'm crawling in low gears. I know once I dip below 7 mph it's easy back into 1st gear (I hate this). I don't know how well I'd do choosing gears and such if I turned this feature off because I find the traditional speedo in this car hard to read at a glance. [/ quote]
I don't necessarily fine my speedo hard to read, but the digital display is much easier to read at a glance.
That is quite impressive how daring you were from the start. Today, I tried relying on hill start assist on a hill and ended up stalling for the first time in a few weeks because hill start assist needs you to start letting up the clutch before giving it gas (and my feet are used to giving some gas just before letting up the clutch). Luckily, the light was already red when I stalled, so nobody honked. For now, I'll be using either the e-brake method or the "find the friction point with your foot on the brake and switch to the accelerator" method in traffic and I will continue testing the limits of hill start assist when nobody's around (and I remember to try it). Besides, I find either of the first 2 methods simpler to process than using hill start assist, but to each their own.
I typically roll back maybe a little if I'm not being good about it but it's more or less how I operate. Even on level ground I'm setting the gas either before or simultaneously with finding the friction point in 1st. It really sucked when I started out... like it was constantly lingering in my mind this one exit ramp before I even got into the car. I actually never stalled on it and like I said it was unavoidable for 5 days a week (that's pretty good stats IMO). I actually have stalled recently kind of day dreaming and a long red light but I'm not super paranoid about it like when I first started. I pretty much just did an "oops" and restarted back up and went on my way. It humbled me in a good way though I think if that makes sense.
I'm still uneasy about rolling back, unless I can see the entire front of the car in my rearview mirror (which isn't too frequent.

For some reason I was under the impression that setting the gas wasn't something that experienced drivers did, although it makes sense to do that most of the time, especially since it makes for a quicker take-off, which is quite necessary around here.

As for hills, I'm still at that point where some of them are on my mind before I'm in the car, although I've handled them fine for the most part. As of the other day, I finally starting taking a slight hill near me leading up to the Grand Central Parkway, whereas I'd been taking a slightly longer route to avoid it. Weirdly enough, there are some hills near work that cannot be avoided and I've done fine on them, aside from a few accidental overrevs (but nothing too far above 2k RPM.

Stalling is definitely a humbling experience. When I stalled the other day, I was surprisingly quick at restarting, although I was a bit nervous afterwards and made sure to give it some gas when the light turned green. Unlike in the past, my recovery from stalling did not involve peeling out.

The few people I know that drive stick have all said that it takes time to become proficient. I just need to be patient and remember that I've already made progress (and will hopefully continue to).
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Re: First Time Manual Driver - 3 Month Update

Post by theholycow »

MH86 wrote:I'm still uneasy about rolling back, unless I can see the entire front of the car in my rearview mirror (which isn't too frequent.
That's a ton of space and how often does anyone give you THAT much space?

Try this: Back up to a car in a parking lot until it's in your mirror at the spot where people often stop, then get out and look at the distance. Also, drive another car up behind yours and leave normal red light space, then get in your car and see where it is in the mirror. Then remember that rollback is rarely more than a few inches...
For some reason I was under the impression that setting the gas wasn't something that experienced drivers did, although it makes sense to do that most of the time, especially since it makes for a quicker take-off, which is quite necessary around here.
Yes and no. Some do, some don't, but even with the ones who do it's much less noticeable than when you're new and have to do it very much as a discrete, separate step, and hold it like that. Experienced drivers who do it will do it just barely a moment before the clutch grabs it. Experienced drivers who don't do it just lay on the gas hard while the clutch is starting to grab and operate the clutch quickly enough to keep RPM down; depending on the engine's throttle response and low-RPM torque that can often produce an expedient, mildly aggressive launch.
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Re: First Time Manual Driver - 3 Month Update

Post by MH86 »

theholycow wrote:
MH86 wrote:I'm still uneasy about rolling back, unless I can see the entire front of the car in my rearview mirror (which isn't too frequent.
That's a ton of space and how often does anyone give you THAT much space?

Try this: Back up to a car in a parking lot until it's in your mirror at the spot where people often stop, then get out and look at the distance. Also, drive another car up behind yours and leave normal red light space, then get in your car and see where it is in the mirror. Then remember that rollback is rarely more than a few inches...[/ quote]
I know that amount of space is unrealistic and that it's been awhile since I've rolled back more than a few inches (if even). Your idea is a good one. I'll try that, with one modification: instead of a parking lot, I'll just do that on the street since parking lots (especially free ones) are not too common around me.
For some reason I was under the impression that setting the gas wasn't something that experienced drivers did, although it makes sense to do that most of the time, especially since it makes for a quicker take-off, which is quite necessary around here.
Yes and no. Some do, some don't, but even with the ones who do it's much less noticeable than when you're new and have to do it very much as a discrete, separate step, and hold it like that. Experienced drivers who do it will do it just barely a moment before the clutch grabs it. Experienced drivers who don't do it just lay on the gas hard while the clutch is starting to grab and operate the clutch quickly enough to keep RPM down; depending on the engine's throttle response and low-RPM torque that can often produce an expedient, mildly aggressive launch.
Oh, ok. I guess it's yet another case of methodology where nobody is wrong. Of the few passengers I've had so far, nobody said that I drove especially rough or slow, although I was convinced they were just being too nice to say otherwise.

In terms of speed, my more reliable indicator should be that I'm not getting honked at when I start moving and that the times I do get cut off are by idiots who weave in and out of lanes, cutting off everyone.
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Re: First Time Manual Driver - 3 Month Update

Post by Teamwork »

That's interesting that you've got sensitivity settings for hill start assist. My menu doesn't offer settings, so my bill start assist will just have to stay.
I only "have it" because I went through Vag-Com menu's on my friends computer and stumbled across it accidentally. I really don't know what it does, what it changes, or why it even exists. All I know is there are two settings which I'm assuming makes it less intrusive or more.
I don't necessarily fine my speedo hard to read, but the digital display is much easier to read at a glance.
I think it's a euro adjustment... it just looks way too cluttered with MPH/KM and then going by 10 mph intervals. On a side note I really can't stand that this still exists in automakers but not having this thing constantly back lit (whether headlights are on or not). You put these gauges, deeply recessed in pretty much a cave... and then if it's like dusk, overcast, or winter these gauges are pretty much un-readable during the day. My last KIA was constantly back lit with the same idea and it spoiled me.

Don't have a direct quote for this but just wanted to bring up that basically I really feel like my roll back when I am really being keen about it with "hill start assist" is probably close to null if not actually null. There's some points where I either don't engage it (I'll slow up but not fully stopped) or I'll blip the throttle purposely to disengage it just to see how I do without the assist. While I definitely roll back more it wouldn't be a deal breaker to me if I hypothetically owned a car without it. With this being said though I don't see the sense in disabling it...
Yes and no. Some do, some don't, but even with the ones who do it's much less noticeable than when you're new and have to do it very much as a discrete, separate step, and hold it like that. Experienced drivers who do it will do it just barely a moment before the clutch grabs it. Experienced drivers who don't do it just lay on the gas hard while the clutch is starting to grab and operate the clutch quickly enough to keep RPM down; depending on the engine's throttle response and low-RPM torque that can often produce an expedient, mildly aggressive launch.
This explains pretty spot on how I feel. It's not like I'm holding the gas for a certain RPM and making a conscious, noticeably, time worthy move of going one step at a time. It's really simultaneously with processes over lapping making up for efficiency sake. I don't really hold the rpms all that high too so when I say I'm holding gas - in reality I'm probably holding it no more then 1500 rpm.
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Re: First Time Manual Driver - 3 Month Update

Post by MH86 »

Teamwork wrote:
That's interesting that you've got sensitivity settings for hill start assist. My menu doesn't offer settings, so my bill start assist will just have to stay.
I only "have it" because I went through Vag-Com menu's on my friends computer and stumbled across it accidentally. I really don't know what it does, what it changes, or why it even exists. All I know is there are two settings which I'm assuming makes it less intrusive or more.
That makes more sense. I thought you had some highly customizable menu that I didn't have.
I don't necessarily fine my speedo hard to read, but the digital display is much easier to read at a glance.
I think it's a euro adjustment... it just looks way too cluttered with MPH/KM and then going by 10 mph intervals. On a side note I really can't stand that this still exists in automakers but not having this thing constantly back lit (whether headlights are on or not). You put these gauges, deeply recessed in pretty much a cave... and then if it's like dusk, overcast, or winter these gauges are pretty much un-readable during the day. My last KIA was constantly back lit with the same idea and it spoiled me.
I'm going to guess that the gauges aren't backlit in the dark with the headlights off to remind drivers without automatic headlights to turn their lights on. Although if that's the case, they might as well have just made auto headlights standard.
Don't have a direct quote for this but just wanted to bring up that basically I really feel like my roll back when I am really being keen about it with "hill start assist" is probably close to null if not actually null. There's some points where I either don't engage it (I'll slow up but not fully stopped) or I'll blip the throttle purposely to disengage it just to see how I do without the assist. While I definitely roll back more it wouldn't be a deal breaker to me if I hypothetically owned a car without it. With this being said though I don't see the sense in disabling it...

I hear that. Even though I don't necessarily like hill start assist, I wouldn't necessarily disable it either.
Yes and no. Some do, some don't, but even with the ones who do it's much less noticeable than when you're new and have to do it very much as a discrete, separate step, and hold it like that. Experienced drivers who do it will do it just barely a moment before the clutch grabs it. Experienced drivers who don't do it just lay on the gas hard while the clutch is starting to grab and operate the clutch quickly enough to keep RPM down; depending on the engine's throttle response and low-RPM torque that can often produce an expedient, mildly aggressive launch.
This explains pretty spot on how I feel. It's not like I'm holding the gas for a certain RPM and making a conscious, noticeably, time worthy move of going one step at a time. It's really simultaneously with processes over lapping making up for efficiency sake. I don't really hold the rpms all that high too so when I say I'm holding gas - in reality I'm probably holding it no more then 1500 rpm.
I realize I've asked a lot of noob questions here and appreciate your (and everyone else's) answers. At some point, I hope to return the favor to newcomers.
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Re: First Time Manual Driver - 3 Month Update

Post by tankinbeans »

MH, ask all the noob questions you can think of. We've all been there. Teamwork was a fairly new member when he started answering questions for other newer members. It's reassuring to have a place to hang out where the members don't bro out (sorry enniroc and keyboard avatar young woman - I've forgotten your handle) and pretend they never mess up.
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