'Spirited' Driving?

[ShiftyRexy]

Hey everyone, I've been reading this website and forum since I first started dreaming about learning to drive stick a few years ago. Now I finally have my dream car with a stick! I've been driving for about a month and a half and have finally gotten past red-light anxiety so I'm enjoying it a lot more.

With getting better though, I've run into a few questions I couldn't find an answer to. When I'm driving quickly, like accelerating out of a turn onto a large street, I tend to let it rev out a bit more and shift more quickly. I've gotten good enough that my shifts are actually faster than the falling revs, so when I let the clutch out (I usually let it out very quickly after I'm out of first) there is some drivetrain shock as the engine RPMs drop to match wheel speed since the revs haven't dropped enough for the new gear to be matched. My question is, is there a trick, technique to driving smooth AND fast? Or are the two mutually exclusive when driving a manual? I feel like if I want to drive fast I either have to give up smoothness for shift speed or allow the clutch to slip when I'm letting up (which pains me to do more than shift shock!)

What do you guys think?

[Jastreb]

Welcome to the site! Congrats on the car.

I'll give you the common answer around here:
Quick, Smooth, Low clutch wear - Pick two

[Reverence]

You can have all three: fast + smooth + low clutch wear, the only thing is that 'fast' will be a little slower that your car's 'fastest', that's all.

...and that's a relative thing, since you could be driving a powerful car and be really fast without needing to reach 1/2 of your car's full potential.

In a 'less powerful car', waiting a split second for the rpms to fall to target for next gear is not going to slow you down that much, really, if you are bringing the rpms towards the upper band, which I assume you are since you're wanting to be fast.

In a 'powerful car' with good low-end torque, you could complete your shifts really quick at lower rpms (rpms drop to target will be shorter), and still be fast (good low-end torque).

[Shadow]

With practice, you can drive quickly and smoothly on just about any M/T car. Just keep practicing and you'll learn to make those tiny little adjustments that will give you the most driving satisfaction.

[Charles421]

I noticed you have a WRX - revs fall slower in turbocharged cars than NA cars. With my 335i I just have to be patient between shifts. You can either:
A: Wait until the revs fall to the point where the next gear picks up and release the clutch quickly.
B: Use the clutch to take up the difference in RPM between the current gear and the next one by releasing it slower.

I agree with reverence that the time you're waiting for the revs to fall is not going to noticeably slow you down. I do A from the above options almost all of the time since I like smoothness.

Best of luck.

[six]

The great thing about driving a manual is this: you can be smooth if you want, or you can be aggressive if you want. Or, you can be both... yes, if you want. That freedom is why we all choose to drive a manual.

To answer your question, drive however you feel like. If you want to be smooth, let the clutch take up the slack. The wear is negligible at worst. Or, wait the extra split second. Just because you are now able to shift quicker doesn't mean you have to shift quicker. Just drive, your brain and body will take care of the rest over time.

[AHTOXA]

The 2010 WRX that I drove had pretty bad rev hang and RPMs fell rather slowly. It's common to all new cars and not just turbo motors. I hated it so much; now, there are cars that handle electronic throttle control and little rev hang very well, however I have nit seen many.

I drive a vehicle with a cable throttle now and couldn't be happier about it.

[Shadow]

The 2010 WRX that I drove had pretty bad rev hang and RPMs fell rather slowly. It's common to all new cars and not just turbo motors. I hated it so much; now, there are cars that handle electronic throttle control and little rev hang very well, however I have nit seen many.

I drive a vehicle with a cable throttle now and couldn't be happier about it.

I know rev hang is common on most newer cars, but my car really has no discernible rev hang whatsoever, despite it being a new car and having a turbo. If I didn't know better, I'd think it had a cable pulling on the throttle plate. I'm not sure if other Audis are the same way. Maybe kayubassist can chime in about his A3.

[watkins]

The 2010 WRX that I drove had pretty bad rev hang and RPMs fell rather slowly. It's common to all new cars and not just turbo motors. I hated it so much; now, there are cars that handle electronic throttle control and little rev hang very well, however I have nit seen many.

That truly was some of the most awful rev hang Ive experienced. But then again I was pretty unimpressed with that car overall...

[AHTOXA]

The 2010 WRX that I drove had pretty bad rev hang and RPMs fell rather slowly. It's common to all new cars and not just turbo motors. I hated it so much; now, there are cars that handle electronic throttle control and little rev hang very well, however I have nit seen many.

I drive a vehicle with a cable throttle now and couldn't be happier about it.

I know rev hang is common on most newer cars, but my car really has no discernible rev hang whatsoever, despite it being a new car and having a turbo. If I didn't know better, I'd think it had a cable pulling on the throttle plate. I'm not sure if other Audis are the same way. Maybe kayubassist can chime in about his A3.

I don't have any experience with your car, but when I owned an 08 rabbit, things weren't so good in terms of rev hang.

My LS2 GTO, however, behaved very much like a cable throttle.

[Jon2000]

I don't notice any rev hang on my 2007 Mazdaspeed3 ...maybe it's my driving style but the revs fall quickly. I drove a 2010 Hyundai Genesis Coupe 2.0 Turbo and really noticed the rev hang.

[1974Alfa5spd]

I've found it's relative to how "spiritedly" you're driving. I found that getting onto a thoroughfare and shifting at about 4000 with moderate throttle I can still achieve smooth shifts. However, going balls to the wall with full throttle redline shifts, things are going to get a little jerky.

[kayubassist]

So,
I drove my car to the redline (2 to 3 to 4 all to the redline) for the first time since I got the car in August.
Since I didn't want to drop the clutch I tried to make shifts smooth.
After I parked my car in the driveway and got out of the car,
holy smokes burning smell everywhere! (no visible smoke or smell inside the cabin though)
Did I shift too slowly or some burning smell is acceptable after driving at redline? (I hope it is the oil burning lol)

if I want to shift at redline. is it better to just let go of the clutch fast and let the car take the shock or shift slowly and smoothly and enjoy the burning smell? (until I get better with manual)

[AHTOXA]

When shifting at high RPM I find that timing rather than clutch motion is what determines your shift feel.

[Rope-Pusher]

Prolly oil - high rpms can cause blow-by which can pressurize your crankass and cause oil to leak/drip out moron usual. You also end up with lots of oil up in the head, so if walwe cover gasket isn't so good, yule half oil dripping down onto zaust and such.