How smooth should my driving be?

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MidnightInGotham
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How smooth should my driving be?

Post by MidnightInGotham »

I've posted a bunch on here, I've had my GTI manual for about 9 months. Things are amazingly better than when I started thanks in part to all of the advice given here. My issue lately has been, how smooth should the ride be in a manual?

A perfectly timed shift can feel totally seemless (read smoother than an auto) and other times I feel the slight surge of an early shift (few hundred rpm drop).

So how smooth should everything be for everyday around town type driving? I would assume you shoot for perfect shift timing and rev match but is that realistic?

Thanks again in advanced!
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IMBoring25
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Re: How smooth should my driving be?

Post by IMBoring25 »

As smooth as you want to be, within reason.

I do work at it and am smoother than my automatic the vast majority of the time. Having honed that skill comes in handy when it is icy, when transporting an unstable cargo, or when trying to keep a sick passenger from decorating the interior.

On the other hand, some people prioritize the speed of the shift or see shift shock as an integral part of the manual transmission experience.

Ultimately, as long as you're not throwing things around so much you threaten your drivetrain and engine mounts, it's entirely up to you.
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Re: How smooth should my driving be?

Post by tankinbeans »

I mainly struggle with smoothmess during heavy traffic situations where you can move up in the range and then right back down. Trying to rev match while slowing without jerking...

Makes it interesting.
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theholycow
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Re: How smooth should my driving be?

Post by theholycow »

Smooth is boring. If you're going to be as boring as an automatic (or more so!), then why go to all the effort of finding a car with a manual transmission?

Be as smooth as you want to be.

I prefer a nice kick with every shift, but my wife hates it and commutes to work with me now so I've had to become very smooth for her sake. Unfortunately sometimes it's hard to turn it off and go back to enjoying what I really like so I end up boring and smooth more often than I'd prefer...
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Re: How smooth should my driving be?

Post by Rope-Pusher »

theholycow wrote:Smooth is boring. If you're going to be as boring as an automatic (or more so!), then why go to all the effort of finding a car with a manual transmission?

Be as smooth as you want to be.

I prefer a nice kick with every shift, but my wife hates it and commutes to work with me now so I've had to become very smooth for her sake. Unfortunately sometimes it's hard to turn it off and go back to enjoying what I really like so I end up boring and smooth more often than I'd prefer...
Back in the day, I appreciated the firm shifts my '83 Pontiac "Goolie" slushbox produced. I even liked that the torque converter lock-up was a noticable event. I had installed a B&M "Shift Improver Kit" in a previously owned slushbox to get it to feel that way.

What I didn't like about the Goolie was when, after 7 or so years, the torque converter clutch started randomly sticking in the engaged position. It was like pulling up to a stop in an Amish vehicle and having no clutch pedal to depress. After I saw how much trouble it would be to tear it apart to fix it, I decided it made more sense to just unplug the electrical lead that thought it was controlling the lock-up clutch. We weren't doing much highway driving with that vehicle anymore, so fuel economy didn't really take a hit.
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theholycow
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Re: How smooth should my driving be?

Post by theholycow »

Rope-Pusher wrote:After I saw how much trouble it would be to tear it apart to fix it, I decided it made more sense to just unplug the electrical lead that thought it was controlling the lock-up clutch. We weren't doing much highway driving with that vehicle anymore, so fuel economy didn't really take a hit.
I would have hooked it up to a driver-operated switch...maybe even placed said switch on the floor in the clutch pedal position, depending on whether the high beam switch was there or not.
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Re: How smooth should my driving be?

Post by Rope-Pusher »

theholycow wrote:
Rope-Pusher wrote:After I saw how much trouble it would be to tear it apart to fix it, I decided it made more sense to just unplug the electrical lead that thought it was controlling the lock-up clutch. We weren't doing much highway driving with that vehicle anymore, so fuel economy didn't really take a hit.
I would have hooked it up to a driver-operated switch...maybe even placed said switch on the floor in the clutch pedal position, depending on whether the high beam switch was there or not.
Cowster,
The prollem was that the clutch would not disengage. I'm thinking maybe a retractor spring was broken or something had developed too much friction for the spring to overcome. Usually, after the engine stalled when the vehicle was brought to a stop, the torque converter clutch stayed locked through several sessions of restarting the engine with the trans in Neutral and then stalling it again as the gearshift lever was pulled to the Drive position. This really appeared to other drivers like I had an Amish transmission and I had dumped the clutch too quickly and stalled the engine. Eventually, all the shaking seemed to allow the clutch to unlock and the vehicle could be started and driven normally....until the clutch came to be stuck in the locked condition again. This is what drove me to leave the lock-up solenoid wiring unplugged.

Actually, if I would have rigged a neutral safety switch bypass, I could have prolly restarted in drive with less hysteronics than the neutral slams were getting me, but I would still have had the herky-jerky stops accompanied by engine stalls at the next stoplight.
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Re: How smooth should my driving be?

Post by Rope-Pusher »

Hay Cow,
Speakin' of foot-actuated high beam switches, did you hear about the blond driver with a broken leg?

She got it caught in the steering wheel trying to flash the high beams at another driver and inadvertantly steered off the road into a ditch.
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Re: How smooth should my driving be?

Post by Rope-Pusher »

theholycow wrote: I prefer a nice kick with every shift, but my wife hates it and commutes to work with me now so I've had to become very smooth for her sake. Unfortunately sometimes it's hard to turn it off and go back to enjoying what I really like so I end up boring and smooth more often than I'd prefer...
Cow, I think you hit the head right on the nail. Drive smooth enough to satisfy the passenger.
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Re: How smooth should my driving be?

Post by tankinbeans »

What are you driving at, Rope? o_0
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Re: How smooth should my driving be?

Post by theholycow »

Sometimes you just gotta satisfy your woman!
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Re: How smooth should my driving be?

Post by tankinbeans »

theholycow wrote:Sometimes you just gotta satisfy your woman!
Is that when you let her play with your stick so she can decide how hard it goes?
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Re: How smooth should my driving be?

Post by six »

...aaaaaannnnndddd you went there.
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