I'm a Newbie here (From the NYC area) in fact this is my first post i just purchased a used coupe 04 6 sp and goes without saying that i loves this car the previous owner did some customizations that i'm not too mad at anyways i'm also new at driving manual cars so what are your shift techniques if any especially when trying to leave someone at the line. i find that when i shift from 1st to 2nd i lose alto of momentum and the shift process seems rough as if i'm doing some thing wrong even if i completely sink the clutch. any info i consider good info i like to learn from other people's mistakes my baby is just too precious to do trial and error. lol

 

Well in order to get off the line you will need to bleed the clutch out with the gas steadily applied. It is the only way to minimize slip and maximize your launch. Good tires are key there.
As far as the shifting, it sounds like you are going pretty slow on the 1-2.
Power shifting is a technique to keep you rpms up while shifting. Basically you don't let off the gas while pushing in the clutch to shift. You have to be quick and conscious of what you are doing, so it will take practice to feel it out right. Be careful not to practice in traffic, or on a turn. You could fish the rear with inexperience. Once you get the hang of it and know the feel of your car it is easy. I wouldn't recommend doing it all the time, may have negative effects on you tranny down the road if done daily.

 

the faster your rpm are the quicker you need to let out your clutch. in our cars to launch, hold the rpm at around 3500rpm slip the clutch out and gas only AFTER the spinning out subsides. If you gas right as your dump the clutch it will peel out none stop.

 

Thanks.. is it normal for my shift between 1st and 2nd to be rougher (interms of physically pulling the shifter thru those gears) than let's say shifting between 2nd and 3rd...........etc?

 

i think its just the nature of the car. I do the same all the time and i have had my car for 2 and half years. My friends think that i can't drive a manual well because if this when actually i can. I pulled a 13.67 at 101.4 at the strip with a 2.1 60" many mods ago.

 

There's been talk about the synchros being the culpret, especially for the 1-2 upshift. No, it's not smooth an easy compared to a Miata or a Civic. But then again, there's a lot more torque and HP being directed to the tranny. Upshifting from 3-4 doesn't put as much stress on the gearbox so the synchronizers don't have to be as stout. (And most folks aren't redlining from 4th to 5th . That's just one theory. Even those of us who LOVE this car haven't been totally estatic about the gearbox. Oh well...

 

no offense to the Ivory, but take this advice and throw it out the window. it is VERY possible to get an excellent launch, without spinning your wheels. it just takes practice. keep working.

 

I'm going to go ahead and *jump* on this train.

I honestly SUCK at shifting and need some advise as well.

I feel like when I go from first to second the shift is so fast that the car doesn't gain enough momentum and I'm getting dusted by camry's beside
me at the light that aren't even trying to race, b/c we are in traffic. Not that I'm racing either, but I'm not getting that "HARD PULL" of Torgue that I would expect.

I have to shift from first to second so quickly compared to the other gears.

Like for instance, from second to third, the RPM's don't jump so extremely fast and they slowly *PULL*/Torque, and I can get up and go until I need to shift to the next gear.

1st gear is like pointless. It gets me from 0mph to 2mph before I hit 4,500rpm
and have to shift. HA!

I MUST MUST MUST, be doing something terribly wrong guys...I don't know. It's frustrating when I get in a 03' or 04' sedan AT loaner from the dealership and it hails tons of @ss on the fly. I'm thinking, me in this sedan vs. me in the 6mt, is not contest.

I must not be fit for a MT?

Any .02's and/or advice would be much appreciated fellas!

Thanks,
-WoW

P.s. What's this talk of MREV2? I briefly read that it's from the AT, and the AT has more torque. I must have read that wrong, b/c I thought the AT's had less Torque rating than the 6MT? Oh yeah, and I think they said it was a SEDAN AT and not a Coupe AT...???

 

I tend to shift at every 2.5-3k rpm when I'm just normal driving. When I feel like doing a lil more "spirited" driving, I take it up to 4.5-5k each gear. I do agree that the 1-2 shift is rough. If you have a hard to matching the clutch/gas on the 1-2, try granny shifting 1st to 2nd, after 1-2nd gear, everything else is smooth sailing..

 

Doesn't our cars have 6 speed? Meaning the gears are close ratios. So our cars are really designed to be in the high Rpm and not lose that much power when switching gears. The carmy has only 4 speeds and the gearing is longer or taller then ours. Our gearing will only makes us better when we are racing not normal driving.

 

[QUOTE=WhiteonWheat]I'm going to go ahead and *jump* on this train.

I honestly SUCK at shifting and need some advise as well.

I feel like when I go from first to second the shift is so fast that the car doesn't gain enough momentum and I'm getting dusted by camry's beside
me at the light that aren't even trying to race, b/c we are in traffic. Not that I'm racing either, but I'm not getting that "HARD PULL" of Torgue that I would expect.

I have to shift from first to second so quickly compared to the other gears.

Like for instance, from second to third, the RPM's don't jump so extremely fast and they slowly *PULL*/Torque, and I can get up and go until I need to shift to the next gear.

1st gear is like pointless. It gets me from 0mph to 2mph before I hit 4,500rpm
and have to shift. HA!

I MUST MUST MUST, be doing something terribly wrong guys...I don't know. It's frustrating when I get in a 03' or 04' sedan AT loaner from the dealership and it hails tons of @ss on the fly. I'm thinking, me in this sedan vs. me in the 6mt, is not contest.

I must not be fit for a MT?

QUOTE]

I'm not sure I'd go that far...

DISCLAIMER: Ok. This is my opinion

You don't mention how long you've been driving a stick. Assuming you have experience, I've noticed some cars are more sensitive to where they're shifted in relation to the torque band. Yes, the VQ makes lots of torque, but I've noticed that it seems to shift (from 1st to 2nd) better at certain RPMs. Shifting too "early" (lower RPM) seems to be a little rougher than shifting at say 3k or 3.5k. I think the key at any RPM, is to not let the RPMs drop too much while depressing the clutch. No, I'm not suggesting revving the h*ll out of the engine between shifts but "lurching" can be caused by an abrupt difference in the RPMs between gear ratios. That's why shifting from 4 to 5 or 5 to 6 seems so smooth (I'm not referring to sliding the lever smooth--that's another issue). There's always a reasonable gap in the ratios between 1st and 2nd in any car. Those ratios tend to get smaller as the gears get numerically higher (3rd, 4th, etc.)

There are other possibilities too...

But try experimenting with those two variables (RPM and throttle) and see if you're happier. Most manuals won't shift as "smoothly" as a good auto; where the manual shines is that there's no torque converter to eat up power and the 6MT has more HP than the auto version.

 

the biggest thing that helped me was learning exactly how the transmission worked. this was also my first car and not 4 months ago i had no clue how to drive a manual. instead of asking others what they did, i just did research on how the transmission works. it helps to understand what is going on before trying to master. im launching and powershifting with ease now, and 4 months ago i didnt even know what those were. granted, i still could learn a lot more but i feel very comfortable with the car now and RARELY have rough shifts from 1-2

 

my shifts on the 6MT are seamless, including 1-2. just slow down and engage gently while giving slight throttle to keep momentum of the flywheel.

just be cause you can shift fast doesn't necessarily mean you're an avid
MT driver. smoothness first, then speed.

 

just be cause you can shift fast doesn't necessarily mean you're an avid
MT driver. smoothness first, then speed.

I agree. I drove a couple of my co-workers to lunch last week, and the one who sat in the back seat told me that she thought I had an a five speed auto tranny since the shifts were so smooth. Of course if I'm power shifting, it's not smooth at all.

 

OK now my $.02. When you have some time, find a private place and turn the car off. Sit there and go through the motions of changing gears, clutch and all. You can increase the speed as your get better at changing without missing any gears. BTW...... you need not have to go all the way down with the clutch, just learn the engagement point with foot position. Power shifting is good, but I wouldn't do it till you get the gears right. Always a pleasure when you miss a gear!!! What???? I've never done it!!! When to shift??? For me if I doing Hard driving, it's usually around 6500-6800 RPM. Think of all the Dyno graphs. Where's the meat of the power???? In this car you'll lose about 750 to 1K RPM's from gear to gear. Depending on your Mod's, find your sweet spot.

It's funny how the easiest gear is the one we missed the most. Had a friend with and **** fast Stang and that's the gear he missed. LOL I guess we try to be quicker and try to rush this gear because of the speed and the event. I sometimes think I just get too confident and forget about technique with this one. But when I do "spirited" driving against someone I some how concentrate a little bit more.

Good luck and practice!!!! BTW......... don't make the engine noises when practicing and definitely not the burn outs!!!!