Tips and Tricks For Driving a Manual

[bhsmarlin]

I've had my 5-speed Cooper now for about 4 months and I feel like I've pretty well "mastered" everyday driving with it. But, I'd like to hear everybody's little tricks or techniques they use while driving a manual. Whether it's just something to get a smoother shift or something that most people don't know about - share it all here.

[monkeynuts]

i find if you havent got a camera in one hand and a walkie talkie in another, changing gear seems to be fairly easy

my knee hurts a bit tho

[MukiMunki]

Don't be scared of the handbrake for hillstarts.

[Hat]

use the revs up to the limit - 2nd gear at 4500-6500 rpm is awesome

[Aqualung]

I've found an interesting site, all about manual driving...http://www.standardshift.com

[the W'rkncacnter]

Here's directions for driving a stick as my girlfriend would write them:

1. Depress clutch
2. Shift into 1st.
3. Rev engine to 5000 rpm
4. Release clutch
5. Scream and then refuse to drive the car again.

POne very good technique to practice (carefully) is that if you want to change down, say on a hill from 5 to 4, or 4 to 3, keep the throttle where it is (this requires a little discipline) then as quickly as you can hit the clutch, shift the gear and release the clutch without removing the foot from the loud pedal. The revs will go up of course as the clutch is depressed, but by then you will be in the lower gear and be letting the clutch back in. If you practice this carefully, you will master a smoothest, fastest down shift you can do...

MW

[r34ver]

favourite gear? it's gotta be 2nd or 3rd. Completely unrelated however, why if you start the engine with the pedal down (in neutral) does it only rev to 3000 until you release and give it some again?

[minicabrio]

Quote: Originally Posted by r34ver

favourite gear? it's gotta be 2nd or 3rd. Completely unrelated however, why if you start the engine with the pedal down (in neutral) does it only rev to 3000 until you release and give it some again?

Safety measure... so you can't start it in gear by accident at full throttle...

Also, the engine requires only a certain amout of throttle to fire, and doesn't want to be over-revved when cold.

[frylock]

Someone's already mentioned this, but I thought I'd reiterate. Rev matching your down shifts makes things a lot smoother. There's three methods of rev matching a down shift (that I know of):

1) Granny shift--Press and hold clutch. Shift down into desired gear. Press brake as necessary. Press accelerator until you've reached 3000-4000 RPM. Release the clutch. Enjoy a smooth shift. This is the easiest method, but not what you want to use on a sharp curve or an icy road--it's bad to keep the clutch held in under these conditions.

2) Double clutch--Press clutch. Shift into neutral. Release clutch. Brake as necessary. Increase engine speed to 4000-5000 RPM. Press clutch. Shift down into gear. Release clutch. Enjoy a smooth shift. This is a little more difficult, but you can keep traction to the tires in neutral. You need to rev higher with this method because you will lose revs while completing your second shift.

3) Heel to Toe--Just like a double clutch, except you press brake with the toe of your right foot and accelerator with the heel of your right foot (not simultaneously!!!). This allows you to shift more quickly than a double clutch so you don't have to rev the engine so high.

Admittedly, I'm no expert. I'm mostly a granny shifter. Sometimes I'll try one of those other shifts during the winter on an icy curve.