help driving stick

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thekid3

New Member
Need some pointers.... have been diving automatic for years, just got a stick forf fun. need tips, like stop and go traffic what do gear do i drive in, and how do i coast at a certain speed when driving stick? how do i know when to down shift? and how do i down shift (clutch in and then gas while i clutch out) ?
 
its just one of those things that takes practice.

a few things that may help you out....
when starting up from a dead stop, if you only use 1st gear very briefly, just to barely get the car to move, it will make the 1-2 shift a lot smoother. if you let the rpms climb it will be harder to shift to second without jerking the car around.

in stop and go traffic, it is great when you can leave the car is second gear and just pay attention to the momentum of the traffic in front of you, leaving a little room in front of you. youll find you can coast very slowly in second gear. of course sometimes you have to fully stop and restart from 1st.

as far as what gear to drive in, you should drive in the highest gear you can. by 50 mph you should be in 5th for normal cruising. if you are in a lot of traffic and may need to make lane changes, you might want more power on hand and stay in 4th. slow driving (like in a neighborhood) would probably call for 3rd gear cruising. using the highest gear possible for the situation will result in driving that is much smoother and fuel efficient.
 
don't bother down shifting unless you need to stop FAST. its less stress on the engine and more fuel efficient.

and just relax.. i wouldn't drive in traffic unless i got used to driving it. take the car around your block and down the road untill you feel comfortable. practice starting from a stop over and over again.

it doesnt take long to get good at it.

this is how i usally drive
0-20 = 1st gear
20-40 = 2nd gear
40-60 = 3rd gear
60-80 = 4th gear
80 & up = 5th gear

not everyone drives like this but this is how i knew when to shift when i started driving stick. but when i can i do like mdpsEG said, drive in the highest gear you can
 
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practice starting off facing up a hill. use your e-brake and imagine NOT rolling into the car that stopped right on your ass behind you at the imaginary stop light.
 
I have no idea why you put this in the EW Civic/CR-X forum. :confused:

:moved:

As for your questions...

1.) Stop and Go Traffic - It depends on how "stop and go" it is. If traffic is crawling but you're never really stopped much (like a traffic jam on the freeway for example), then you could probably just keep it in second and use first occasionally. If you're in town going from light to light (i.e., you're actually stopping and sitting) then you probably need go through all the motions (i.e. back to first when you stop, go through the gears, repeat).

2.) Coasting - What's your question here? Are you just asking how to maintain a steady speed? Put it in the gear you want and keep your foot on the gas. If you're talking about coasting with your foot off the gas, then just do it. You don't need to be in or out of any specific gear. When you're ready to accelerate again, THEN you put it in the proper gear.

3.) Down-Shifting - Times that you would want to downshift include engine braking (rather then stomping on the brakes to slow down, put the car in a lower gear and get off the gas), if you're crusing and you want to accelerate (this will depend on your RPMS, if they're fairly low and you want to accelerate quickly then you'll want to downshift), and when you've slowed down using your brakes and you now want to cruise or accelerate again (pick the proper gear depending on your speed, RPMs, what you want to do next, etc.).

4.) How to Down-Shift - Press the clutch in, select the gear you want, press the clutch out. That's it. You don't need to gas it if you don't want to. If you want to haul ass then you're going to want to get on the gas, but it's not required to execute a proper downshift.

Just go somewhere that's not busy (parking lot, neighborhood, backroads, etc.) and practice until you get the hang of it...
 
this is how i usally drive
0-20 = 1st gear
20-40 = 2nd gear
40-60 = 3rd gear
60-80 = 4th gear
80 & up = 5th gear

not everyone drives like this but this is how i knew when to shift when i started driving stick. but when i can i do like mdpsEG said, drive in the highest gear you can

That may not be the best way to think about it since every car is geared differently. My advice would be that if you want to drive "normally", then wind the car up to around 3k RPMs before you shift.

And yes, if you want to get good MPGs, then cruise in the highest gear that you can without having the car feel "boggy"...
 
thanks alot for all your input and help it definitely helped me and i will keep it all in mind.. sorry i put it in the wrong forum, i am new to site.. i need find a new tranny for my dseries because the one i have has a grind in almos every gear i thot it was just me at frist like cuz i didnt no what i was doing but took it to get checked and need a new tranny anyonw know where i can find one cheap
 
a grinding tranny can actually help you learn to rev match and time your shifting better ;)
 
really how so? and couldnt drivin the car around like that cause other problems... any tips on rev matching
 
well... the tranny is likely grinding because the synchros are shot
if you time the shifts properly, and drop the shifter into the next gear when the RPMs are correct for the gear you are going into and the speed you are at, everything is synchronized and you wont hear a grind
for upshifting, you want to slide into the gear right as the RPMs hit the right spot
for downshifting, you will need to blip the throttle to get the RPMs up to where they need to be for that gear

all of this is really a bit more than someone who is just learning to drive standard can probably deal with.... and yes im sure if you fuck up enough trying to get it right, you can probably do some decent damage to the tranny... so im not really going to recommend it

but there was a time when if you wanted to drive, you drove standard, and there werent any synchros back then... so it CAN be done :shrug2:


as far as tips... i dunno... its pretty hard to put stuff like that into text... its really something you have to have the feel for
 
Normal everyday driving I usually change around my habits depending on my mood.

If I'm up for spirited driving I beat the hell out of my car. I start in first, wind out to 5k and shift. Normally my starts from first end at 4k, unless its cold and the car isn't warmed up, then I shift at 3k. I tend to go first, second, third and then 5th. I don't even remember the last time I actually used vtec at all.

In stop and go traffic I'll keep my shifting to a minimum, coming to a red light i'll wind it down some so that I barely need the brakes to come to a stop and sometimes I'll just start in second gear.

Just go out and practice in a parking lot on your starts and stops, thats the biggest part and the part I hated the most.
 
That may not be the best way to think about it since every car is geared differently. My advice would be that if you want to drive "normally", then wind the car up to around 3k RPMs before you shift.

And yes, if you want to get good MPGs, then cruise in the highest gear that you can without having the car feel "boggy"...

I'm talkin about a civic. i've driven B series (GSR, B16A), and a Kseries (K20A3) and they're pretty much the same as my D series. everytime i change a gear when driving the way i said its always at 3k
 
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