Hi all,

I just got my winnging blue 6sp a week ago! but it's my first manual car, and after all of the stalling, i finally somewhat got used to working the stick..
I was wondering tho, for all you manual experts out there, i tend to skip gears for a smoother ride, i go from 1st gear to 3rd, and maybe 3rd to 5th.. is that ok?? anything wrong with what i'm doing? and what's double clutching guys?? and what's riding the clutch? somebody educate me on driving a stick!!

 

Hey, congrats on the new car! Skipping gears is fine, as long as you don't skip entirely too far (like 1st to 5th at low revs) that can be hard on things.
Riding the clutch would be driving around with your foot resting on the clutch pedal - that's bad. If you don't already do it, get used to resting your left foot over on the dead pedal next to the clutch, it'll hold you in your seat better too.
Double clutching isn't necessary in cars with synchros (which is about any modern car), but it matches the speed of two parts of the transmission (gearheads, I know you know this one) and would keep older cars from grinding when shifting. Don't even worry about learning that one.

 

No harm in skipping gears - most of the time when I come up to highway speed, because the acceleration rush is so great in the RX-8 when merging that I blast up through 2nd and 3rd, which takes me to the traffic speed, merge in, and drop it to 6th for cruising.

I usually don't skip 1-3 mostly because it's not a natural shift - you're doing a U-turn in the pattern. Nothing mechanical about it, just doesn't feel good. I also frequently jump from 2nd to 5th (up and across) or even occasionally (especially if I "legged out" first) go from 1st to 4th.

Not sure if you know or not, but the manual transmission Corvettes have a gas-mileage nanny in the gearbox that forces you to shift from 1st to 4th unless you're almost wide-open throttle. Freaking annoying as hell. So, skipping shifts isn't a damage-inducing thing at all. Although half the fun of the mannytranny is rowing up through the gears. Why miss out on half the fun?

Riding the clutch: As Rhwab said. Don't do it. Use the dead pedal.

Have fun. You'll be a far better driver overall once you're used to driving the manual.

Stew

 

Congrats! I'm just the same as you.

Here is a great website(with instructional video) on how to drive standard
www.standardshift.com

BlueFrenzy passed it along to me.

 

Congrats on the new ride!

I usually only skip in the higher gears in cruising situations. I like to have the revs close to the power band when in traffic so I have the power should I need it.

 

Yeah, you can go 1-2-4-6 or 1-3-5-6 without any problem. 1-2-4-6 feels more comfortable imho, but that's a matter of taste I guess.

 

Admiral8, you stole my link! Ha ha ... great choice in color (both eastaznboi and Admiral 8). You guys should post some pics of your new rides.

Don't worry, I was a non-manual driver 4 months ago and now it feels queer to drive an automatic. Good luck!

 

Although you could probably get away with skipping gears, I'm not sure why you would want to in this car. With the limited torque, you need to keep the revs up in the power band just to keep things going brisk. And you might find yourself needing that extra oomph all of a sudden and might find yourself too low in the rev range to do anything about it. Downshifting two gears is a lot more common at least as far as I'm concerned. Congrats on your purchase!!! It won't be long before you are a master with your stick... ;oP

 

I also learned to drive a manual transmission in this car as well. My friend had given me about an half hour lesson to drive his manual "beater" car back in high school. The RX-8 is one of the easiest manual transmission cars anybody could drive. How many cars lets you recover and come back to life from a near stall? This happened to me on a couple of occasions early on, and quickly stepping on the clutch will revive the car back to life. I also master the "heel and toe" technique and do it almost every chance I get! What an incredibly fun and exciting car to drive. The best car driving experience in my life.

 

thanks for all the input guys! i will definitely post pics as soon as i get my baby washed, it's covered in salt from the snow we had last week. can anybody tell me what "heel and toe" -ing is ?? but i definitely want to thank you guys again for everything! i'm looking to get some clear corners for my car! any good deals anybody know of besides ebay??

 

double clutching doesn't exist anymore. so don't worry about it. if you got that off of fast and the furious, shame on you for even taking that in. double clutching is when you press in the clutch to get it out of gear into the neutral position, then pressing it again to get it into the next gear. for older cars. the modern day car has what is called a synchro. a brass tapered ring that "catches" the corresponding gear, making it easier to change gears w/o damaging the teeth. you really have to see how it works.

heel-toe is a technique used in spirited driving. the basic concept is using the right foot on both the brake and accelerator. using the "ball" or toe of the foot on the brake and the heel on the accelerator. when coming into a turn you need to downshift into a lower gear before the turn, so when you exit the rpms are at a decent level to accelerate in. but you'll notice that when you downshift and let go of the clutch, you'll get a jerking motion that doesn't give the car a smooth transition that could lead to a slow cornering or even worse. so before you go into the turn, you brake with the "ball" of your foot. then simulaneously clutch in, blip the gas pedal (to raise the rpm, you're rev matching at this point to eliminate the jerking) and shift into the correct gear. it's really hard to explain it in words, again, this is something you would have to see in person.

there are so many different techniques used in driving a manual, but for you just stick w/ the general use. learn to drive it first and then look into the different ways once you're confident.

i always say, learn how to walk before you attempt to run...

 

Yeah, heel-toe downshifts are only going to complicate things for a new 6-speed driver. I'd recommend concentrating on getting your shifting to be second nature before even considering any advanced techniques. Then when you finally understand how everything works, then go learn about how these advanced techniques should work. It's much easier to follow how things should work after having some real-world experience under your belt.

 

I'm really impressed with Im DANomite's explanation of "heel and toe." I could not have said it better myself. I agree with Rhawb as this technique should be learned by an "advanced" stick shift driver. It will surely complicate things for the "beginner" stick driver since all hands, and feet will be used all at the same time. Even advanced drivers will need alot of practice just to get all the timing correctly, so that the heel and toe downshift is smooth as silk, without none of that jerky motion.

Click here for an excellent article on "Heel and Toe" downshift.