WTF is this shit? some silly stamp of approval by SnapFit?
give me a break..

jk

 

Actually, I have a couple questions about my shifting too.

First off, when I get going from a standstill I generally rev it up to 2000rpm before the clutch is fully engaged, then gradually move my right foot in while letting out the clutch so that the revs remain around 2000rpm but the increasing contact between the clutch and gear makes the car accelerate. I've found this to be a very smooth way to accelerate from a stop, but is it wearing on the clutch to be catching it at 2000rpm? And if it is, what's a better way to start?

Second, what's the best way to do a smooth downshift? I've been trying to give it a little gas while the clutch is in so that the revs will match, but it's quite difficult and I hardly ever get practice downshifting in daily driving. Is it better to "blip" the gas pedal in order to match the revs on a downshift?

I've been driving MT for about 2 weeks and I'm fairly smooth, but I'm afraid that my techniques might be wearing on the car since I didn't get much guidance in learning.

 

2k is fine, just dont ride the clutch too long. i dont keep an eye on
the tach coming from standstill but i think im around 1.3k and just
gently engage taking about say 4sec until i fully take my foot off the
clutch pedal . it's not a contest how low of an rpm you can engage.

yes, most definitely blip the throttle during each down shift unless
you need that extra braking power going downhill you can under blip
on purpose and engage your clutch. under blip wears your clutch a little
so i wouldn't recommend it doing too many cycles in a row. down
shift engagements i give it extra time (about twice the length of
an upshift) for the clutch to engage. for normal downshift there
should be no slip and clutch wear should be minimal.

when you get good at it down shift should only take a split second
from the time you blip to when you clutch-out in your lower gear.

 

Youtube "how to drive manual" or something...i was surfing one day and there's a guy who teaches the basics of manual shifting on there and proper seating position etc

 

it may sound kind of far fetched but i switched my tranny fluid over to GMsyncromesh (after having some tranny grind in 2nd) and it helped me out a bit with my head bobbing shifts. it didnt stop it completely but it seemed to have made a difference. and no it wasnt from me just learning to drive a stick better. haha. it helps considerably when the car is cold(thats when i had the tranny grind problem aswell).

 

My passengers heads are ALWAYS jerking forward lol! It looks really silly but whatever, I shift my car hard VROOOOOOOM

 

yeah right....tell me about it ...
he's such a punk...to think I have to live with him!
HAhahaha...no really

 

When my Fit is cold it does all sorts of odd things....but cold or not
my shifts into second dont do like a one smooth "tick pop" into gear like every gear does... it does like a few tics then goes in. It truely gives me no confidence , and I am wondering if that is some sort of very light grind?
In this car that is not what the gears sound/feel like when they chirp or grind though...

I thought it was the safety gate for first that I might be passing on the way to second... but... when I am at a stop and I select 1st to 2nd and back they slide in with a buttery smoothness!!! WTF?

Was it this issue that your fluid change alleviated? ????

 

my problem was shifting into 2nd in general. it seemed to be worse when the car was cold but even when it was warm it would still do it. it didnt seem like it wanted to go into 2nd sometimes and i would have to go back to first and then try it again. i posted a thread about it and jdmchris told me about the syncromesh so i tried it and it really seems to have helped out. i dont have any wierd grinds, shifting into 2nd isnt really a problem anymore, and my overall shifts seem to be a bit smoother.

 

snapfit- lol!

 

i am new to driving a MT. I've can shift just fine...but i do have sperts of where i screw up and dont shift too smoothly. the way you described is how i was shifting before people started yelling at me....saying i was going to wear the clutch out way too early by having the gas pedal pushed down AT ALL while the clutch is engaged. is this not true? Is the shifting method you mentioned okay to do?

 

if you're at wot or close to it you would not want any gas when you
engage because you want the flywheel to spin down quickly and nail
the next gear's ideal rpm at wot, but for smooth street driving you need to give
a little bit of throttle to keep the flywheel's momentum.

RPM does not go up, it is merely to keep the flywheel from spinning down
beyond the next gear's ideal engagement rpm's... it is an assist.

if you have the defrost or a/c on, you have to do this inorder to get
a smooth shift unless you're going wot or close to it.

now if you're hearing the clutch slipping (dropping engine sound pitch)
while you are engage the next gear, you're giving it too much throttle.
that will wear your clutch. there should be no clutch slip other than
engaging 1st gear from a standstill.

 

okay ty 1234

 

His responses were good. A lot depends on how fast you shift, and excess clutch wear is only a problem revving with the clutch partially engaged.

You want to have the revs match as close as possible when you shift, and then let the clutch in pretty quickly (but smoothly) . If the revs are close it will be a smooth journey.

In practice, this means:

1) When shifting 1-2, hold the clutch in a bit longer than when shifting into the other gears. This is because the rpm gap between 1-2 is much bigger than between 2-3, 3-4, 4-5, and the rpms take longer to drop.

2) No real need to blip the throttle when upshifting if you shift fairly quickly - just shift when the rpms drop to the place where you'll be when going to the next gear, and apply the throttle smoothly.

3) Blipping the throttle when downshifting is good, because the rpms will be higher in the new gear. I generally blip it up about 700rpm or so, it drops about 200 during the shift, and the next lower gear is about 500 higher than the old one (except 2-1).

 

another thing that is important is to wear the same shoes
when you drive.

you dont necessarily need driving shoes (ie: Piloti's) but
just wear the same shoes so that you get consistency.

once you're good, then you can try different shoes.

 

Thanks for the responses. I think I've finally figured out what I'm doing wrong (I think someone early-on suggested it).

My wife's been out of town for the past few days so I've been able to just drive it. While she wasn't here, I discovered that if I just drive it like it's my car instead of trying to shift "gently", my shifts seem to be much better. I think I was just trying too hard.

 

Hahah nice nice

 

your tits are getting bigger ehh?,,(Time In The Seat) heheheheh

 

How do you shift fast without harming the clutch? It seems to take a long time for the revs to drop naturally in order to match revs with the next gear on an upshift. It feels like the Fit holds the revs for a moment even after I've let off the gas, and the only way to smoothly shift in a reasonably fast manner is to start getting off the gas before getting onto the clutch. I was watching a video of a pro driver in a Spoon Fit and he was shifting REALLY fast. The 1-2 shift is especially difficult to get smooth when driving hard unless I slow down to granny pace. Tips?

 

as you said, roll off the gas when you near redline, shift, wait a
split sec, and engage. if you get it perfect car will not jerk at all.

if the car jerks a little it's still considered 'normal' at wot, but you are
putting some wear on the clutch and drive train.

i dont recommend powershifting this car as i dont think the stock
parts can handle it too much... plus, it's not that fast in actual
anyway. lol