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newbie here.

First of all, thanks for those who helped me with the first gear problem i had =)

NOW, it's downshifting.

first problem --> i'm going on the 3rd gear, i slow down by putting it to neutral and start breaking when i was about to reach a right turn.

after a bit of breaking, i put it to 2nd gear... (forgot if i let go of the clutch too fast) but the the engine just
started jolting a bit as if it didn't get enough gas.. BUT i'm positive that it was going fast enough...
i added a bit of gas to bring the rev to around 3300 and it went smooth again.

how can this be possible? downshift to 2nd gear and I have to add gas/ rev up to 3300 to make a right turn???



2nd problem!.. something similar.

from 3rd gear.. rev's at 1300..downshift to 2nd gear.. Rev goes up to 3500!.. wut??? is this normal..
and the engine makes that annoying reving noise....


what am i doing wrong here?? can someone help me.
thanks

 
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everything you've said is normal... just learn how to drive and you'll be ight

 
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hmm. I dont quite understand your first scenario problem...

if its even a problem.. are you talking about the high rev? or that it shouldn't be jolting since you were going fast enough?

how fast were u going out of the turn? check ur manual for shift points on crusing speed... if you're under 10 mph and you downshift to 2nd, you'll experience engine bog down cuz you should have downshift to 1st...

well, i still dont understand ur problem, but here's what I usually do when I come to a turn... say Im going 45 mph in 4th gear... now Im breaking and leaving it in 4th gear... I slow down to 15 mph, when I'm about to do the turn, I downshift, still depressing the clutch, and make my turn... when I get out of the turn... I relase the clutch, apply gas... and its decently smooth...

or I just shift to neutral as I break, and take my turn, when I'm out of the turn, I downshift to 2nd or whatever appropriate gear (1st) depending on my speed...

as for ur 2nd problem... what speed were u going at? if you were at 1300 rpm and u downshift and it goes to 3500.... I guess thats pretty high.... hmm... tell me the speed...

one thing u gotta remember, this is a high revving car!!

 
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Yeah that is one thing about the civic they seem to really rev high, I hate stop lights I just hate seeing a red and having to down shift works the clutch and the brakes. Interstate driving is better but then you get a lot of rock chips so who knows [IMG]i/expressions/laugh2.gif[/IMG] can't really win.

Nick

 
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The engine "jolting" is normal. You don't have enough speed for the gear. Honda's like RPMs they always have. Not as much as the rotory engine but none the less they like RPMs. Why do you put the car in neutral? That is a lot of extra wear on your brakes. As far as the RPMs going up well yeah when you down shift they are going to jump up. It sounds like you just need to learn how to drive a manual.

 
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What you need to learn is rev matching when downshifting. To downshift more smoothly, you'll need to know approximately how high the it's going to rev up to when you downshift. For instance, ( in my MP5 ) if i'm going on 4th gear at 75 km/h @ about 3000 RPM and coming to a red light, i'll

1. depress clutch
2. rev it up higher to about 3.5-4k RPM
3. shift down to 3rd
4. release the clutch.

If this is done fast and smooth and at about the right RPMS the downshift will be smooth and you won't feel the
"jolting" as the RPMS are fast enough for the gear you've downshifted to. I wouldn't advise downshifting to 2nd or 1st for a newbie. Play around with it on 4-3 and 5-4. Once you've got that down then going to 2nd and 1st will be smoother. Know your gears - that's all i have to say.

 
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Theres two scenarios to slowing down that way.
1. Some people think that using the engine to slow the car down by downshifting will take alot of the forces off of the brake pads, hense you wont have to replace them, but it causes more stress on the engine.
2. Some people think its better to put the engine in N and cruise to a stop or turn or whatever.

Although, I havent experienced any which way. Read over your owners manual. It tells you the correct procedure to drive, stop, turn just like you should have learned in Drivers Education.

 
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Most driving schools will tell you not to brake / slow down while in neutral and to always try to stay in gear, that way, if you ever need to move or maneuver out of the way and accelerate you'll already be in gear. The engine was made to rev, and if properly maintained, broken into, using the engine to slow down is fine. The engine is usually under warranty for 3-7 years depending on your coverage, but brakes ( ie. normal wear and tear) are not and are expensive to replace.

 
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I hardly ever downshift to slow the car down unless I am hauling bumm and don't want to cook the brakes. My reasoning is that it's cheaper to replace the brakes than the clutch.

When coming up on redlights I leave the car in whatever gear I was cruising in. I don't put the car in neutral and push in the clutch till I am almost at a dead stop.

When making a turn, I usually just apply the brakes lightly. Then, as I am going through the turn I downshift to get that last bit of braking and to come out the turn in gear.

 
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I always downshift into 2nd BEFORE the turn, so I have power and control while turning. It's not a good idea to cruise in neutral through a turn.

 
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How would down shifting do any damage to the clutch? Unless you ride the clutch you really don't have to worry.

 
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the reason you are never ever supposed to take a car out of gear (cept at a complete stop) is because you are not controlling the car anymore, its controlling you. ive actually done tests on my ex, taking a hard turn with car in gear vs out of gear. it is much more manuverable in gear.

 
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Every shift wears on the clutch. It may be minimal, but over 100k it can really add up. Plus, it also puts a little more wear on the engine.

It's also a lot easier to just push the brake than to be constantly shifting. [IMG]i/expressions/face-icon-small-wink.gif[/IMG]

 
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i very much agree with DarkCivic, going in neutral through a curve can potentially be dangerous. let's say like in the allstate commercial a little kamikaze squirrel comes out of nowhere and you don't have enough time to put your ride in gear, it can lead to problems if the situation calls for a little acceleration. my .02

 
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in regards to your second problem.....when you downshift the revs will go up higher than the gear you were just in because its a lower gear, just like when u upshift its the opposite, you rev high and then shift to the next gear and the revs go down.....completely normal

 
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going into turn, break down on the clutch. turn. shift down. give the car a tad of gas while slowly letting out on the clutch. the amount of gas will vary and as u drive ur car more and more u will be able to give it the perfect amount of gas. whenever u downshift ur rpm's go up, which cause more gas to be needed. the slower u let of the clutch the more ur car will be ready to the change in rpm's.

 
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I know this is true of other cars, but I'm not sure about the civic:

I hope nobody who takes turns in neutral bought an EX because you're never gonna use your anti-lock brakes. They only engage when your car is in gear.

 
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WOW. i didn't even catch me own thread....


Thanks for the help guys, but i'll use the break for now. =)

Another question, lets say i'm in 4th gear, BUT it's slowing down.

DO you guys shift to 3rd to match your speed OR

Do you guys leave it to 4th, and just before it dies out ?

I find that downshifting doesn't really slow me down that much... SOO i don't do it much.

 
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If you let your car get to the point where it shudders because you are in the wrong gear that can damage the car if you do it often enough. Just a heads up. Personally I use my gears before I use the brakes. As far as going through gears I use the appropriate gear for the rpms but that's just me. it really isn't good for your car to be in the wrong gear.

 
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I'd rather downshift. Everything wears naturally of course but I'd rather just maintain better control of the car. That's just me.

I'd never put the car in neutral before I have to stop. I think people do this either because:

a) Don't want to rev the engine or wear the clutch

-or-

b) Don't have control of their car

-or-

c) Are paranoid about stalling when coming to a stop so they throw it into neutral earlier (which is still kind of like B). At least I did this a lot as a newbie. It didn't take long for me to get used to staying in gear until I was nearly at a complete stop. I think it's a bad habit to throw it into neutral earlier.

Go easy on the clutch when downshifting. If your car jerks too hard, you're harming the transmission.

 
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You should always try to keep the car in gear as much as possible. Basically when controlling the car you have two methods of control - the steering wheel and the throttle. When you put the car in neutral, you lose control of the throttle, and thus lose half of your control over the car.

 
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I understand htown's point about losing some of the control of the car, but I always put my car in neutral to come to stop unless i need to stop fast then i throw it in 2nd and ease up on the clutch to slow down. when making a turn, I put it in second immediately let go of the clutch and accelerate into the turn. Rule of thumb for me is that you car needs to be above 2k RPMs so if they are lower than that 1) you won't get much power and 2) downshift to the next gear

 
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Well yeah I always put my car into neutral when coming to a complete stop (stoplights and red lights). But usually I keep it in gear until the last possible moment. For example - you're about half a mile away and you see a red light coming up. Some people will pop it into neutral right there, and if the light turns green they'll just pop it into the appropriate gear and continue on. Ideally, in situations like this it is better to leave it in gear for as long as possible, and just downshift if you're in the wrong gear and need more power
.

 
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This made me remember something i totally forgot about. When I first took my drivers test, I failed, as I sped in a playground zone, but amoung a couple of other things, one little thing i did (because i was trying to drive slow during the test. it's definatly not a race, lol) was push the clutch through corners (effectively putting the car in neutral). For this i got points taken off my test results (but i automatically failed, so it was irrelevant).

According to the Examiner, I was not in full control of the vehicle. Which i know has been said in this thread a few times. You have much more control in gear than out of it.

Sorry if this didn't make much sense. I'm overtired [IMG]i/expressions/face-icon-small-confused.gif[/IMG]

 
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Neutral = less control of the car when moving.

 
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Heel and Toe

Enuff Said

[IMG]i/expressions/face-icon-small-cool.gif[/IMG]

 
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heel and toe?
don't know how to do it..... it's hard learning from text..... if someone just shows me once. i'll know.

 
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If you're going in straight line to a red light like many meters away and you know you're going to stop, just coast to the light in neutral. Less control of the car but it's a straight path to the light. Hopefully, it's not too often that you have to pull emergency maneuvers. Keeping it in gear means that you'll just end up having to keep on the gas a little while longer before you reach the light wasting oh so precious gas.

 
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the way i stop is when i see a red light, say im in 3rd i will put the breaks on a little, pop the clutch in, downshift to 2nd revmatch, then release the clutch. for a corner same thing.

 
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Yeah well the first time you have to you will DEFINATLY learn your lesson. it will probably be the last time you will put your car in neutral while it is moving too. How would you be wasting gas? Why would you have to keep on the gas a little longer? When down shifting, say from 5th getting off the freeway, begin to break shift from 5th to 4th when the RPMs are appropriate. Then from 4th to 3rd same thing when RPMs are appropriate. Once again from 3rd to 2nd when RPMs are appropriate. NEVER down shift to 1st gear. Way to much wear on the engine. All while breaking. This allows for the gears to help you slow down and less excessive breaking. If you have the appropriate gear for the RPMs then there is no need for excess use of the gas and there is no need to "revmatch". If you are "revmatching" you are't down shifting. There should be no gas applied when down shifting that would kinda defeat the purpose.