Tips on driving manual trans FAQ-inlcudes basic How to, double clutching etc.
 

Read your manual on how to shift before reading this.
Read entire post before attempting anything.
Read entire thread, you MIGHT learn something LOL

Simplified understanding of drivetrain:

The engine makes the power, duh, and the transmission's job is to efficiently transfer that power to the wheels which are on the ground LOL
The flywheel is connected to the engine and spins at the same speed as the engine. The flywheel is connected to the layshaft through the clutch. So when the clutch is engaged, the layshaft spins at the same speed as the flywheel. When the the clutch pedal is pushed in, the clutch disengages, and the freewheel is not conected to the layshaft. The layshaft is connected to the wheels of the car through the gears in the transmission. The gears in the transmission spin in relation to how fast the wheels are moving. So, layshaft speed depends on which gear the car is in. If the shifter is in neutral then the layshaft will not spin in relation the the wheels.

Engine=flywheel~clutch=layshaft#gears=wheels

= no disengaging
~ connection disengaged by clutch pedal
# connection controlled by shifter, in gear there is a connection, neutral no connection

Things to remember:
-Whenever using the clutch push it all the way in (Some people will say you only need to push past the point of disengagment but i push it all the way down for good measure)
-The clutches "bitting point" is the point at which it starts to come into contact with the flywheel, when it starts to engage
-The more time the the clutch is at its biting point, the more it wears
-When the clutch pedal is all the way in and the clutch it self is completly off of the freewheel then the only wear is on a spring, not the clutch
-The car stalls because the wheels are not moving and are connected to the engine, therefore enough power must be produced to allow the wheels to turn
-More engine power will allow for faster clutch engagement from a stop
-If the clutch is let out too fast power is not transferred to the wheels because the clutch does not have time to get the layshaft spinning, this is compensated with more throttle, engine power

How to drive manual the first time:
-Start car on flat surface
-Push clutch in, holdiing it all the way down, and push gear shifter into 1st gear, keep pushing clutch pedal in
-Let the clutch pedal out very slowly with some finesse in order to get the car moving on flat surface with only the idle speed of the engine, with the clutch pedal all the way out, DO NOT push the gas pedal in
-You need to learn the feel of the clutch, and the clutch's grabing point. Most cars will get rolling on a flat surface with only idle speed, I have not driven one that will not. If the car is old or is in need of a tune up then it might not do this.
-After you can do the above, stop the car and start giving the car some gas as you let out the clutch, you can now let it out a lot faster
-Get the car moving in 1st gear while giving the car gas, with the clutch completely out
-When the rpms hit 3 grand, let off the gas, push the clutch in and shift into second,let clutch out and give it some gas, you wanna do this sort of quick
-cruise in second or.....
-Changing from 2nd to 3rd, 3rd to 4th, 4th to 5h, is done with the same motions as going from 1st to 2nd

BUT

Learning to shift smoothly:
-You need to find the right amount of time to wait inbetween shifts, making sure not to let the rpms drop too much or not enough, if you do it right after you let the clutch out in the new gear the rpm needle will not jump abruptly
-You need to learn to give it the right amount of gas after a shift, not enough and the car will slow down a little bit, too much and the car will jump forward a little, not as abrubt as if you get the time between shifts wrong
-You also need to learn to let the clutch out at the right speed for each gear at different rpms, which is learned with practice because the clutch acts as the buffer for your mistakes, so as you become better you will be able ot let the clutch out faster after a shift
-When you shift perfect, the gear shifter will almost fall into the next gear, it is very strange feeling, especially from 1st to 2nd.

Shifting smooth is important, because if the layshaft speed differers from that of the flywheel, there is extra energy, which has to go somewhere. Your clutch can take some of the abuse of the extra energy, if you let the clutch out slow enough, but your tranny can also take the abuse if the clutch is let out really fast and bites. It is always better that the clutch takes any extra abuse, not the tranny. If the tranny takes too much abuse you will hear a thump.

As for shifting at high rpms, it is actually beneficial to do every once and a while, but you should practice a lot before attempting this because you must be very precise at high rpms and it is really hard to be perfect so if you let the clutch out too fast your tranny will thump. This happens because the extra energy is more substantial. Higher rpms more power, more extra energy, also less room for error, so hopefully you get the point.

Starting on a hill reguires you to give it extra gas because engine idle speed will not produce enough power to get the wheels spinning. Even shifting up hill is a little different because the engine is under more load.

Downshifting Techniques:

Double clutching is when you push the clutch in, then shift into neutral, let the clutch out, blip/push the throttle, push the clutch back in and put it into the lower gear. You blip the throttle so that the sycros do not do anywork, you speed up the engine to match the speed of the transmission which speed is relative to how fast you are going. You have to do this in cars with no synchos, it really is not needed in modern cars unless you are going to skip gears downshifting or you just want to for the hell of it. Double clutching also saves your clutch and makes for a smoother shift.

Rev matching is when you push the clutch in, put it in neutral, (clutch is still in) blip the throttle, and then down shift. This is used to make downshifts smoother and save your clutch. It does not decrease wear on your synchros.

Heel toe is used to brake while rev matching, I guess you could do it while double clutching too. You use your heel to blip the throttle and your toe to brake. It really helps while entering a turn. Some poeple use the side of the foot instead of the heal, I do not, but what ever works for you.

Things not to do:
-drive with foot resting on clutch, that is what that little foot rest is for
-let clutch out slower than needed, also wears out clutch
-Power shifting-never letting off of the gas
-"engine braking"-letting the gearbox slow your car down, by downshifting, that is what the brakes are for! Real engine braking can only be done in diesels where there is a mechanism in the actual engine
Exception-On some very steep grades you will burn your brakes up if you try to brake down the entire slope, so you must leave it in some what low gear and let the car coast. You do the same motions as above and do not just throw it in a low gear to try to slow down, you still shift just as smoothly.

I tried to make this pretty simple and put into layman terms. For more detail and explanations visit howthingswork.com and type "clutch" or "transmission".

How to pop the clutch and why it works?

You gotta give it enough gas. I implied it. I really did not want to include how to launch cause I did not want people messing up his/her transmission/tires.
I did edit it because you remeinded me off why the car stalls out, thanks!
I did leave out how to start you car if your battery is dead, but I am have only done that twice. Not sure if it is better to do it in 1st or second, I guess it would depend on how steep the hill is.

nice. good 4 the newbs

Everybody is a noob LOL
I just hate that term.

If I am still coasting and kill it I put it in to the gear that it would be in if the engine was on and moving that fast. If I have a dead battery and am just push starting it on flat land then I would put it in 1st.

yeah that was a nice write up for newbies

what do you mean by "blip"

Push gas pedal to increase rpms. If you just give it a little touch it will send them up pretty fast because there is no load on the engine with the clutch disengaged, clutch pedal in.

nice write up jack! thanks

This should be improved and made sticky!

What do you think needs to be improved?

id say give it just a lil gas ( rev up )from other usages of the word...

this is very good. I had a lot of misconseptions on driving stick that this just cleared up for me (Assuming its all correct.) Very good post! + rep

I would publish a video of all techniques. I eventually will, if I can find a digital camera.

Videos have already been done on this subject, but it would be nice to see the shift points in a stock civic while double-clutching, etc.

edit: shift points remain the same when double clutching. What I meant is that a video would help civic owners better feel the techniques, since their cars have the same caracteristics (including shift points), unless they've modded their transmission, in which case I hope they won't need the video.

Do you mean like different speeds in mph and relative rpm for each gear at that speed?
So you could you use them to find out how high to rev the rpms when downshifting?
You can also tell just by going out and driving in your car.

I also think you have to learn that on your own, with practice. It kinda gets programmed in your brain after a while, I never look at my speedometer, sometimes I look at the tach.

The only video I would recomend watching is Ronin, not for learning purposes, but for inspiration LOL
Seriously, if people want to post up some in the car rally videos or shifting videos, I aint gonna stop you!
I just wanted to keep it simple.

they have videos out? :confused:

i would like to know the titles of them please :rockon: :cool:

If more people are interested, I will make a video with all the techniques posted by the first poster.

Turn the key to the ON position and put the car in second gear, not first. Get the car rolling pretty good, let out the clutch, and put it back in again with the brake. Your car's now started and you can put it back in first and go....or you could have just left it in second and went from there, doesn't matter.

How it works is...when you turn the key, it uses battery power to turn over the motor until it's going well enough that it can continue moving on its own. Kind of like when you pull over a boat motor with a piece of rope....you just need to get it going initially. When you start it with the clutch, letting the clutch out actually grabs the motor and turns it in the same fashion with the wheels turning and gets it going that way. You can remove your battery and starting motor and still start your car.

You sure about that?
That sounds incorrect.
I know if you take the battery out while the car is on you asking to fry something.

Also I did not include push starting because you could break something, and is not recomended by many car manufacturers.

Edit:Any response to running a car without a battery please post here:
http://www.7thgencivic.com/forums/sh...60#post3676960

Hypothetical. I wasn't saying you could take the battery out and be safe, I was saying the car would start.

yes, please make it if you have the time. it would really help some of us a lot :sweet: :rofl:

:clap:

^Post in the thread I mentioned, please:)

worthy?
How do stickies work?

i think a mod has to sticky it. but anyways, this is a very good thread. are you going to add any more details? like more in-depth.

good overall :sweet:

coool

I wanted to keep it simple as possible because understanding a cars transmission can be difficult and sometimes if you go into too much detail people will just get confused.

I just pull it strait back. Never really had a problem.

^ won't that mess up the shifter over time?