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View Full Version : How to drive your manual trans for newbies, FAQ.



AWIDESUPIE
08-01-2004, 09:53 AM
Original post:
I threw together a random write-up in this thread one night:

http://www.supraforums.com/forum/showthread.php?s=&threadid=185766&highlight=rev+match

The other posts are pretty darn useful too. I think this would be very helpful to some. I don't know what you would prefer to include, Shawn ... so I'll let you do your moderating and decide if you want to leave the link or copy/paste some stuff over to here. Do what ya want!

Edit for Shawn's satisfaction, per Shawn's request ... :

Having a manual transmission automobile allows you to match engine/CRANK rpm with drivetrain mph/rpm at will.


Engine rpm is obviously determined by the tach. Drivetrain speed determined by speedometer ... whether your rolling or not .. and if so .. then how fast.

Crank rpm controlled by right foot/throttle .... drivetrain speed engaged by left foot/clutch.

The closer you can match crank rpm with drivetrain rpm/speed .. the smoother/more efficient engagement becomes.

Pretty simple.

While vehicle is at rest ... drivetrain speed is ~0mph/rpm ... and engine idle is at about 650-750rpm (slow). This relationship is similar in all manual transmission vehicles .. and allows one move forward/backward (gear dependent of course) without increasing engine rpm/throttle any more than idle. Yes, if you slip the clutch slowly enough ...the car will move forward (1)... or backwards (R) .. if there isn't too mutch incline resistance from either direction ... allowing the torque to move the vehicle. If there is too much resistance .. slightly increase throttle/crank rpm to allow engine torque to overcome drivetrain resistance.

The engine only stalls if the engine bites too quickly to something that is stationary (significantly slower drivetrain). The better biting clutch one has ... or the less slip the clutch provides .. the easier it becomes to stall/slow down the engine too much.

Many clutches provide for slipping (partial biting/engagement to drivetrain before becoming fully engaged) ... allowing it to graze the drivetrain for engagement and allow some of the drivetrain and crank kinetic/potential energy to be absorbed by the other.

What this means is that if, at idle and no rolling speed (for best illustration), you slip the clutch out slowy enough to gradually engage the stationary drivetrain ... if the crank energy/power can gradually be transfered to the drivetrain ... the car will move more quickly the more the drivetrain is fully engaged by crank until 100% kinetic/potential energy is tranfered (minus loss to heat energy). Not to confuse mater anymore .. but engagement of clutch could be quicker if the car was rolling fast enough but no too fast ... just slow roll ... for crank rpm/drivetrain relationship.

Things get a bit more tricky while driving at increased speed ... but it is still the same concept. Name of the game is to get a feel of clutch bite/feel ... crank rpm ... and drivetrain speed .... and reckognize their relationships.

As long as no modifications are performed .. and motin resistance form extremem wind or inclines/declines is not affecting relationships too much .... the engine rpm in each gear will always produce the same relatoinal drivetrain speed.

This means that you should be able to determine what crank rpm in what gear will provide for smoothest engagement by observing drivetrain speed .. and you will now how to make the engagement with the clutch by getting familiar with it's particular function traits (bite hard .. slips alot ... firm/soft pedal .. etc).

If exact relation cannot be determined ... it is always better to exceed necessary engine rpm and have the clutch slip a bit or wheels spin in relation to vehicle travel direction .... rather than to have drivetrain speed exceed its relation to crank rpm ... and have the engine go into shock as it is thrown violently towards redline ... and causes vehicle speed to decrease for a split second or more ... significantly .. causing immense shock to clutch/drivetrain rigidity etc.


For instance .... 2nd gear on a r154/7mgte combination in near stock form allows around 5 through 60-65mph ... 3rd about 25-30 through 80-85mph .... 4th about 30-40 through 120-125mph ... 5th about 40-45 through top speed.

If cruising on road at about 55mph in 5th gear ... you suddenly want to pass a vehicle by accelerating as quickly as possible.

You want to be in the lowest gear that allows you to travel at your current speed .. but you also want some room to run.

55mph may be a tough decision for downshift selection in a near stock combo ... because this is very close to top of 2nd (which SHOULD provide for best pull ... ***but**) and there is pleanty of good run room for 3rd .. and it may provide the best power-band.

If you wanted 2nd .... you would have to rev to right about redline and drop/slip the clutch (depending on clutch traits) .. b/c this is the relation to crank rpm in that gear at that speed.

I would choose 3rd gear, most likely, due to better power curve (b/c let's not forget the **but** .. the stock ct26 chokes top rpm flow .. so the tip range rpm of a second gear pull would probably be a less desireable part of the power-band).

To shift into third .. at 55mph ... I would approximate engine rpm relation t be about 3000-3500rpm .. so for a safe bet I may rev to about 500rpm over my estimate and dump/slip the clutch to engage for best pull.

If during any gear engagement I chose not to match crank rpm with drivetarin speed ... and let of the gas and attempted to engage drivetrain and throttle at the same time ... or even worse throttle slightly after drivetrain engagement .. that's when violent drivetrain shock is felt. BAD for vehicle components .. bad for attempted performance.

Same relationship for all relevant crank rpm/gear/drivetrain speed ratios. Once you figure em out ... and respect the control you have.... I dont think you'll ever want to drive an automatice again .. unless it's for leisure or straightline performance.

_______

I see dejavu beginning in this thread ...

I was going to copy and past all of the posts from SF thread above that would answer these "dejavu" questions ... but you guys can just click on the link.

Make sure to read both pages. Most questions should be answered by reading the aove thread thoroughly on both pages.
_____

continued ...

AWIDESUPIE
08-01-2004, 09:54 AM
To add a bit of a small write-up...

The "art" of heel-toe shifting:

You may have seen it on picture in picture instructional video or driving videos simply showing where the car is going and what the driver is doing with their feet...

Heel to is uesed for optimal control of the vehicle while combining braking, shifting (99.99% down-shifting), and rev-matching (which I have explained in detail above).

The most optimal time for a heel-toe shift is when wanting to corner your vehicle as fast as possible .... for grip driving.

Appropriate way to tackle a turn for grip driving is to slow adequately before you enter the start of the turn, power/accelerate with throttle through the turn ... hopefully hitting the "apex" .. and accelerating out of the turn at optimal geometric angle as close to WOT (wide open throttle) as possible to begin preparing for whatever obstacle are on the road ahead.

When entering these turns, sometimes a down shift or braking is not enough to slow your vehicle for best control. If you brak first ... and shift second or vice versa .. your are spending more time than necessary adjusting your vehicle for optimal control and your are most likely not tackling the turn at the limits that your vehicle is capable of.

To minimize time and increase the chance of being able to use all of the great engineering of your vehicle to perform it's best .. you need to combine a brake, shift, rev-match execution ... aka .. heel-toe maneuver.

Hel-toe position is mostly self explanatory. There are three variations of "heel-toe" shifting that I have seen. The most taught is allowing you to feel the brake force applied with the toes of your throttle foot ... and moving your heel to the throttle while watching rpms, if necessary, to rev-match properly.

Variables including size of the vehicle space and of peoples legs and feet can greatly affect the ease of this maneuver.

It is for these aforementioned variable I have sen people "adjust" this maneuver two other ways.

2) Using your toes/ball of foot/brake side of throttle foot to press the brake and rolling/tilting your foot/ankle towards the throttle to engage to the throttle for a good feel for rev-match. (**I often use this technique in my mk3 supra. My feet are size ~11-11.5 .. and I find that the space by the pedals is not only limited by being close to the tranny tunnel ... but the brake pedal seems high and throttle pedal low .. and the spacing between them a bit odd .. making the maneuver a bit more difficult. Adding aftermarket pedals of certaing heights and widths .. and or adding spcaers to adjust the height of the pedals and or even bending the arms that support the pedals to your liking ... can all help you to customize your pedals for optimal heel-toe execution.**)

3) I once heard a man say that he puts his heel on the brake and toes on the throttle. This is not the method most used to teach the heel-toe maneuver. In my opinion, it may not often be taught like this because you only have "feel" to guage braking force ... and your toes probvide the most sensation ... while you have a tachometer to watch to ensure proper revs ... so the less feeling you get through your heel is not required as much. **The only time I ever put my heel on the brake and toes on the throttle .. is for burnouts. You can then feel throttle engagement beter and adjust revs with the better range of motion of your toes/ankle ... IMO ... for optimal rubber burning. Maybe I shouldn't hgave disclosed this to the "newbies" ... but ... too late now! Don't kill/hurt yourself or others! Be safe, have fun. ;)**

Thats about it for the heel-toe shifting maneuver. Practice and I think you will find spirited driving more fun and more efficient.

Best regards. HTH.

Brian

ma70kid
09-06-2004, 11:54 AM
theres nothing like the sound of a good downshift or the feeling of heel-toeing in a corner. I wonder what other people think when they hear that sound, same with people on the freeway when im about to pass their slowness of 50mph. My question is about mustiple downshifts. This is what i still cant do easily. Say im in 4th or 5th and want to get down to 2nd as im appraching the corner. For some reason i dont know if its because of pedal heights or anything but my braking toe doesnt want to stay on the brake and my heel wont want to go up then back down. So i was wondering if there are any good excersizes other than just getting up to 4th or 5th and keep practicing. I wanna do takumi's machine gun downshift from 5th to 2nd in a fraction of time : )

AWIDESUPIE
09-06-2004, 05:24 PM
I am not sure what you are asking exactly, but I'll try to answer.

Keep your foot on the brake enough ... lol .. and rev high enough to get into the gear you want smoothly. That simple. Maybe you want to adjust the pedal arms and maybe get aftermarket pedals to help have everything where you like it and were is best for your shifting.

That's all I can say for an accurate answer to the info that I comprehended from your post.

HTH.

quakerlt
09-27-2004, 05:46 AM
Emmm, I have a problem while shifting from 2nd to 3rd gear. I either have too many rpms at the time or too few. I don't know which situation should be treated as right shifting:
shifting at ~2000
or at ~3000

:rolleyes:

Because if I shift at 1500 to 2nd and I resume accel pedal I feel some uncomfortable feeling. Or I should just do more practise? :D

quakerlt
10-01-2004, 08:17 AM
OKi, thankx for the answer :D

NeverNZ
10-01-2004, 12:45 PM
under normal driving, i usually shift between 2500 and 3000 rpm

trying to accellerate in any gear besides 1st gear from 1000 rpm will cause an "uncomfortable feeling" as you say

i usually cruise at like 2000 rpm, so maybe you should shift higher than 1500 rpm

Polk
05-01-2008, 01:19 AM
under normal driving, i usually shift between 2500 and 3000 rpm

trying to accellerate in any gear besides 1st gear from 1000 rpm will cause an "uncomfortable feeling" as you say

i usually cruise at like 2000 rpm, so maybe you should shift higher than 1500 rpm


From my experience with the manual transmission:

Daily driving I normally shift at about 2500 to 3500 depending on what i'm wanting to do and how fast I'm wanting to go.

Trying to accelerate in any gear while under 1000 rpm will result in very very slow acceleration.This is true not only on the 7mgte transmission but also on a 5.0 Mustang. Thats all the experimenting that I've been able to do with it. Hope that bit of information reinforces what NeverNZ said.

marcmann982
11-02-2011, 03:25 PM
good write up guys if you guys need any more info watch drift bible or google,youtube it. theres vids everywhere lol