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Old 12-07-2007, 12:38 AM   #1
steve318ti
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Default Driving Lessons in a Manual Ti!

Hi,
I drove manual cars all my life, but the last 4 years I had an automatic car.
Now I have my Baby ( my Ti) and I use for commute everyday. I was driving 15" oem wheels untill last sunday when I got my 17" Miglia's the car handles like a dream, but now I use a little more gas. Driving every day thinkign wich is the best way to save money driving I start thinking if I am a good driver.
I wonder if there is a rule when you have to switch from 1st gear to 2nd gear and so on!
I drive and basically dont look at the revolutions I just "feel" the car.
I know sounds weird.

I wonder if someone knows a better way to know:
When you have to switch gear up or down?
How step in the gas pedal after swicht: slow? fast? sinchronizing with the clutch?
When I have to use 1st, 2nd or when I need to use the 5th?
Any other rule or tip?

I will apreciate any comment or suggestions!
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Old 12-07-2007, 12:58 AM   #2
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I go by whatever feels right, I mean you don't want to be in third gear at 50mph, but you don't want to be in 5th at 30mph. I try and keep it around 2000 rpms at all times until i'm in 5th gear, in which case that figure comes and goes quickly. I only use first gear to start off, and I never really downshift into it. I usually shift at 3000 rpms, sometimes less, and I shift pretty quickly.

However, some weeks I'll beat on the gas a bit going to and from school, etc. and other weeks I'll baby it. Depends on how much I have to do and how much of a hurry I'm in. Point being I really don't notice that much of a difference, maybe 20-30 miles per tank. Always over 325 miles before I go fill up again. If I drive a long distance on a highway I can get up to and over 400 miles in a tank.

I always sync the clutch when shifting, especially downshifting. Your larger rims are taking more torque to push, putting a bit of extra load on the motor. This may be your issue depending on the weight of the wheels and your tire size.
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Old 12-07-2007, 02:10 AM   #3
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There are no rules per se, just keep the motor in low revs when you don't need power (flat, constant speed), keep it higher when you do or will need it (hills, passing, etc). Match the gear to above scenario.

I always rev-match when switching gears. It's smoother on the tranny and keeps the car's suspension settled.


The best you can do to save fuel consumption is to keep as constant a speed as you can without using the brakes (since brakes undo acceleration). Usually, this means staying far back enough from the car in front of you that you can engine brake/coast without hitting them when they inevitably slow down.

After stop lights and whatnot, get up to speed quickly, but don't nail the throttle. Taking your sweet ass time to get up to speed actually consumes more gas (there was a study on this in some european country a few years back).
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Old 12-07-2007, 03:08 AM   #4
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When I am taking an exit off the highway. I swicht down from 5th to 4th,, Is this better than step the brake?
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Old 12-07-2007, 06:25 AM   #5
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Not sure if it's better. For me, whenever I'm coming slowing down, unless I'm in second, I usually tap on the brakes and stay on it while down shifting from 5th to 4th to 3rd to 2nd and let the engine do part of the work of slowing the car down while staying in a good gear for my current speed in case I want to take off before coming to a complete stop.

As for shifting. . .I tend to drive hard here so I'm shifting around 4-5k rpms in 1st and 2nd, then 3-4k in 3rd and 4th (also keep in mind i'm running a 3.73 lsd) Whenever I want to conserve gas (my mood varies depending on the time of day) I usually shift lower (around 2500-3k) sacrificing speed/power for fuel economy.

I know while I'm in DC over xmas (I can't think of anywhere in the city where the speed limit is more than 35mph), I'm likely not going to go past 4th . . . probably a lot of time in 2nd or 3rd and once I move to pittsburgh, unless i'm on the interstate, it'll mostly be like driving in DC (no speed limits over 30mph in the city)


*if you find my complaints of DC and pittsburgh speed limits strange, keep in mind that i've spent most of the last five years in cities that have speed limits of up to 45mph in the city where people routinely hit 60mph on those roads. The most people are pushing their cars in DC is like 40.
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Old 12-07-2007, 04:55 PM   #6
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Zboot- You should use your brakes to slow down the car, not the engine, transmission, and clutch. A clutch is much more expensive to replace than brake pads. All you are doing is putting extra wear and tear on your transmission and clutch. But you also said you always drive your car hard, so you may not be concerned about that.

I never downshift to slow the car down unless I'm on a track. Even then I only do it when I've gone a little to deep and I need to give the brakes a little extra help.
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Old 12-07-2007, 06:04 PM   #7
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I don't think I'm putting extra wear on the clutch. The clutch is fully engaged when I'm slowing down. It's not slipping at that point. It's getting the same wear whether I'm accelerating in gear, decelerating in gear, or cruising at speed.

The transmission is getting more wear since in my car, it is connected to the final drive in most of my driving instead of being disconnected when I'm slowing down . . . but I think the additional wear due to that is not enough to keep me from reaching my current goal of 200k miles with the current engine + tranny.
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Old 12-07-2007, 06:06 PM   #8
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You said you were downshifting. How do you keep the clutch engaged and downshift? If you mean you just move the gear lever through the gears that is not really downshifting, that is just moving the gear lever. If you are actually downshifting, that is going from 5th gear, engaging clutch, moving to 4th gear, disengage clutch, repeat down to 2nd gear, that is causing excessive clutch wear.
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Old 12-07-2007, 06:12 PM   #9
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I'm not sure how that causes more clutch wear than up shifting or whatever shifting you do in normal driving? The only time the clutch is getting worn is the split seconds that it is slipping as you engage it in the new gear. Whether you're up shifting or down shifting, you're wearing out the clutch in the same manner.

The only time I do anything that could significantly affect clutch life is when I hold the car on an incline using only the clutch.
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Old 12-07-2007, 06:20 PM   #10
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i think that's his point. if you don't downshift, you don't have that wear on the clutch and other components. if you downshift every time you come to a stop, you have twice as much wear on those components as not doing it. over time, it adds up.

typically, i downshift rarely. when coming to a stop, i let it coast in the current gear until revs get to 2k or less and then put it in neutral, applying brakes as needed during both periods. if traffic starts moving again before i come to a stop, then i put it in the appropriate gear and go.

229k miles and still on original clutch, trans.

EDIT: if driving for economy (not that often as i don't do a lot of city driving), i will shift around 3k but normally more in the 4-5k range. rarely get up towards redline and i've never bounced off the rev limiter.
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Old 12-07-2007, 06:46 PM   #11
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I've only hit the rev limiter a few times - when I had my exhaust off the car, the Dinan sw didn't work properly and my rev limit was back to stock. . .

Given my driving habits, I've already anticipated replacing the clutch/tranny and likely engine sometime around 200k. (As I've done more work on the car, my confidence in doing an engine swap keeps going up). I'm at 138k with the original engine, tranny, and clutch. Only tranny issue is a slightly worn synchro in 3rd (in my defense, it was like that when I got the car).
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Old 12-07-2007, 08:42 PM   #12
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Quote:
Originally Posted by mohaughn View Post
I never downshift to slow the car down unless I'm on a track. Even then I only do it when I've gone a little to deep and I need to give the brakes a little extra help.
I almost always downshift, unless I'm coming to a full stop.

Not primarily to slow the car down, but to keep it from stalling before I know I'll have to put the power on again. That is, if I know I'm going to have to get back into gear at some point while still rolling.

I also downshift to get back in the powerband from cruising, without speeding (more than I already am).


The last time I changed my clutch was at 65k, and I'm at 175k now with no slipping (knock on wood).
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Old 12-08-2007, 06:09 AM   #13
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Quote:
Originally Posted by aceyx View Post
The last time I changed my clutch was at 65k, and I'm at 175k now with no slipping (knock on wood).
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