how can i shift gears better?
- Thread starter dlgsus
- Start date
^^ What Dirgle posted.
Ignore the Shifter mashing comments.
The reason I will take this post seriously is because I just taught my son to drive in my 88 turbo Supra and gave him my 87 NA Supra as his first car. Yes... its a stupid question, but in actuality there are a LOT of kids out there with little Cobalts that are driving the piss of their car without realizing they aren't shifting properly.
If you go by the shifting picture Dirgle posted, that is where you start. Get used to those shifting ranges. Everything gets done smoothly... shift smooth, clutch play is smooth, gas is smooth. Don't drive like a bandit because that would make you an utter fool and idiot. Get used to the feel of the car and how the engine responds. Basically... you shift with your ass. You can feel it. (I know... laugh.. but you can actually feel the car in the seat... get used to how it feels because that's where its talking to you)
After you get used to shifting correctly, understand that the engine has rotational momentum... so if you rev the engine up, it turns fast and has centrifugal force that keeps it spinning. That is why people rev up an engine for burn outs. The 7M has a great torque range so it holds well for that style of startup (if your trying to impress the women by spending a lot on burnt tires... ). If you get wheel hop (if you feel it.. you'll know...) your suspension is too old for that kind of play (I find the MK3 NA's are really prone to this if not maintained properly... )
The rest is time and experience. Remember that its an older car so if you rev the shit out of it... don't be surprised when the "shit" actually falls out of it... Learn to drive smoothly first.. then practice faster shifting. The W58 Transmission found in NA Supras is smoother than the R154, but if you shift too fast and hard, you can do fun stuff like mash gears, kill your synchros and bend shifting forks.
Drive it and enjoy it. Give yourself time to get used to the car and do it right before you do it fast. Simple really.
as a final note.. all cars have "power bands" where the RPM ranges give you the best response. When learning to drive "faster" you need to learn where the power bands are. That will be where you give it gas and it responds best. Lower revs need more time to get into the power band, I usually shift at about 4800-5500 RPM in my NA if I am just trying to speed up (I don't like to rev near redline as the engine isn't new). Try different RPM ranges and pay attention to what happens. That is how we all learn our cars.
My best comment was from my friends who were talking behind my back and one let me know that they kept saying I drove stick like an auto and auto like a stick... (I used to "rat-race" a LOT when I was younger and always had a standard transmission in my cars). If you aren't snapping your passengers' necks and they can't notice your shifts.. you can be a master. (or like I told my son.. imagine you have a half full bottle of coke on the floor. Shift so that bottle doesn't fall down). In life you always should master an action before you improve it.
Ignore the Shifter mashing comments.
The reason I will take this post seriously is because I just taught my son to drive in my 88 turbo Supra and gave him my 87 NA Supra as his first car. Yes... its a stupid question, but in actuality there are a LOT of kids out there with little Cobalts that are driving the piss of their car without realizing they aren't shifting properly.
If you go by the shifting picture Dirgle posted, that is where you start. Get used to those shifting ranges. Everything gets done smoothly... shift smooth, clutch play is smooth, gas is smooth. Don't drive like a bandit because that would make you an utter fool and idiot. Get used to the feel of the car and how the engine responds. Basically... you shift with your ass. You can feel it. (I know... laugh.. but you can actually feel the car in the seat... get used to how it feels because that's where its talking to you)
After you get used to shifting correctly, understand that the engine has rotational momentum... so if you rev the engine up, it turns fast and has centrifugal force that keeps it spinning. That is why people rev up an engine for burn outs. The 7M has a great torque range so it holds well for that style of startup (if your trying to impress the women by spending a lot on burnt tires... ). If you get wheel hop (if you feel it.. you'll know...) your suspension is too old for that kind of play (I find the MK3 NA's are really prone to this if not maintained properly... )
The rest is time and experience. Remember that its an older car so if you rev the shit out of it... don't be surprised when the "shit" actually falls out of it... Learn to drive smoothly first.. then practice faster shifting. The W58 Transmission found in NA Supras is smoother than the R154, but if you shift too fast and hard, you can do fun stuff like mash gears, kill your synchros and bend shifting forks.
Drive it and enjoy it. Give yourself time to get used to the car and do it right before you do it fast. Simple really.
as a final note.. all cars have "power bands" where the RPM ranges give you the best response. When learning to drive "faster" you need to learn where the power bands are. That will be where you give it gas and it responds best. Lower revs need more time to get into the power band, I usually shift at about 4800-5500 RPM in my NA if I am just trying to speed up (I don't like to rev near redline as the engine isn't new). Try different RPM ranges and pay attention to what happens. That is how we all learn our cars.
My best comment was from my friends who were talking behind my back and one let me know that they kept saying I drove stick like an auto and auto like a stick... (I used to "rat-race" a LOT when I was younger and always had a standard transmission in my cars). If you aren't snapping your passengers' necks and they can't notice your shifts.. you can be a master. (or like I told my son.. imagine you have a half full bottle of coke on the floor. Shift so that bottle doesn't fall down). In life you always should master an action before you improve it.
When you're at high engine speeds it harder to shift smooth and easier to break stuff. Never "slam" the shifter. Leave that to the clutch, it can handle it. You are more guiding the shifter, you're just speeding up your clutching. Quick in quick out you want to find the right speed to shift quick but also keep it as smooth as possible. When driving normal its as grandavi says. Smooth and slow. You'll feel the sweet spot when you find it.
But...altogether, you drive an NA...might as well just keep shifting at 2500 unless u are pulling out on a highway or some other reason where u need to get up to speed quick....er.
Shane;1959162 said:
Very true. I had way too much fun with my n/a 7M with some exhaust mods and a cone filter. If I would have known any better, I would have put a factory intake on (came with the cone filter), but still. Even with probably 150k on the engine, it had plenty of power for me.
And then I decided otherwise.. But anyway, here's a video of what I could do with an n/a 7m...
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NxU2TEecdqU
I still have yet to do that with my GTE, but I've done a couple brake stands. So nice being able to smoke second hahaha
Grandavi;1959135 said:
Bravo!
I learned to drive in a toyota 4x4 and i still have it. I am so used to driving it that i can drive around without using clutch ( while moving lol)
Try keeping the gas pedal smashed down and power shifting while bouncing off the rev limiter :thumbup:
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I could speed shift my Corolla with gas pedal down and have no issues.
The Supra? not a chance... lol. Maybe from 3rd to 4th.. but not 1st to second.
The Supra? not a chance... lol. Maybe from 3rd to 4th.. but not 1st to second.
Supras are slow, I've been told this before by people with stock WRXs so they must know.
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