[jetleigh]

OK, I've been driving stick for about a week now on my tC. I've been having a few problems with downshifting. It is obviously more noticable when I am in the lower gears. Say I am going from 35mph in 3rd gear down to 20mph and I want to downshift into 2nd to take the turn. First of all, is this even the right gear to be shifting into? Because when I do the car kind of shakes and lurches a little when I downshift. I think it is because my revs are not high enough to match engine speed. So does this mean I HAVE to double-clutch by blipping the throttle?? As a beginner I would like to avoid double clutching until I get a little better. Or, does this mean that 2nd gear is too low of a gear for 20mph? What have you guys found to be the ranges for downshifting from gear to gear on your tC's without having to double-clutch?

For example, when slowing down to between 5 and 20mph, downshift to 2nd. When slowing down to between 20mph and 35mph, downshift to 3rd??

I am kind of confused and not sure why downshifting is not working very smoothly for me. Also, I'm confused because some people told me you need to give extra gas when downshifting, and some said you don't need to give any more than when you are upshifting...HELP!

 

[hamster]

you do need more gas. that lurching you are feeling is because the engine speed is too low for the wheel speed, and as you let out the clutch, the engine is acting as a sort of break.... so if you add more gas maybe up to the 2.5K range, and release the clutch slowly, you shoudlnt have that lurching problem

 

[zoltiz]

Look at the gearing charts for the correct RPMs you should be in for certain speed / gear.

http://zoltiz.com/cars/tc/gearing/

 

[hamster]

yeah... you can see by looking at that chart that if your pulling out of a turn at 20mph in second gear your going to want to rev up to 2500

 

[jetleigh]

great! thank you

 

[TBova]

When I drive, I shift to neutral, roll into the turn, and shift back into whatever gear is appropriate for what I am coming out of the turn in speedwise. Sort of a piggyback downshift but less lurching if my rpms arent matched quite right.

 

[Soundguy50]

if im driving very casually i come out of my turns in 3rd, its luggin a bit but the car has great low rpm response, and for city driving its nice to not worry abotu matching rev's

 

[lo bux racer]

Originally posted by TBova@Jul 10 2005, 03:25 PM
When I drive, I shift to neutral, roll into the turn, and shift back into whatever gear is appropriate for what I am coming out of the turn in speedwise. Sort of a piggyback downshift but less lurching if my rpms arent matched quite right.

You are not in control of the car if you are coasting through the turn, and you are unable to make corrections if the engine's power is not available. This absolutely does not work on motorcycles, and it is just as dangerous in a car. The only time to be in neutral and coasting is when you are coming to a stop at a red light. It is not at all wise to enter a turn in neutral.

 

[TBova]

Good to know, thanks Lance. The person that taught me to drive stick told me its bad to ride the clutch when you are braking into a stop so I took it inpart to be the same for braking to slow down in general. Until my tC comes, I'll have to practice better downshifting in my POS Ranger =x