Z-Lover

iTrader: (6)

Been driving my stick 350Z for the past 3 weeks..This is my first stick car, and i'm a totally noob when it comes to stick shift.

Finally, i can peacefully drive my stick shift on the street, no more stalls :-) Thank GOD


not much problems with upshifting...but it's a bit hard when up shift from 4 to 5...why??probably b/c i am still new to stick? or something?

However, for the downshift, i still have a lot of questions..

every time i take turns, i stay in higher gear with low speed, i felt the car was kinda shaking...:-(

but i don't know which gear should i shift down to , there's nothing i could do about it...damn!!!!

QUESTIONS

First of all, at what speed should I down shift to which gear???

Second of all, can i skip gears when downshifting? for example, from 5 to 3, or from 4 to 2?


Hope some of you guys could give me some ideas about my question....thanks a million in advance!

tinlok

iTrader: (4)

there's a whole bunch of threads on driving stick , i suggest you look them up and read them because i found them quite informative.

to answer your questions
1: try to keep the rpms above 2000 . so pick gear that'd do that. usually you don't have to skip gear on downshifting. i think 6th gear at 2000 rpm is about 90kmph.

before you turn, downshift 1 gear

2: i've read that it's not a good idea to skip gears but others might correct me on that. as long as you rev match properly (blip the throttle about 1000 rpm higher before you let off the clutch) i guess it's not that bad. but to be safe i'd just do 1 gear at a time downshifting cuz u might end up hitting the rev limiter if u're starting at like 4000 rpm and directly shifting down 2 gears.

goneinsixtyseconds

iTrader: (1)

it's simple logic really and you can test this out yourself.

rev your 1st gear to redline and take notice of the speed you're going. therefore that's the highest speed you can downshift into in that gear. then repeat for the rest of the 5 gears. DONE.

**edit**
btw, is this your first RWD manual car z-lover? and are you planning on driving it this winter?

Z-Lover

iTrader: (6)

sorry.i am a total noob...what u mean by keeping rpms above 2000? and how am i supposed to do that?

and u r saying that i should down shift from whatever gears that i am on to 1st Gear when i do the turns??

thanks for your info!!!

Z-Lover

iTrader: (6)

lol..thanks for telling me that, and if i do as you said, rev to redline for each and every gear, i might end up killing myself or getting a speeding ticket? lol :-)

again, i am total noob on driving stick, and i shift at about 2500 rpm, very slow...never redline my car before...

so if u have done the test, and u tell me the downshifting point of each and every gear?

btw, this is my first RWD stick car, and i am gonna drive it thur the winter.

any recommendtions?

XuperXero

iTrader: (2)

Just drive and start shifting higher rpm and downshift, you'll feel the jerk when you downshift because of not matching rpm, then start learning to rev-match and you'll be fine. Noob questions like this is impossible to answer as everyone's driving style is different.

XuperXero

iTrader: (2)

Another thing to mention, if you don't redline, you don't deserve to drive a Z

Accordaleer

iTrader: (5)

I drive mine all winter in mine, just dont drive it if its more than 2 inches about. I drove in some snow before and just had to be insanely careful driving around curves and turns. Anyway I'm no expert either, I learned on friends civic and rubicon myself, but only a few times. I may grab a stick on the next car, not sure. Most likely I think. Good luck, practice man, and the shaking I experienced too, I'm sure someone will chime in.

goneinsixtyseconds

iTrader: (1)

gear ratios are probably different from my 03 to your 08, but for mine:

1st gear maxes at approx 60 km/h
2nd gear approx 90 km/h
3rd gear approx 120 km/h
4th gear approx 170 km/h?
5th gear approx 220 km/h?
6th gear approx 260-270 km/h?

never really take notice of 4th, 5th, or 6th, but 1st, 2nd, and 3rd should be right.

XuperXero

iTrader: (2)

5th is 230km/h and 6th at 7000rpm(redline for 03-05 is 6600rpm) is 309km/h

The other sounds about right iirc

Accordaleer

iTrader: (5)

Also the more you drive it the more easily it will come to you which gear to select at what speed. I have an auto and even I know how many gears I can downshift in manual mode. It comes with time.

bender

iTrader: (3)

We've all been there at one point or another.

Don't worry about impressing your friends and dropping gears every turn at 5000 rpm. You're getting way too confident for your level and it's not important now.

My advice to you would to ALWAYS be in the correct gear. This doesn't mean you have to drop gears like you're a superstar. It means knowing you're moving way too slow for the gear you're in, but being able to drop gears without having the car jolt. You never know what what situation you're going to be in while driving, being in the correct gear is a must. Whether it's driving straight or turning, do it. Do it before you reach those cars moving slower ahead of you, and do it before you turn.

BABY STEPS, baby steps. Concentrate on just knowing when you're moving too slow for lets say fifth, just drop it a gear without having the car jolt. Moving too fast for that gear? drop it again. As long as you're not moving nicely for the gear you're in, the car will drop gears no problem without having to jump rpms. You're not shifting into 5th while you're doing 27km, so why are you turning in 5th?

Don't worry about rev matching and dropping several gears. Concentrate on knowing when you're moving too slow, and when it's ok to drop a gear without having the car try to jump rpms. Once you start learning what speeds the car feels comfortable in each gear, then you can start worrying about the other stuff.

Z-Lover

iTrader: (6)

haha, i only have 700km on my new car rite now.. i guess it's not a good time to redline my babe for now, when the break in period passes, that's when i am going to readline the car a bit. For now, i will drive as slow as i possibly could....Correct me if i am wrong :-):

Z-Lover

iTrader: (6)

so these are the max speed each and every gear can take up to??? so does that mean i downshift to 2nd gear from 3rd gear at the speed of 90KM/H?? i don't really understand..!!!!!

Z-Lover

iTrader: (6)

i can definitely feel the car is shaking if it's moving slowly on a higher gear.

For example, when i do the turn at 4th gear with a speed of let's say 30km/H, i can feel the car's shaking....does that mean at this moment, i should downshift from 4th gear to 3rd gear to make the engine smooth?

That's why i wanna know at which gear i should select at what speed.:-)

bender

iTrader: (3)

It means you're going too slow for 4th. Now next time you know you could have made that turn one gear lower.

Usually, you'll probably be in 3rd going into a turn off a green. 4th is too high for an everyday turn around the block. It totally depends on your speed though. I'm just giving an example. You'll want to be in third BEFORE you turn. If you're going too slow for 4th, it will be easy to get it into 3rd without jumping rpms. If you're going slow enough, it will drop into 3rd like butter.

Don't drop into first (mostly never) and for now only drop it to 2nd when the car is rolling under it's on momentum (cautious turning, rolling off a stop).

Once you get a hang of where the car feels comfortable in each gear. Then you can push your learning some more. For now just concentrate on dropping one gear at a time without having the car jolt from having to catch up on the rpms.

XuperXero

iTrader: (2)

I dont even think you can drop into 1st, there's a safety block when the car is up to speed, it won't let you shift into 1st. Unless you want to force it and do some nasty gear grinding.

bender

iTrader: (3)

It will if you're going slow enough. If you're not almost completely stopped, you'll get the car in a mad shake if you're lucky, or it will grind. Yes, it wont drop into 1st from 4th unless you mash it in. I'm talking about a new driver who would be tempted to do a rolling stop while dropping it in first. We're not talking rev matching into 1st.

Let the guy learn the basics first. You have everyone here telling him to hit redline and record the speed, hit high rpms and drop it to see how much he needs to jump the rpm, and all this other nonsense. HE'S STILL TAKING RIGHT/LEFT HAND TURNS IN 5TH! He doesn't even know what gear he's supposed to be in the first place.

No new stick driver needs/should be driving over 2400rpm. Forget rev matching. He doesn't need it now.

jasonintoronto

+1

my advice is to drive between 2000 and 3000 rpms. start in first, when u go over 3000, shift up. do this until you reach the speed you want to. don't be a hurry to shift AS SOON as it passes 3000, you have lots of time - this is just a guideline.

for downshifting, do the reverse. as the rpm's fall when you slow down, if they pass 2000, shift down. shifting down below 2000 is pretty easy, and you don't even have to worry about rev matching much because the engine isn't as hard on the clutch at this speed than shifting down from other speeds (e.g. 4500).

do that until you're comfortable knowing when to shift without looking at the tach (the engine sound, vibration of the car will be your guide).

good luck

tk350atwork

Is it me or am i just too cautious? I'd say never downshift into first gear unless your stopped or just rolling