shifting gears?

[member]

i'm not sure where this thread belongs, so i'm just gonna post it here.

when i shift, i shift around every 10 mph...except my 1st.

1st gear: 1-20
2nd gear: 20-30
3rd gear: 30-40
4th gear: 40-50
5th gear: 50 +

but my question is this...

if i'm gonna slow down, should i down shift around to the level or can i just keep going?

for example, if i'm going around 30-35, should i be driving at 4th gear? or is that high? maybe 3rd?

thanks to anyone that can help.

[pdiggitydogg]

yeah Id say thats a decent estimate...thats what I told my ex-gf when she was learning.

I usually will drop it into 3rd if i slow below 40...wont hurt and it gives you more oomf to get back to 40

[Wren57]

Um why not cruise in 5th? If you don't plan on speeding up any time soon just cruise in 5th to save gas...

[Wren57]

oh oops- I just saw where you said you wanted to slow down... I just hold down the clutch and brake until Im ready to accelerate again, then I shift into whatever gear and start rolling

[member]

understood.

thanks to both of you.

[MAXed Out]

yeah that seems just about right even though I don't have a manual tranny;(

[mt.biker]

are you trying to save gas or just having trouble finding the right gear?

You should be able to drop her into 2nd until about 50mph, just need to bring the revs up. For a smoother ride going into 3rd will do you for most of you're city/secondary roads.

But your best bet is just to play around and watch your tac a bit... the tac says more then the speedo

[Shot 2 Hel]

this is just regular driving I am going to assume and not racing

but i just shift every time i reach 3 - 4k RPMs, but i guess that might put you at about every 10 mph

[member]

Originally posted by mt.biker
are you trying to save gas or just having trouble finding the right gear?

You should be able to drop her into 2nd until about 50mph, just need to bring the revs up. For a smoother ride going into 3rd will do you for most of you're city/secondary roads.

But your best bet is just to play around and watch your tac a bit... the tac says more then the speedo

i'm doing it to save gas and keep the engine healthy. i heard that if you keep driving fast at lower gears, you'll wear out your engine faster? is that correct?

mine goes to around 60 in 2nd, i think...i'll check again.

[Shot 2 Hel]

it MIGHT wear your engine faster but you also run more of a chance of throwing a rod or something. But i still drive fast, and i have reached 70 before my car shifted into 3rd gear and i drive an automatic, might be because i have a big 3 SPEED whoooooo!!! so yes it might wear your engine a bit faster but i wouldent worry about it, cause you really wont be able to tell till you get way up there in miles

[member]

understood.

btw, mine's around 8,000 - 8,500 now...and got it last november.

[wheresmylicense]

just go by your RPMS... that's what i do... if it sounds like the engine is screamin, up shift... if you're boggin, down shift...

[SolPol]

Originally posted by highlander
Um why not cruise in 5th? If you don't plan on speeding up any time soon just cruise in 5th to save gas...

Because that's bad for the engine also. You don't wanna be at too low RPMs either.

[blind34_1]

I just go by my tach. I can also usually hear/feel the engine, and if it want to shift then I shift. Its not always the same way either. If you are going from a level road up a step hill in fourth, eventually you are going to stall.

but yeah, all cars are different. I noticed that a lot of automatics like to shift somewhere around 4000 rpm. So thats usually the max I'll let each gear get to. I typically shift before that though, sometimes around 2500-3000. If racing or just feeling like a gearhead for no reason, then I'll go to 5000-6000 sometimes.

[Duckydos]

I haven't really ever looked at what RPM's I shift at during normal driving, although I can tell you at what speeds I redline.
1st - 34mph
2nd - 62mph
3rd - 101mph
4th - 120mph (governer limited)
5th - 120mph (governer limited)
As for just normal driving, I usually shift at the point to where I don't have to use my clutch, so it varies. Usually I'll try to shift before 3500rpm though...

[member]

remember that i still have to get me a tach since it's a dx. that's why i asked about the mph...

[SolPol]

You just gotta learn the car, go by engine noise.

[member]

i do.

that's why i asked what i asked...

[Zanza]

Hmm to answer you question the shifting about every 3-4k is great for a Civic aka every 10 or so mph. As for braking, one of the most common mistakes is to think you'll have better braking with the clutch in. If you've ridden a motorcycle at all you'll notice that when you brake with your clutch in, although its a lot smoother feeling its a lot more work for the brakes. Instead you should leave the car in gear and brake, when your into low rpms then put in the clutch and take care of the rest as needed.

You see its not as easy a shift down because of gear ratios. Each gear has a different relation to the output/drive shaft that powers the gears to turn in the first place. For example I think for Civics the gear ratio of 1st gear is 3.0-3.14 or something. While second gear is 1 point something. So if your 3000k at 2nd gear if you shift to first you'll be past your redline already at 9k approx.

Thats why shifting down for no apparent reason eats gas, and strains the engine. Just go easy on your sychronizers and your gas and brake in the standing gear. Now if we were talking a bout braking and existing a turn thats a different story.

[member]

when i brake, i'm in neutral...then i put the cluth in and brake.

is that ok?

[OPAKRACING]

Originally posted by member
i'm not sure where this thread belongs, so i'm just gonna post it here.

when i shift, i shift around every 10 mph...except my 1st.

1st gear: 1-20
2nd gear: 20-30
3rd gear: 30-40
4th gear: 40-50
5th gear: 50 +

but my question is this...

if i'm gonna slow down, should i down shift around to the level or can i just keep going?

for example, if i'm going around 30-35, should i be driving at 4th gear? or is that high? maybe 3rd?

thanks to anyone that can help.

if i'm goin 30-35, i accelerate in 2nd, but cruise in 3rd

[Zanza]

Originally posted by member
when i brake, i'm in neutral...then i put the cluth in and brake.

is that ok?

When you at a speed lets say 40 stay in gear, only do the neutral or clutch thing towards speeds when you can feel the gear losing its power.

The gears past 2nd can handle low rpm situations easily as long as you aren't going so slow that it will stall.

[member]

so it's bad for the clutch or engine to have it in neutral?

[member]

and when i said brake, i meant braking to stop at a stop sign or a red light.

[TeriyakiBroccoli]

I think hes talking about using engine braking to assist your brakes..

[member]

huh? what? engine braking? can you explain what that is?

is that when you shift down to slow down?

[OPAKRACING]

Originally posted by member
huh? what? engine braking? can you explain what that is?

is that when you shift down to slow down?

yes, sometimes you shift down to slow the car down, in assistance to teh brakes.

[ford50forlife]

hmm.. if i was going to drive conservatively i would upshift to 2nd @ 5mph 3rd @ 10mph 4th @ 20mph and 5th @ 35mph that way i dont have to use the clutch and the keep the revs low at the same time for maximum conservation of everything, but then again i do drive a bit of a different product :o

[Zanza]

I'll try to tackle all of your questions:

Q. So it's bad for the clutch or engine to have it in neutral?

A. Well it really depends on the situation. For example if your on a offramp going 50, and you have plenty of time to brake then use the engine braking plus the brakes. Don't even bother putting in the clutch because once you put it into nuetral or put in the clutch you taking away from the helping hand of engine braking thus making your brakes do all the work.

But, on the other hand if your in rush hour traffic for example your rpm's are so limited that using the clutch and braking to a stop or to a very low rpm situation is a must. Lets talk about that offramp again. So you've used engine braking to come to lets say 15 mph, you might as well put the clutch in and use the brakes because at this slow speed engine braking isn't really a issue.

Q.Huh? what? engine braking? can you explain what that is?

A. The easiest way to explain engine braking is...imagine you had 3 gears[as a human]. 1st gear you wore boots with a lot of traction but didn't allow you to do any fast movements. 2nd gear was dress shoes. 3rd gear were track shoes on your feet, you could in these babies. And finally you had nuetral, in which you rode a skateboard.

So you start off in 1st gear and go to second, and then finally 3rd. Your sprinting!. Now if you were running hard and you needed to stop from smacking into a wall which is about 10 feet from you, you would slow down by you trying to stop, and by the limited ability of your shoes which would slow you down more because of its limited ability to keep a forward momentum w/o you putting in running power.

Now pretend instead of just slowing down you decided to throw the skateboard underneath you and use your shoes to slow you down (somehow you can pull this off while in mid run). Problem is that you skateboard has almost no limitation of which it could keep going forward even w/o you propelling it further. Doesn't sound very efficient does it?

Basically you can subsitute that idea for gears. Each gear has a limitation of how much it will spin your wheels when no gas is applied. If you want to feel engine braking magnified get into your car and speed up to 15mph in first gear and let off on all the gas. I bet you'll feel the effect of engine braking. But if you were to excellerate to 15 mph in first gear and switch to nuetral you'll roll for quite a time assuming its a flat we are talking about. Try to brake and you'll be using all brakes, you'll little diskies trying to hold back couple thousand pounds. Why not give your car a brake and use engine braking too. BTW realistically at 15mph you'd put in the clutch because of the HARSH engine braking that will occur.

Hope that helps.

[member]

ahhh, understood.

so it's better to shift down when you're slowing down.

so going 70 + and entering the off ramp...

let off on the gas a little and around 55, shift down to 4th...

then shift down to 3rd around 35...

then again around 25 in 2nd...

then neutral and stop.

correct?

[Zanza]

Originally posted by member
ahhh, understood.

so it's better to shift down when you're slowing down.

so going 70 + and entering the off ramp...

let off on the gas a little and around 55, shift down to 4th...

then shift down to 3rd around 35...

then again around 25 in 2nd...

then neutral and stop.

correct?

Just stay in the gear that you are in when braking, it'll do the job. When you drop into another gear thats lower you'll kick the rpms up high. Sure you could do it that why, but it way too much effort and the gear your in would take care of it anyways.

[Duckydos]

I TYPE IN BOLD AND CAPS BECAUSE I AM IMPORTANT. BUT REMEMBER THIS, DOWNSHIFTING WILL WEAR DOWN YOUR CLUTCH QUICKER!
Sorry... downshifting will wear down your clutch quite a bit quicker because you will have to lean in the clutch for a smooth engine-braking.... and even the most expensive brake pads are $100's cheaper then a clutch... Just my $.02 FROM IMPORTANT DUCKY!

[CD5Passion]

if I am trying to save gas ill shift at 2500rpms, if im just tryign to make noise ill go to about 4k-5k
depends really, bu tyour estimate is about right
and when slowing I jsut ppop it into neutral and coast until I need to stop or go then ill put it into the gear needed