POLL: can you drive stick shift? and if you can...

[Shawn]

I just shift. Works for me.

 

[mrrman]

learned to drive using a standard...wasnt bad except for parking(backing up) then it was a breeze after that

 

[TwoBills]

Since we're basically talking about ripping out our tranny bearings and synchros, anybody here into power shifting?

 

[ts3433]

Not old enough to drive legally yet, though my dad decided to teach me a little on some rural roads down here. For whatever reason I'd like to learn stick.

 

[spidey07]

Originally posted by: 91TTZ

Originally posted by: spidey07

you're bad for having a poorly balanced car and crappy tires.

teehee.

they are oh-so light in the rear end.

What kind of asinine comment was that?

My car is balanced pretty well and the tires are fine, Bridgestone Potenzas.

If I take the corner hard, the steer is neutral, with maybe a touch of understeer. If I give it some power then it will develop oversteer. You can control it somewhat, although controlling power on a turbo car isn't as exact as controlling it on a NA car... the boost comes on a bit hard and gives power too quick.

They are not light in the rear end, I don't know who told you that. I've driven a Camaro before, so I know what that feels like. My Z feels firmly planted.

well to each their own.

they feel light in the rear-end.

Great cars and I love them so don't get me wrong.

 

[91TTZ]

Originally posted by: spidey07

well to each their own.

they feel light in the rear-end.

Great cars and I love them so don't get me wrong.

If you change that to, "The greatest cars ever built, far exceeding a Ferrari in looks, a F1 car in handling, and a top fuel dragster in acceleration", then I'd agree with you, but only partially for understating it.

j/k, I know what you meant.

 

[spidey07]

Originally posted by: 91TTZ

Originally posted by: spidey07

well to each their own.

they feel light in the rear-end.

Great cars and I love them so don't get me wrong.

If you change that to, "The greatest cars ever built, far exceeding a Ferrari in looks, a F1 car in handling, and a top fuel dragster in acceleration", then I'd agree with you, but only partially for understating it.

j/k, I know what you meant.

heh, I owned one for about a year. loved it. but you could break that thing at the drop of a hat. Needs more rubber.

 

[thomsbrain]

Originally posted by: Goosemaster
vic, why brake?

I jsut rev match perfectly and then apply the brake at the end so that the car does msot of the work.

clutch in, blip throttle, shift, blip again if need be, and then let it engine brake + the brake

that's great if you drive like a grandma and don't mind starting the "braking" process 2 miles before you need to stop.

anyway, i can do both but i see little use for double-clutching in regular driving, and you can heel and toe a syncro tranny without double clutching, so i'm not sure why people are saying it's a "kind" of double clutching. if you're getting down to first gear in the middle of a corner, you're probably going too slow.

furthermore, that stuff about "being in control" is crap, too. when coasting in neutral, as long you pay attention to your speed as you slow, you can get it back in gear and get on the gas just as fast as it would take an automatic to get its sh!t together and kick down (and maybe faster!). heel and toeing is great if you're out on the backroads having fun, but for regular driving, give your leg the clutch, and linkage a rest and just coast like everyone else on the road.

 

[thomsbrain]

Originally posted by: Vic

Originally posted by: 91TTZ

Originally posted by: spidey07
so what do you do when going into a corner? Need to brake and downshift at the same time.

have to heel-toe.

My car has 389 lbs of torque at the rear wheels. I can leave it in gear and still smoke the tires coming out of most corners.

That's not what spidey07 is saying. Imagine you're entering hot in the wrong gear and need to drop one gear. Braking, regular downshift, clutch out dragging the engine up from idle speed, compression lurch, ass end swings out, hello tree!

edit: and power is no excuse for not doing it right

so don't let the clutch out until you need the power. duh. it's not like you need the engine to slow you down, especially on a RWD car that's threatening to break the rear end loose anyway.

 

[Goosemaster]

Originally posted by: thomsbrain

Originally posted by: Goosemaster
vic, why brake?

I jsut rev match perfectly and then apply the brake at the end so that the car does msot of the work.

clutch in, blip throttle, shift, blip again if need be, and then let it engine brake + the brake

that's great if you drive like a grandma and don't mind starting the "braking" process 2 miles before you need to stop.

anyway, i can do both but i see little use for double-clutching in regular driving, and you can heel and toe a syncro tranny without double clutching, so i'm not sure why people are saying it's a "kind" of double clutching. if you're getting down to first gear in the middle of a corner, you're probably going too slow.

furthermore, that stuff about "being in control" is crap, too. when coasting in neutral, as long you pay attention to your speed as you slow, you can get it back in gear and get on the gas just as fast as it would take an automatic to get its sh!t together and kick down (and maybe faster!). heel and toeing is great if you're out on the backroads having fun, but for regular driving, give your leg the clutch, and linkage a rest and just coast like everyone else on the road.

Bein in control actually attain the rank of relevance when you are taking a hairpin turn at 40mph on a 30 degree descent that has a lot of incoming traffic..hell that is inaccurate..that turn is much worse....what I mean interms of control is throttle response and stability. Having the engine brake helpsthe car atain a slow given rate of speed decrease that the driver can rely on..I KNOW that my car will not accelerate that much on that descent, and I KNOW how much it it will accelerate and will nto have to compensate for that.

It is of course not some magical traction control, but when driving on backroads, let me tell you, it makes a difference.


<--travels for about 20-45min on back roads each way everyday

 

[Evadman]

I can double clucth heel-toe, but I have been driving stick since forever.

 

I triple fly clutch.

 

[CraigRT]

I've driven 5 speed ever since I started driving cars almost, and I CAN double clutch, but I don't. and I've never tried heel toe, and have no desire to whatsoever.

 

[n7]

I can shift without using the clutch

Seriously.

On two of our farm trucks, if you are revving at the correct RPM level, i can upshift w/o the clutch, & downshift a couple gears anyway w/o the clutch...just takes a bit of practise

 

[JBT]

Sure no problem.

 

[Anubis]

Originally posted by: CraigRT
I've driven 5 speed ever since I started driving cars almost, and I CAN double clutch, but I don't. and I've never tried heel toe, and have no desire to whatsoever.

 

[Apex]

I can shift without letting go of the gas. Well, my car at least.

 

[Thegonagle]

I can do it all.

 

[PeeluckyDuckee]

I ususally downshift as I enter a corner. I don't blip the throttle when I downshift so I get that jerky off balance reaction from the car that you guys are talking about.

 

[Jzero]

I know how to heel-toe but it's worthless in normal driving. I double-clutch all the time to prevent the lurch of a downshift done without.

 

[rh71]

Originally posted by: spidey07
And I'm calling shens on the poll. It takes a tremendous amount of practice to double-clutch/heel-toe well.

It's similar to the question: "are you a good driver ?"... how many who respond will say no ?

 

[freegeeks]

I can quadruple shift WITHOUT using my foot

 

[StageLeft]

Originally posted by: freegeeks
I can quadruple shift WITHOUT using my foot

Can you shift with your *****, like the girl in the link warcrow (?) had?

 

[JulesMaximus]

Originally posted by: Skoorb

Originally posted by: freegeeks
I can quadruple shift WITHOUT using my foot

Can you shift with your *****, like the girl in the link warcrow (?) had?

That vid was awesome! I still have it on my computer at home.

 

[Vic]

Originally posted by: thomsbrain

Originally posted by: Vic

Originally posted by: 91TTZ

Originally posted by: spidey07
so what do you do when going into a corner? Need to brake and downshift at the same time.

have to heel-toe.

My car has 389 lbs of torque at the rear wheels. I can leave it in gear and still smoke the tires coming out of most corners.

That's not what spidey07 is saying. Imagine you're entering hot in the wrong gear and need to drop one gear. Braking, regular downshift, clutch out dragging the engine up from idle speed, compression lurch, ass end swings out, hello tree!

edit: and power is no excuse for not doing it right

so don't let the clutch out until you need the power. duh. it's not like you need the engine to slow you down, especially on a RWD car that's threatening to break the rear end loose anyway.

The very first rule of performance driving is to never take a corner in neutral or with the clutch in. Never. The engine torque on the wheels helps maintain better grip on the road through the corner, and control as variations of the throttle can shift weight balance forward and back, and every corner has its particular gear for best performance. The reality is that riding in neutral through a corner in a torquey RWD car is more likely to break the rear loose as too much weight would shift forward.