Newbie question on driving standard transmission- entering a corner and gearing down?
 

Hi there I just picked up a manual transmission car and am trying to figure the best way to gear down as you enter a tight turn and stay smooth but also have power when you exit the turn - for example you are making a right turn on a green light. Is it best to slow the car down with the brakes first and then clutch and lower the gear or is it best to just clutch and lower the gear without touching the brakes?

Depends how fast you're going... :derp:

And gear down before you turn, not during.

Hard brake, heel-toe, downshift, hit apex, power out!

heel-toe the brake/gas to keep the boost up.

this is a newbie here guys...but they're correct once you figure out how to heel/toe correctly. Depends how fast you're going, but I'd say if you have time before the intersection approaching, practice rev matching downshifts (youtube it) and then graduate to heel/toe. Hell, approaching every red light practice rev matching...quickly you will learn young padawan

The simplest way to say it is, while turning the only thing your car should be doing is turning. Not hard braking, not acceleration etc. So as you come to a corner (say your right hander at a green). Slow the car down my gearing down and braking etc, and before the turn (depending on speed) you can either 1. Keep the car in gear with the clutch out and just turn, or 2. Shift to second, put the clutch in, coast the corner and apply power/clutch out as you exit the turn

best way to gear down is to decrease the gear you are in by 1.

If you are cruising in third, go to second for the corner
if you are cruising in second, go to first for the corner.

so on and so forth. if you have any further questions feel free to PM me for some free private lessons via skype

Practice rev matching downshifting. The heel toe will come really easily right after. Do not change gears mid corner. Remember not to shift into 1st.

as a general driving thing, not a noobie to manual thing, you should be using the brakes as normal. just because you can downshift and use engine braking to slow the car down doesn't mean you should.

the usage of brakes should be pretty much 99% identical to automatic cars. I actually can't think of any reason why the brakes would be used differently from automatic to manual on the street (unless hooning)

Q: I could heel/toe easily in my Miata but it was more difficult in my Protege due to the pedal placement. What do you guys do when the pedals (and your shoe size) just don't work well together?

See if there is a pedal spacer available..

Did you know you could rev match an autotragic 10th gen Corolla. I do it all the time.. LOL Probably not great for the tranny, but its a corolla, built to no break.. HAHA

what if i am in neutral before the corner, do i shut off the car for the corner

Don't shift to first for traffic light corner. Downshift or leave it in second gear.

Shit quality but....

"if you are cruising in second, go to first for the corner"

"Shift to second, put the clutch in, coast the corner and apply power/clutch out as you exit the turn"

"the usage of brakes should be pretty much 99% identical to automatic cars. I actually can't think of any reason why the brakes would be used differently from automatic to manual on the street"

OMG the 3 lines above are some of the worst advice I have every seen! Sorry guys... just laughing out loud reading this.

Braking should be completed before the corner, and you should always drive through the corner (never clutch in or coasting). Based on speed perform this in the appropriate gear, which 95% of the time at urban intersections is 2nd gear.

Better yet, take a manual lesson from a reputable driving school; you will learn a lot from a single lesson.

I have only been driving manual cars since 1999, and off the top of my head, I don't think I have really spent any extended amount of time driving any stick shift cars older than 1995 on the street.

All I can say in addition to what TysonK has mentioned is:

1) in all of the cars that I have driven -- as in, every single one -- 1st gear has a tranny lockout feature that prevents you from shifting into 1st unless you are going really, really slow. So I'd suggest that unless you think there is an absolute need for it, just take the corner in 2nd if you are already cruising up to the turn in 2nd.

2) Lesson #1 when you are driving stick shift -- never, EVER let the car coast through any meaningful stretch of road, esp when you are making a turn, or travelling through an intersection. When you are 100% certain of what you are doing, there will be rare times when it is OK to put the car into neutral and you can break this rule. But in general, never EVER do this.

The blatantly obvious reason is, when your car is in neutral, you have absolutely no control over acceleration. If you suddenly find a need to GTFO of wherever you are -- eg. container truck barreling down towards you from your blind spot or whatever -- and you are in neutral, you are fxxked. There is just no other way to describe the situation. You cannot power the car (and yourself) out of trouble.

3) The brake usage statement is not nearly as off base as the others. Suffice to say, with a manual tranny, the driver is afforded a lot of extra options and flexibility in how he can control the forward momentum of the vehicle. I subscribe to the school of thought that you shouldn't forceably use your transmission to do the work that your brakes are supposed to do, but lots of opportunities naturally present themselves to allow you to take advantage of engine braking. These situations will not result in excessive transmission wear, and they will help reduce unnecessary wear on your brake pads as well.

Strong user name to post correlation

No you drop it in reverse

dont understand, what do you mean

oh that makes more sense.. i guess only shut it off if i was cruising in reverse into a corner.

Who in here is even talking about leaving the car in neutral???

search youtube and find someone who can show you, it's like asking someone to teach you to ride motorcycle, writing it down doesn't do it or take a course Driver Training | SCCBC.net

Err... apparently, you did? :badpokerface:

Not sure how else I am supposed to interpret the bolded part other than "coasting in neutral"? :badpokerface:

by coast i thought he meant keep it in 2nd and as you turn dont touch anything. no brakes or gas