Tibbychick

So I've gotten the hang of driving the 5spd now and am really liking it. But I feel like I dont know enough about it. Someone educate me! Like, what does it mean to pop the clutch. Or dump the clutch? I'm still weary about downshifting. And how do you race a stick? At what RPMs is it bet to shift for maximum fuel economy and efficiency? What should I do to not strip the clutch? Im sure I'll come up with more questions...

hamhead

Ahh yes, the art of handling the stick. It takes practice and dedication to become good at handling it. Place your hand on the knob... lol.gif

OK back on topic.... Yes, Five-Speed is the ownage. Dumping the clutch is like when your racing, you've revved to 2500 and the light goes green. You take your foot off the clutch totally and slam the gas. "Feathering" the clutch is the same premise except your pushing the clutch in and out until you get traction when your racing. Either method works, personally I just dump the thing as I don't have traction problems.

Generally you shift at around 6000-6200 for the best powerband on a Beta. If your running stock clutch and flywheel, letting right off the clutch, switching gears, and then hitting the gas is the way to go. However, if your using a grippy clutch and lightened flywheel, letting right off the clutch can cause you to stall out. Was racing a Civic SI and he actually stalled from 2-3. Funniest thing I'd ever seen, seeing as I gave him a head start as well. wink.gif

Fuel economy? Eh, bad question for me I only get like 25mpg on the Beta. smile.gif Generally the lower the RPMs the better the fuel economy. The lighter you are on the gas pedal the better the economy. Generally what I do is like 50% throttle to 3000-3200 RPMs in all gears. I get decent economy and thats when my exhaust volume peaks out so I can scare the old ladies driving next to me. lol.gif

Stripping the clutch happens when you do something stupid. A clutch can take some abuse though, so if you wanna send the Geo Metro next to you a message, you can by all means dump the clutch and not hurt things too bad. Just make sure you fully depress the clutch most of the way when you shift, set it in neutral during long stops so you don't wear out the throwout bearing. Just remember the stock car puts out 120WHP at 6000rpm. If your car is running I/H/E or more, you might be putting out that same whp at 5000rpm. So your creating the same wear on your stock clutch as if you were shifting at 6000.

I don't know why your scared of downshifting. Its fun, I downshift everywhere. If your downshifting at 40 down to second, I would let the clutch out slow so its less of a shock. Don't be scared to put a little shock on the clutch every once in a while, its meant to take downshifts for passing and such. If you drive normal 130 minutes out of the 135 minutes you drive, you'll get a good 30k-50k out of a Hyundai clutch.

Tibbychick

awesome, thanks that cleared things up a bit.

anyone else have anything to add?

edit: oh yeah Im not scared of downshifting, just unsure about it yet.

Mister_Sinister

Heed my warning. Second is a very sensitive beast. If i try to downshift into second going 30 or more, it grinds. If I try to go from 1st to 2nd going more than 30, it grinds. But I'm pretty sure I've got a bad throwout bearing, timing, synchros or a combination of them.

Anyways, yeah, MPG seriously depends on how you drive. Me, I've got terrible mileage. Mainly cuz I shift around 4k-5k RPMS. 8)

Tibbychick

yeah I find that when I shift into second from first, the car tends to jerk around. Sometimes its worse, sometimes not as bad. But maybe Im letting off the clutch too quick.. :?:

KayJai

Yes, you do, you shouldn't have any problems, also when was the last time you changed the gear oil?

TC, here's a good read from a local forum : http://s94355531.onlinehome.us/public_html...ht=downshifting

Shifting around 2-3k's will give you normal MPG.

When you drop (pop) the clutch, you will chirp the tires, basically, you rev till, I dunno 3k's then you just lift your entire leg off, tires will squeel, and the car will usually squirm.

Starting off in 1st is the hardest to learn usually.
Going into 2nd is ok, if you don't pop your clucth, just put it in gear and gas a little while letting off the clutch pedal "normally"
Going into 3rd, 4th, and 5th, is easy, rarely will you usually chirp,... unless you try wink1.gif

And you don't have to downshift, it helps when you need to stop quicker, and when you're racing into and outta a corner,...

Hope that helped smile.gif

Tibbychick

Cool! Thanks a bunch.

and Ive got some MT-90 tranny oil to put in it...although Shaddoh has given me some very good advice on that..

hamhead

Oddly enough I don't grind into anything. Must be the 12k miles on the tranny. It doesn't like going into second until I tap the brake a little bit. Must be a safety feature such as the lame "Can't downshift into first going more than 7mph" and "I wanna put it in reverse while going 40mph forward."

Downshifting is godly. You should see the faces of every import owner when I pull up to them at a light in my GSX. They're sitting at the light and then they hear me coming with my 3.25 inch exhaust. (3rd)Vrooooooom-Waaaaapshhhhhht (2nd)Vrooooom-Waaaaapssssssssssht. Then I blip the throttle again for another nice blowoff valve soundoff. Scares em every time. wink.gif

Aha, you should've seen me trying to learn how to start in first. My dad neglected to tell me you can push the gas and clutch in at the same time. So I was trying to let off the clutch right at the engage point, then hit the gas. lol.gif

Mad-Machine

downshifting seems to be a black art... in reality, just like upshifting, it is a matter of timing. Instead of just letting off of the gas, using the clutch, and then getting on the gas, You need to let off the gas, use the clutch, blid the throttle to bring the revs up to approximatly where they will be in the lower gear, and release the clutch.. it takes some skill and only a small amount of talent.

On the subject of MPG.. I also skip gears.. usually third or fourth depending on where I am.

And as you are a newbie on the subject of driving a manual, I will refrain from trying to teach you how to do a clutchless shift.

Tibbychick

wait what do you mean skipping gears? Can you skip from 3rd to 5th?? Is that what you mean?