I figured no question is too noob to ask so I thought I'd ask for precaution and since I want my baby to live as long as possible.

I've been driving stick for a about two months, haven't hit 1000 miles yet, sadly. I usually shift at 2.5-3.0k rpms. When I shift, the car usually pulls a small horsie (jolt) of some type. I was just wondering what I'm doing wrong when I shift.

Also when I shift, it feels a little rough when shifting the stick. Cluth is all the way down but it feels like the stick is grinding. I know better not to cluth in half way and grind the gears, but I was just wondering if the shifter is supposed to just pop in the gear, or u feel a little grind/roughness when shifting.

 

Probally letting off the clutch inproperly.. practice.. it would take alot of grinding and jolting to really do damage..

 

yeah learning to drive stick on these "drive by wire" cars is definitely a little different. I stalled it out the first time I test drove it and I have been doing stick for 6 years

 

The "jolt" comes from having the gas pedal depressed too much between shifts. If the engine is revving at higher RPM's than it would be in the next gear that you shift to...that produces the jolt. The only time that you really should "rev" the engine a little, is when you are first starting out from the stopped position.

The jolt can easily be rid of with a little better footwork on the clutch (like Stu mentioned), and/or less gas pedal pressure.

 

so would you say i accelerate too fast... i would say that i accelerate fairly slow like a granny cause a car or two usually pass me on the parallel lane when going from a red light... a lot of my friends ride with me and have been driving stick for years and don't know what my problem is when shifting.. i guess I've just been a little aggravated because I can't seem to get it down after two months...

as it goes, i gas, let go of gas, clutch in fully, shift up, let go of clutch, gas. Ppl say it should all take about half a second but it takes me about a second.

 

when you let go of the clutch you need to equally give it gas, not just let it go, then give it gas again

 

hehe, yea i read that on the forums, then as i was driving with my friend, he starts yelling me, "You don't have to gas it as you clutch out, you #)(@*#$@#" Well, maybe it wasn't that extreme. But I tried both ways.... gasing while clutching out and just clutch out then gas..

 

it just needs to be a smooth transition, you start gasing near the friction point, thats the most important part get a feel for that small little point where the car starts to move, once you get used to that, you'll know you need some gas at that point to smooth it all out

 

yea you're definitely right at that, cause i still have trouble from a red light, clutching out smoothly.. sometimes i pull a very minor horsie as i clutch out while gasing... sometimes i get it as smooth as an auto..

the reason for this thread was because i was worried if the jolting might damage the clutch or transmission...

 

if it starts bucking just quickly push the clutch back in and try again. go to a parking lot and just feather the clutch with no gas at the friction point, on most cars I can manage to get it rolling and not stall out without gas, this way you get used to when the car is going to start moving and when your just giving it gas and standing still lol

 

As for the purpose of the thread....the jolt you're talking about shouldn't do much damage. Just smooth it out and everything should be fine.

 

YAY! Another new stick driver! Great to see more people learning stick! I thought I'd chime in just to say that, you have enough people giving you advice already! Good luck and remember practice practice practice!!!

 

i love stick so much.... been researching on what things i wanna get... first i wanna make sure I get my stick solid before any rough play.. dont' wanna stall with mods on it... Any particular threads for scion meets up, in the LI/Queens, NY region?

 

tC is my first stick too. b4 that i had an auto 98 civic ex. keep up the practice dood. i was rough at first too, now im smooth like butter.

yea . . like butter

 

how soon or late to do guys shifts? around what rpms? just asking. . .

 

depending on traffic and speed normall around 3000 rpm
you can feel the car when it wants a shift most of the time so i dont watch the rpms all the time

TC is my first stick i got it down with in a 1000 miles

 

yeah the 4 cylinder has a distinct point at which it feels like its read to shift, once you get an intake and exhaust and it frees everything up a little bit, it likes to rev a little better. If its not broken in yet the motor feels pretty tight when giving it revs, right now I feel like I'm breaking it at 3500, I can't remember the last time I drove a stock car until the tC

 

i agree, with regard to the shift point. When I first got the car she wanted to go at about 3000rpms. Now that I've put 11,700 miles on the car, seems like the shift point is now around 3500...

 

anywhere from 3500 to 6200