I remember according to the manual, recommended shifting point is at 3rpm. As a daily driver, when I'm at a red light, I swear cars next to me take off way faster than I do. Old accords, old women, big trucks and SUVs. If I wanna keep up, I feel like I'm pushing the car cause I'm smashing on the gas padel, shifting fast and hearing the engine loud, and sometimes shift later at 3.5-4rpm. I'm wondering if everyone feels like this?

I notice this because even though my friends all drive manuals and we know the times are better than autos, cars still pass them when we take off a red light. Are we just being lazy and shifting very slow? Or are we suppose to shift fast enough that we keep up with automatics at a stop? curious.

 

its faster than automatic if your flooring it.... times.... ride the gears longer.... whole bunch of reasons.... weight is even one of them, but.... think about it.... they have to let go of the brake and step on the gas, we have to clutch in shift in gear let the clutch out engage and go.... its a process. its fun. who cares if so old women takes off on you at a redlight.... most likely ur faster than her

 

Hmm...I'm often ahead of the pack when I accelerate from a stoplight even in my beater pickup. I'm not winding it out or being hard on it, either.

How are your starts from the light? Are you launching at 1000-1500 RPM? As long as you're not excessively slipping the clutch with higher RPMs, I'm not exactly sure how you'd be lagging so far behind at the light.

Also, keep in mind that unless you're in your break-in period, 3000 RPM is merely a recommendation. Going beyond this is perfectly within the engine's operating limitations. If you're lagging so much as to where you're holding up traffic, by all means, go beyond 3000 RPM before you upshift.

 

actually, the TC manual doesn't say anything about RPM's when you shift, it goes by a recommened shifting speed - pulled straight from the manual

recommended shifting speeds -
1 to 2 or 2 to 1 24kmph(15mph)
2 to 3 or 3 to 2 40kmph(25mph)
3 to 4 or 4 to 3 64kmph(40mph)
4 to 5 or 5 to 4 72kmph(45mph)

that works out to what I've seen to be 2500rpms in each gear - you're probably falling behind other cars because you're sitting in neutral and need to hit the clutch, in gear, ease the clutch and give it gas until you're steady and be careful with your next shift. Leave the car in 1st gear with clutch in, rev the gas to about 2000-2500rpms and let out the clutch and floor it when your clutch is out, hell you could even shift at 3000rpms but floor it every shift as soon as the clutch drops and you tell me how slow your TC is.... rofl

I never lag behind at a light, even when I'm going slow or not trying, but when I try and drop the clutch and floor it and shift a heck of a lot higher, like 4-5krpms I leave all the other cars in the dust, at least 10 car lengths behind by the time I hit the speed limit and slow it down to cruise, and that's not even trying to race the car... I get slammed into the seat real nice when I shift at 6krpms.... and the other cars? what other cars? ooooh you mean those speckles in my rear view mirror? oh-kay

just don't leave too much rubber or break the speed limit, or you'll wind up getting a ticket for "exhibition of acceleration" or speeding

 

Is it just me?: For a first time manual driver, I tend to brace myself a lot while shifting. Feels like I'm gonna rip my steering wheel off

 

my tc really gets up. i dont know if you have a lemon or not but mines fly. i used to have a civic si and my tc feels like it has way more torque. i raced a few of my friends with suped up hondas and i burn them by a good 2 to 3 car lengths going from light to light.

but i have another question. wen you guys step on the clutch to shift between gears is it me or does your tc feel like the gas is still revved up. you can still feel it running while you press the gas. does that feel weird to you? i asked a few people and they said there are no long term effects on the car but im jus concerned.

later

 

3K is a recommendation shift wherever you want (in moderation of course).

 

well the engine is plugging away working to turn your wheels, all of a sudden you are taking it away and making it run with no load what so ever. The engine will naturally do that.


Think of it this way. Say you are in a tug-o-war. Your pulling as hard as you can and all of a sudden the other team lets go, if you are pulling as hard as you can you not going to stop right wear you are, your going to fall on your ___. Thats what is happening to the engine.

 

what rpm should we be taking off at? i try to take off as low as possible but sometimes i have a heavy foot and get moving out of first at like 1250-1500 rpm? not often but on hills and such....hope i dont burn the clutch doing that

 

Screw 3K, i shift at 3,500-4K, use your ears and listen to the engine.

I've shifted at 3K and I think that's UNDER shifting it.

 

that's fine.

clutch design has taken the starting in considration. unless the driver "ride the clutch" all the time, or let clutch half engage for too long all the time during starting up, clutch can last a long long time with just normal usage.

even if it starts slipping, you can replaced it with a new clutch for $300 - $500 including labor. so it's not end of the world if a clutch is burnt out.

 

Maybe you're just caring about your car...

 

yes, i get way too nervous, it's like i'm in a racecar sometimes, i'm so focused on shifting at the right rpm. i find that i tend to bump through the gears if i'm thinking about it...seems wierd, but when i'm relaxed i can drive the car as smooth as an automatic, but i'm sure it's more wear on the clutch to let the clutch out slower on shifts and slip it then it is to let it out faster with a little gas to rev max...even though you don't have to rev match because of the synchos...do i know this stuff or am i just talking talk? let me know.

anyways, i tend to slip the clutch the most in first, natuarlly, but in order to keep it from bumping, i tend to let out the clutch in first, all the way, when i'm at like 1900 rpm...is that ok? also, how come it seems like first gear almost has 2 speeds to it? like first gear is broken up into 2 smaller gears? sorry, i'm a newbie

 

i think you guys are just _____ footing it. if you bought the manual, drive it like its a manual. its not gunna break your engine or tear up your clutch if you ride out your gears to redline. dont forget your torque peak is at 4k and hp peaks at 5700. so dont take toyotas recommended shift points as being set in stone. they are just a guide for rookies so they dont break anything.

 

yeah, i know, but i've heard of someone driving an xB stick on here and their clutch is slipping at 8000miles. this dude on vvti.net drives an xA and baby's the clutch, at 14k miles, his clutch slips in third at 3400 rpm...i don't want to pay for a new clutch anytime within 3 years

 

are you a new tC owner...cause i feel like that too when i first got the car, but now...i am always the first one gone from a red to a green

 

I usually shift when im in "economy mode" at 2500 rpms...and thats what i shift at when im still warming up. I'm sure if u just don't bust ur cars ***** all the time ur clutch will be fine...but plan of replacing it anyways because it eventually will wear...

 

I think the more proper description would be that you don't have to double-clutch revmatch, since you have synchros. Single-clutch revmatching is a very worthwhile practice, in that it saves tremendous wear on your clutch while downshifting.

See my post about it here: https://www.scionlife.com/forums/viewtopic.php?p=499880

That's really pretty high. You're going to put an unnecessarily high amount of wear on the clutch by doing that. My suggestion is that you try to launch the car as close to 1000 RPM as you can. It'll do it. You just have to practice.

 

No matter what car you buy there's always defects on the assembly line. Granted Toyota has far fewer errors on their production lines. But they still exist. (Some people attribute this to the ability of any given person on the assembly line to shut it down if they see defects taking place.)

But anwyays, I've worked for the Police department garage, and somewhat know my stuff about cars. In part of working at the garage i ended up going through reports of vehicles no longer in service. One of the Reports mentioned a Dodge Stratus that blew a head gasket at 300 miles on the odometer.

Before I get flamed, YES, a Dodge is an American car, it's still better than a Kia. While Dodge replaced the entire car free of charge. (Including re-imbursing us for man hours of modding the car (( hiding lights and sirens in the car.)

LEMONS DO HAPPEN!

 

if you want to accelerate as fast as possible from a stop, in an mt, what do you do?