Driving a manual car

[Linas19]

Just trying to find out what rpm do most people shift up.

 

[Xhilr8n!]

It is not that simple.

A zillion variables come to mind including what mood I’m in. But things like the road incline and just what my intentions are for the next shifts.

And that’s the fun.

I go by ear, not the rev counter. If the drivetrain starts sounding scary, upshift. If it starts lugging down, downshift.

Repeat for years on all terrains and weathers. Happy motoring…

 

[Linas19]

It is not that simple.

A zillion variables come to mind including what mood I’m in. But things like the road incline and just what my intentions are for the next shifts.

And that’s the fun.

I go by ear, not the rev counter. If the drivetrain starts sounding scary, upshift. If it starts lugging down, downshift.

Repeat for years on all terrains and weathers. Happy motoring…

I have been shifting based on how the engine sounds but it also depends on my mood. I usually shift between 2500 and 3500 rpm.

 

[Xhilr8n!]

This is how old people talk, apologies.

Did a bit of driving on all sorts of roads yesterday, and remembered that back when I learned manual, only cars that were considered high performance had rev counters. We had a number of VW bugs with three speeds, on mountainous roads. NC80 went by our property, a worthy challenger to the famous Dragon. Driving that with 50 hp and 3 speeds required a lot of successful quick shifts. And leaving some gear teeth along the way.

 

[Xcfool]

At a minimum 3k rpm. Never run a gear on throttle under 2k rpm.

 

[OEMjoe]

This is how old people talk, apologies.

Learned manual on a civic with no tach. Even with my Audi I don't pay attention to the tach. You feel the ideal shift point overtime for your driving style and environment. Just don't bog it or ride the rev limiter.

However, this engine is so quiet compared to older cars that I have to look at my RPMs just to know if I am in the correct gear though I'm used to floppy laid back 5 speeds and NA engines so on my first drive it took a couple tries to get into 6th.