Manual Gear Changing Question

[Dr Strangelove]

Yes, it is possible to downshift from 4th to 2nd gear, but it takes practise. You have to gain a feel for when to shift the lever and when to re-engage the clutch. Generally I would not try to shift down two gears suddenly. You need to push the clutch out, wait a couple of seconds to slow down, then shift the lever, wait, and re-engage the clutch.

[Lawrence of Arabia]

1. hit the clutch
2. hit the break
3. move stick from 4 to 2
4. slowly release clutch, and it will slow you down more
5. hit the gas.

[Dis]

why would you hit the gas if the objective is to slow down?

[Lawrence of Arabia]

6. because once you reach cruising speeed, you need to keep it up by pressing the gas. if you wanna go from 60 to 20, once you get to 20, you need to maintain it.

[Az]

For me, shifting into lower gear is usually a sign that the car needs more power to climb, or stuff like that. It's therefore natural that you have to hit the gas, afterwards.

[Dis]

wouldn't you just shift to 1 lower gear then?

like I said, I never learned how to drive.

I did once park a guys car that was a stick. I never got over 15 mile an hour though. I just moved his car for him into another 2 hour parking space.

[Az]

wouldn't you just shift to 1 lower gear then?

It is possible that the change in slopes is more sudden, and it also may involve a strong curve at the same time, so you'll have to shift to a much lower gear. For example, when entering the small nameless road that goes from my street to my house, I usually drop from 4th to 1st, since the turn is so steep.

[Lawrence of Arabia]

do you double clutch on uphills?

[Az]

I am not sure what you mean. I don't really think about it while I drive, so it's kinda hard to me describe my actions during driving.

[Dis]

what is double clutch? I thought that was for big rigs and such.

[Dr Strangelove]

I would not attempt to downshift from 4th to 2nd gear in one move if I was trying to get extra power to climb a hill, because you will strip a gear. Instead I'd briefly shift to 3rd gear, then shift to 2nd.

I'm more likely to need to downshift 2 gears when coming to a stop on a high speed road. In the US we have many 4 lane, high speed roads that are not truly freeways, but instead have stoplights and minor road intersections. It's often necessary to come to a halt from 60mph (~100kph).

[Lawrence of Arabia]

yep, iits for bigrigs, underpowered cars, and cars which are fully loaded when you go uphill.

[ColdWizard]

[Sikander]

I love manual transmissions! Like Pekka said, just listen to your engine and it will tell you everything you want to know about what is appropriate. If you have a tachometer you can also use it to gauge whether a particular gear change is wise.

[Kontiki]

I learned how to drive on a standard (manual) and my first few cars were all manual transmission. I used to swear that I'd never get an automatic, but when you live in the centre of a major city where almost all of your driving is stop-and-go in traffic, having an auto is actually a nice change. Plus, my car gets better acceleration and gas milage with an auto than standard. And if I want, I can always put it into tiptronic mode and simulate a manual transmission anyway, so it's win-win.