Hey guys, I've never driven a manual car before (though I'd love to) but I drive in the manual mode for fun sometimes. Honestly I have no idea if I'm properly shifting but for just normal daily driving I usually cruise around 3000 rpm and upshift around 3500-4000 rpm and downshift at around 2500 rpm which is usually alright for the higher gears but when I go from 2nd to 1st gear at that rpm range the car jerks a little bit. There aren't many videos on youtube that can really explain shifting in an auto car. Any tips on how to downshift smoother? Any tips on shifting in general would be helpful. Thanks alot guys much appreciated!

 

First to second I rip it to about 6/7k rpms

 

mine does that too, I think it's just engine braking

 

Its normal but if you do it all the time its a bit heavy on the drive train. 1st gear is a very low ratio.

 

Yah I figured its engine braking but i dont want to cause any wear on the transmission and also is there any smoother way of shifting from 2nd to 1st to minimize the wear?

 

Yes, normal behavior downshifting to 1st. To reduce the jerk, I downshift to first at a lower speed so revs typically don't go higher than about 3k in 1st.

 

Normal and also happens to me in my IS350. I actually dont bother shifting from 2 to 1, I just brake and let the car do it itself to avoid the jerk. I mean, it won't damage the car that way, right?

 

With a manual transmission, you don't downshift from 2nd into 1st until you come to a complete stop. 2nd gear is usually the lowest you would want to keep the car in at slow speeds. If you watch your instrument panel, even in manual mode in the 3IS, it won't go into 1st until you're almost at a complete stop. When I use my car in manual mode, I never go from 2nd to 1st. It's just to low of a gear to get any real benefit from. That is why you get that jerky feeling in the car. The car doesn't like it.

 

Was just about to post this. Never put any of my manuals in first until I was at a dead stop.

Depening on how the torque converters lock up in this car that could be a great way to do some serious damage instantly. Old article but the principles and basic functions still apply.

https://www.motor.com/magazine-summa...ock-may-1999/#

 

same same... lol

 

Thanks guys I'll keep that in mind when I use manual mode next time. So normally in low speeds or like in traffic you guys just keep it in 2nd gear?

 

I'd say in traffic, I'm not manually shifting. However, yes, unless you're slowing down to less than 10 MPH, no point in going into first. Beyond that, if driving for fun I try not to stay in lower gears for too long. I'd say it depends on A) how much acceleration you are demanding from the car or B) how much engine braking you want. For example, no need to bang off the rev limiter if you're going a constant speed. Conversely, if you're on mountain roads with lots of turns, downshifting into, say, 3rd or 2nd before entering medium-speed corners will help you control your speed into and out of the corners more effectively than being in 5th.

TBH, I started out driving in manual mode by trying to mimic what the auto mode would do, and then experimenting to see the car's reactions.

 

Please don't shift to first, for the reasons stated above

 

Chiming in with others:
1st is for starting only or going down the steepest icy hill you can imagine at very slow speed.

 

I've learned that unless you downshift into first above 2k rpm, the car will not automatically blip the throttle for you. Yes these cars blip the throttle. It's not the clutch packs doing all the work. My buddy didn't believe it until I pulled up the MPG meter thing in the nav screen and saw a huge decrease in MPGs on downshifts. The higher gear you are in, the smoother the downshift will be below 2k rpm