New to driving, question about downshifting?

Question

hi there im new to driving only had 3 lessons and i only came to realise i was a little confused at what my instructor told me in my last lesson after i thought a little bit about it - i know that when you shift up a gear you should be pressing the accelerator down as your foot comes off the clutch but, what about downshifting?

say you press the clutch down and shift to 2nd but you want to carry on slowing down, in order to get the car going in that gear wouldnt you have to press the gas to go along in 2nd? but since you want to slow down what do you do? you cant keep your foot down because that's coasting... should i bring the pedal half up to the biting point? what about fully up, because i thought that would stall it (even if your still rolling)

thanks all

Answer 1

Let me, as a traditionalist (who is prone to driving manual transmission) tell you the correct thingy about footwork first. Bear in your mind that your legs are "synchronised mechanism", like a see-saw. If your left leg pushes the clutch, your right leg lifts off the accelerator. If your left leg releases the clutch, the right leg pushes the accelerator.

That is, unless, you have to apply the brakes. If your right leg is on the brake, you have to push down the clutch before the vehicle comes to a complete braking halt to prevent stalling.

Another thing you have to remember is you have to know your gear sequence, and when to jump to lower gears. This requires a lot of practice.

Answer 2

you still use the gas when downshifting, just not as much, let the clutch out slowly with a little gas just to match the rpm.. not to raise it.

Answer 3

Letting the clutch out in a lower gear wont stall it.  That uses the engine to slow down- trucks do it a lot.  

Dont press the accellerator when you do it, although when you become very experienced you can use the accellerator to speed the motor up to match the gear speed.  You will know what I mean when you do it.

Good luck!

Answer 4

Brake first

Put the clutch down when you are approaching the speed you want and need to change gear.

Control the speed of the car with the brake whilst you change gear with the clutch down (this is not coasting, as you have control over the speed).

if you have timed it correctly, you should reach your new desired speed just as you have selected your lower gear, so take your foot off the brake - bring your clutch up through the biting point and then apply the gas as you raise the clutch pedal all the way up.

Its all a matter of timing - go for the clutch too early and the pedal will be down too long - go for it too late and the car will start to judder as it will be near to stalling.

Answer 5

If you are a beginner driver.........keep it simple. You will develop more skill and more advanced techniques as you get more experience.

If you have a tachometer, you should brake first down to about 1000 rpm, and then depress the clutch and shift down to the next lowest gear, and repeat this until you are almost stopped. Just as you are slowing to a stop in first gear, depress the clutch (at about 1000 rpm), and hold your clutch in until you are ready to move forward again, and at the same time of course you have your right foot on the brake. If you are stopped for a longer period of time, you may wish to shift to Neutral and set your parking brake, holding your right foot on the foot brake. This will allow you to remove your left foot from the clutch, and therefore relax your left foot and leg, and then you won't accidentally slip off the clutch which may force your vehicle forward and possibly into the vehicle in front of you.

Stalling is a fact of life when driving a manual shift vehicle. We all have done it a few times. You just have to start it up again and get going.....enjoy it...........I love driving a manual shift vehicle.

It develops better observation skills because you have to plan ahead in order to be in the necessary gear. It also improves your reaction time and co-ordination and makes you focus more on your driving and less on other distractions (cell phones, cd's, radio, reading, etc)

Answer 6

MY advice would be to talk to your instructor. After all, that's what you are paying him for. You will only get confused by the armchair experts.

One step at a time and you will soon get the hang of it

Answer 7

Here is a step-by-step guide on how to heel-and-toe downshift. It will explain how to shift from fourth gear to third gear, though the technique will work for any downshift.

Begin braking for the corner with your right foot. The location of the pedals and the size of your foot will dictate where you position your foot on the pedal, but most likely it should be canted a little to the right, closer to the throttle pedal.

Push in the clutch with your left foot.

This is the hard part. With your right foot still applying pressure to the brakes, roll the outside edge of your foot outward and downward to touch the throttle pedal.

The pedal design on some cars makes this easier to do than on others. Use the outside of your right foot to blip the throttle. Blipping the throttle means temporarily raising the engine rpms to match the wheel speed.

The exact amount of revs needed is dependent on a variety of factors, but it is usually between 1,000 rpm to 2,000 rpm more than the current engine rpm for a one-gear downshift.

Move the shifter to third gear.

Release the clutch with your left foot.................................

Answer 8

you dont need to hit the gas when you downshift because that would be bad.  You would simply put down the clutch, shift into the lower gear, and apply the break.  Then when you want to accelerate again, you do the simple "clutch up gas down" manuever and you are on your way.  Hope this helped!

Answer 9

If you are downshifting, technically you should apply accelerator to match the engine RPM to that necessary for the gear you are changing to, at any particular speed, then let the clutch out gently. Ther should be no surge or braking evident if done properly- but it takes practice!

Another technique (wich your instructor might frown at), is simply to let the engine idle when the clutch is in, then SLOWLY let the clutch out after shifting down. This allows the clutch to slip a little until the engine RPM matches the particular road speed/ gear combination. This also acts as a further brake in slowing down- but at the expense of extra clutch wear.

Practice makes perfect.. just don't expect to be an instant expert!

Answer 10

No, until your car shows down too much, it changes gear when the clutch is lefted.