Proper way to down shift?
 

I know what you are thinking 'what kind of stupid question is that?'

First off i apologize if it is a stupid question, most people around my generation did not have the opportunity to learn how to drive a manual transmission car. My parents dont, and the driving school i went to do not offer classes on manual trans. Basically all they say was "put it on drive and drive away"

Anyways, at what condition and situation should i downshift? What is the proper way of doing it so i wont damage the transmission?

Any advice is greatly appreciated.

well i manual 370z gives the drive a really easy downshift. when downshifting around a turn the car slows down and put the RPM in the peak power point. you want the RPM to be high when racing.

you have a non SRM, i take it? clutch-in, shift to lower gear, blip, clutch-out smoothly.

(i think, i do it without thinking so i need to think if that was the sequence. :D )

you'd do this before turns or down a slope or just slowing down in general. :)

you got it. you'll definitely jerk forward/back a few times while learning to manually downshift/rev match at the right rpm, but its so worth it! i still turn off SRM from time to time to see if i can still do it

i always tap the gas a little bit when downshifting to make the downshift even smoother... The method I describe is the SAME method used in the sync gear downshifting offered in the sports 370z... I have a base but downshifting the way I described simulates the sports models.

yah, with the SRM unless im ON the brakes pretty hard i too slightly give throttle while engaging the lower gear to make the shift seamless.

pretty much this, unless you are going into first while moving, in which case I would double-clutch.

Wow, im surprised all of you use the SRM all the time. I dont really like it for whatever reason.

if the Z's throttle response was quicker i would probably not use SRM but i found that SRM can blip the throttle faster than manally stepping on the pedal so ive been using it.

the Z's throttle lag is considerably longer than say my G's pedal input.

The conditions under which you would downshift include the following:
You want to accelerate
You want to decelerate
Your RPMs have dropped and you are going to "lug" the engine (say, trying to get power from the engine at or under 2k rpms)
You want to impress that cute girl over there (just be prepared...she won't be impressed. She'll think you are a loud, annoying idiot who doesn't know a think about what women want. She'll tell you this if you are moving slowly enough and your window is down).

:icon18: it's tuff biz being a guy. :tup:

See, i think its quick haha. when i shift gears, i chirp them everytime even at 4th gear. Either the throttle is quick or im dropping the clutch too fast? is there such a thing? ive actually been meaning to ask that question..

This sir is sheer comic genius! High five... better yet, high six:rofl2:

:icon18:

Very true. It drives me nuts to drive the Z with the epic throttle lag. I find myself overshooting my matches every time I drive another car because I'm used to having to apply full throttle to rev-match.

you mean during a shiftup? if so you're sort of power shifting/dropping the clutch on every gear. quick way to get a shuddering clutch. :D you'd have to learn to time yourself so that you dont get a lurch during engagement.

if you're chirping on downshifts then you're doing it all wrong! :icon17:
you'd want to rev match by blipping the throttle and clutch-out gently...otherwise in rain you could lose control of the car~!!

Thanks a lot for the info so far, but i have AT with paddle shifters, thats kinda different compare to the traditional downshifting

hahaha, yah, i had this problem after driving my Z without SRM turned on and switching to either my G or Fit. both cars im over blipping and timing is off. :rofl2:

the Z's best driven with SRM-on i thinks. :p ofcourse if this was my only car then no issue.

:ugh2::ugh2::ugh2::ugh2::ugh2:

sorry, should have clarified. yes, during upshifts, not downshifts. What exactly is a shuddering clutch? You really think its bad? When i do it, its not really jerky or anything, but yes, i am hammering down on that clutch lol. I get excited when driving lol

Regardless if AT or MT, don't downshift to 1st gear. :roflpuke2:

clutch shudder... hummm... never a subi owner, huh? :icon17: it's a clutch that vibrates kinda violently just as you are fully engaging the clutch. was an issue i had to live with on my 02 WRX long time ago. it's kinda feels like you're under-reving from standstill and car wants to stall.

i have this on my Fit because i beat the living shhit out of it at times since its so f-king slow. :icon17: like i would shift 1-2, 2-3 very quickly with the throttle on the floor at WOT (power shifting) :p

haha, nope, never a Subi owner, but I think I understand what your saying. Im new on the 370z, so I'll have to learn to slow it down on the clutch power-slam move ive been doing lol. If not, Nissan is going to live up to their warranty!!

In that case all you need to do is click that paddle when your rpms drop too low. What is too low? Depends how you are driving. If you are WOT racing, then you want to keep the rpms in the upper end of the rpm range, above 4 or 5k. If you are just cruising at a constant speed around town at light throttle, just keep the rpm above 1.5k. Running below that can put a lot of stress on the engine or stall out.

Downshift when you want more power (horsepower is more-or-less directly related to rpm). If you're already at 5k rpm you probably don't need to downshift(i doubt the AT will let you overrev the engine from a downshift anyways)

I don't. I've only ever used it once (to try it out). I downshift depending upon speed, terrain (corners, etc.), engine revs.... you know, like you're supposed to.

BTW, op: if you need advice on how to properly downshift, then you need lessons. (And no, I'm not trying to be sarcastic.)

Wait a minute.... didn't you start off this thread saying you wanted help with downshifting on a manual transmission?:ugh2:

LMAO thats what i thought! :ughdance:

he did... or i thought he did...so this is why i...

I think he said he didn't know how to drive a manual, which is why he didn't know...

:bowrofl:

Ah yes...a classic mix-up.

Perhaps changing the flywheel with a lighter one might give you what you're looking for?

It might, but I would rather flash the ECU if there's a simple fix for this. Maybe UpRev?

Will it even let you downshift while up to speed? My Toyota Matrix XRS wouldn't let me downshift into first until at a standstill.

You're going to flash your what?

http://www.fluxdesign.com/prd/images/prd02_flasher.jpg

I regret I replied...

:roflpuke2:

Ummmm, sorry dude!

I put my GTR button in a couple days ago, and I didn't put the shifter ring back properly, so it was on the SRM button....I hated it off. When I down shifted I heard NOTHING.

I literally stopped on the side of the road in a panic, used my house keys to prop the ring up and made sure I could the SRM on.

I'm probably too spoiled now because I just mash the clutch and downshift no matter how fast I'm going lol....and it comes out pretty damn perfect every time...and with the F.I., sounds so mean

OK here goes, flick the down paddle shifter and bingo a down shift. :stirthepot: Cannot make a downshift any simpler. :owned:

The 7AT is very aggressive - as long as the revs will be below redline, it will let you downshift. It also won't let revs drop too low, it downshifts automatically if that will happen, though unfortunately without DRM, all the way down to first. Even in full auto, it will downshift and run revs up to 6500-7000 with no problem if you floor it.

I think manually downshifting depends on what you are about to do:

If you are coming to a complete stop, let it drop gears automatically unless you just want to hear it rev - then be careful as DRM can cause you to hold speed when you are trying to stop, and it is easy to downshift late since their is a lag and end up two gears down.

If you are slowing down for a corner, and want to accelerate out, downshift to keep revs above about 3500 RPM - the torque curve is practically flat from 3000 to redline in most gears, so you will have close to maximu torque available for acceleration.

If you are pulling out into traffic and want maximum acceleration, downshift as low as possible and floor it - I normally drop from 5th to third coming onto the highway with a 65MPH speed limit when I see it's clear, I'm going about 45-55 before I downshift.

The racing rule for downshifting is to drop to the lowest gear that will keep you below redline through the curve so you can accelerate out of the curve without an upshift.

from what ive been told you're not supposed to downshift into 1st ever, as 1st doesnt have synchros, (or it does but you ruin them). regardless, i do it all the time in parking lots/speed bumps. before rolling over a speed bump @ 1-2mph, ill quickly double clutch and throw it into 1st without an issue. i never force the shifter into any gear! if you feel any resistance, its usually because you're doing something you're not supposed to