New at stick just a couple of questions..

Hello everyone im new at stick i know how to drive one but just have a couple of questions, say i want to go 35 in like 6th gear or so do i have to go into every gear untill i get to 6th or i can i go 1st 2nd 3rd 6th? Am i supose to be going 35 in 6th? I here it saves gas to get into a higher gear to keep the RPMs down does? Also if your driving on the high way and want to slow down to get off the ramp? I hit the clutch and brake then shift into what gear? 2nd? Thanks for your help
-Amier

I think you have to buy the GTI and then make out for yourself which gear is suitable for you at what speed you are driving at that moment. I don't have a GTI myself so I can't really tell you if you can drive 35 in 6th. Maybe you can. How fast do you come off the ramp on a high way? If you go over 40 mph you can't put in 2nd, lowest I guess is 3rd or maybe even 4th. Normally you brake first, then hit the clutch and then you can shift it in to 3rd or 4th

^ what he said!

Anyway, bottom line is, get the car and then you'll eventually learn what the car can handle.

i should be getting the car in a few days the weekend at the most, thanks for your help ill make sure to try it
-Amier

you got it :y

Amier said:

Hello everyone im new at stick i know how to drive one but just have a couple of questions, say i want to go 35 in like 6th gear or so do i have to go into every gear untill i get to 6th or i can i go 1st 2nd 3rd 6th? Am i supose to be going 35 in 6th? I here it saves gas to get into a higher gear to keep the RPMs down does? Also if your driving on the high way and want to slow down to get off the ramp? I hit the clutch and brake then shift into what gear? 2nd? Thanks for your help
-Amier

Click to expand...

Sometimes I skip gears like 1st, 3rd, then 5th, but only if I get my revs up to get me at the speed of the gear I am skipping, if I dont get the revs up, the motor makes a bogging noise(idunno) the revs go down pretty low....I dont think the GTI is geared for going 35 in 6th gear, nor is any car for that matter...personally I dont think it is good for any car motor.....When I am coming off the highway I take my car out of gear and let it coast, then I downshift into 4th to let the car slow itself down, then I brake.......you will find other tricks with your manual tranny...like backing out of a parking spot without using reverse....and like using the car to slow itself down........enjoy your new ride...I am jealous!!!

All I have to say is don't brake with the clutch. In other words, don't drop it into a lower gear just to get the car to slow down... that's what the brakes are for. It's easier to replace a couple of brake pads, rather than changing a worn-out clutch.

if we let this topic carry on for longer you should see alot of people saying always downshift, and some say use the brakes.

i personally always downshift (there is braking involved but most normal slowing down is with very slight brake pedal pressure), I havent had to replace the clutch any earlier than any other car not downshifting (210,000 clutch replace). It can also be argued that being out of gear is unsafe i.e. lets say someone pulls in front of you when you are coasting down a ramp or toward a stop light...then you have to figure out what gear to be in.

regarding 35 and 6th... while it is saves gas to not rev high (maybe above 3000, (preference)) your car is not performing correctly by driving with real low rpms (bogging)

try accelerating normally and shift somewhere between 3000 to 3500...
remember where you needle lands and dont drive much lower than that.

every car has a power band, just because a car has a redline doesnt mean that is where it performs best. in my older audi the red was 6200 (not that amazing) i read somewhere that the powerband ends at 5500... try shifting before your powerband ends.

back on topic... it doesnt or shouldnt matter if you go from 6th to 5 4 3 2 stop OR 6th to 4 2 stop (or any combo), however dont downshift into 1st! if you try you may hear the synchros trying to get you into gear, which is unneccesary wear (only put it into first when at a stop)

wow...sorry this is so long. hopefully you get something out of it.

The answer will always be, "it depends." It will depend on what you're trying to do. It will depend on road and traffic conditions.

If it's late at night and there's no one on the road and I'm cruising down a boulevard with all green lights (or no traffic lights), I might very well tool around at 35 mph in 5th gear. But if I'm in city traffic, with cars around me, and I'm going from red light to red light, I might very well be in 3rd gear to take advantage of being in the sweetspot of the powerband (as someone else mentioned) so I can change lanes with ease, or scoot away from another car that I think is charging up behind me.

By the way, an oft-forgotten fact: when GM released one of their recent versions of the Pontiac Trans-Am, Chevy Camaro Z28 and Corvette (maybe five years ago?), the manual transmission was designed to go from 1st gear directly to 4th gear if it felt you were just driving lazily along (ostensibly to save fuel). It would lock you out of 2nd gear, so as you pulled the gearshift down, it would slide right into 4th gear. Too many people complained about it, so it was never used again -- but food for thought.

Bottom line: drive your car, learn what's comfortable for you and your car. If you can, given your relative lack of experience driving stick, try not to drive your car during periods of lots of traffic so you can get a feel for your car, at different speeds, and experiment with what gears you should be in. Frankly, when I learned to drive stick, by that point I had been in so many manual-driven cars that it was natural for me to select the correct gear because I simply had a "feel" for it. You'll develop it, it just takes time behind the wheel.

Good luck, enjoy the new car!

GTi Fanatic said:

if we let this topic carry on for longer you should see alot of people saying always downshift, and some say use the brakes.

i personally always downshift (there is braking involved but most normal slowing down is with very slight brake pedal pressure), I havent had to replace the clutch any earlier than any other car not downshifting (210,000 clutch replace). It can also be argued that being out of gear is unsafe i.e. lets say someone pulls in front of you when you are coasting down a ramp or toward a stop light...then you have to figure out what gear to be in.

regarding 35 and 6th... while it is saves gas to not rev high (maybe above 3000, (preference)) your car is not performing correctly by driving with real low rpms (bogging)

try accelerating normally and shift somewhere between 3000 to 3500...
remember where you needle lands and dont drive much lower than that.

every car has a power band, just because a car has a redline doesnt mean that is where it performs best. in my older audi the red was 6200 (not that amazing) i read somewhere that the powerband ends at 5500... try shifting before your powerband ends.

back on topic... it doesnt or shouldnt matter if you go from 6th to 5 4 3 2 stop OR 6th to 4 2 stop (or any combo), however dont downshift into 1st! if you try you may hear the synchros trying to get you into gear, which is unneccesary wear (only put it into first when at a stop)

wow...sorry this is so long. hopefully you get something out of it.

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I agree 100% well said !
I've been driving manuals in a similar fashion for 15+ years and haven't gone through a clutch ever. I rarely slip the clutch taking off though. Maybe once on occassion, because you just can't help it with a fun car sometimes :iono:

Yeah its better to downshift than go through brake pads...in the long run it really helps

Herby said:

Yeah its better to downshift than go through brake pads...in the long run it really helps

Click to expand...

Uh, ok... be my guest and slow your car down with the clutch. It's seems highly illogical to do it that way, rather than using the brakes... so be it.

I really don't see how it's "better" to do it that way, so do you care to explain? Yeah sure I do put it into a lower gear while slowing down, but I don't just row through the gears in reverse order, in order to slow down. I use my brakes, as that's what they're made for.:iono:

i like downshifting bcuz it sounds awesome other than that i just use brakes.

on a GTI downshifting sounds great but you don't wanna do that in a SDI or TDI cause then it's sounds horrible

wouldnt know about sdi or tdi