Hey guys, this is my first 5MT car ever. I'm driving it alright however every once in a while I get jerky shifts from 1st to 2nd. What I'm doing wrong? How are you guys shifting? Are applying throttle before you shift? Do you let the RPMS drop before shifting? Clue me in. Let me know how to be smooth all the time.

its all about modulating the gas and clutch at the same time. and knowing your car so that as the rpms fall you let the clutch out so that engine speed and input shaft speed difference is small.

I'm not going to say my way is right because I taught myself how to drive shift, and I'm sure I'll be jumped all over here in a sec, but I generally let the RPMs fall just a bit, shift into second, and then release the clutch slowly (so that its smooth) while accelerating. I think. I never really think about it as I'm doing it lol.

I wish I could tell you the right way, but to me its all feel and situation. I shift based on my end result. It comes from years of driving manuals on and off the street.

The more you drive the better you will get at figuring out how to shift.

Stick in there and you'll get it.

Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I717 using Tapatalk 2

I wish I could tell you the right way, but to me its all feel and situation. I shift based on my end result. It comes from years of driving manuals on and off the street.

The more you drive the better you will get at figuring out how to shift.

Stick in there and you'll get it.

Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I717 using FF Mobile 2

^^
What he said.

[werd] I remember from motorcycle training that we were not allowed to look at our controls & gauges while riding...I was able to feel everything I did.

I apply this to driving and whoa! I just feel everything and it works! It's real cool now that I don't even really have to look at the speedo...I can enjoy the great outdoors

Keep your eyes on the road. Learn the shift pattern by feel, and when you shift gears- when one pedal goes down, the other goes up, and vice versa.

It takes some time getting used to it. I used to shift really rough when I first started driving, but then I had a girlfriend who complained about it. Lower engine speed shifting is key- you don't have to redline every gear, in fact, if you want the best gas mileage you should allow the gears to do the accelerating and very little accelerator pressure. Eventually you'll learn the sound of the engine at the point you want to shift.

I used to get PO'd at myself with the stick...especially first to second.

I got better. Learned it by feel. Used to obsess about getting it into third, then figured out that when going from 2nd to third you just push forward, it'll snap into 3rd pretty much automatically with the centering spring there's no need for lateral movement...

its all about modulating the gas and clutch at the same time. and knowing your car so that as the rpms fall you let the clutch out so that engine speed and input shaft speed difference is small.

+1 its all about knowing YOUR car, eventually it will be butter for you. shoot sometimes i have a jerky first to second makes me feel like a honda driver
[werd][driving]

its all about modulating the gas and clutch at the same time. and knowing your car so that as the rpms fall you let the clutch out so that engine speed and input shaft speed difference is small.

I practiced for 10 minutes, and already I'm better. I'm thinking about it now instead of just shifting. Thanks for the tips guys. All of you.

[thumb][thankyou]

Jerky from first to second?

Make sure you're starting to give it some gas just slightly before you start re-engaging the clutch in second gear. And then its a practice of smoothing it out from there. I wish someone told me that when I was learning, it took a while to figure out. If you re-engage the clutch before the gas it will pretty much jerk every time no matter what due to the steep ratio difference and the huge amount of drag the engine can create at such a low ratio when it is acting as a brake rather than a power source. Shifting in all other gears you will probably be able to do it seemingly at the same time.

As Mike_mac said, its about keeping shaft difference minimal. As 1st to 2nd has the largest ratio difference, that will have the most jerk potential.

For me the sweet spot has always been when the clutch is about halfway released the I start applying the gas until it meets that moment when they engage and I start moving

Sent from my RAZR MAXXIMUS ;)

Learn to use your tach until you know your cars engine sound. Even then, do the automatic glance at the tach. A jerky shift from first to second can mean that you shifted too soon and didn't let the rpm's build. Experiment and find the rpm shift point that makes for a smooth shift. I've been driving a stick for many moons and I still get lazy in the stop-and-go driving we have in DC and "lug" the engine. I used to drive a semi. You only use the clutch for first gear. After that, it's double-clutching at the right rpm. You'll get it. Once you get your rpm shift points, it'll seem automatic. That's when it's fun.

For me, I've found that shifting at about +/-2,000rpm nets pretty smooth shifts in the Focus. It varies from car to car, I think in my Ranger it was 2,300-2,500rpm.

Me personally I add some gas very very little gas while shifting to smooth the gear changes. I also tend to shift at no less than 2000 rpm to prevent lugging the motor.