New to Standard Transmission

[andrewc4]

'94 Coupe - bought it about five weeks ago.

I've never owned a standard before. I've noticed that I can bypass second for start and stop street driving, i.e. first - third - fourth, and then sometimes its up to fifth for 45 mph cruising, or coming to a stop at the next light. Is this typical?

What shifting do you do for street driving with a maximum speed of 45 mph?

It seems the CAGS light comes on momentarily before I can up shift, then can I assume I'm not being forced to fourth?

If the car can go from 0 to 60 mph in six seconds, it won't the way I shift. Can someone suggest the shift sequence that would get me to 60 in six seconds. When would I upshift, to what gear? For example, 1st gear to 3000 rpm, or 1st gear to 30 mph, followed by a shift to ..

 

[Hib Halverson]

'94 Coupe - bought it about five weeks ago.

I've never owned a standard before. I've noticed that I can bypass second for start and stop street driving, i.e. first - third - fourth, and then sometimes its up to fifth for 45 mph cruising, or coming to a stop at the next light. Is this typical?

No.

What shifting do you do for street driving with a maximum speed of 45 mph?

Well...the right way to drive a manual is to use all the gears. So if you're going to 45 in a normal acceleration, you'd use 1-3 and then once you get up there put it in 4th or maybe, even 5th if you're on level ground at light throttle.

It seems the CAGS light comes on momentarily before I can up shift, then can I assume I'm not being forced to fourth?

If the 1-to-4 light comes on and second and third don't lock-out, then CAGs has been disabled on your car either in the calibration or by disconnection or removal of the CAGS solenoid.

If the car can go from 0 to 60 mph in six seconds, it won't the way I shift.

You bet it won't. That is near maximum accel.

Can someone suggest the shift sequence that would get me to 60 in six seconds. When would I upshift, to what gear? For example, 1st gear to 3000 rpm, or 1st gear to 30 mph, followed by a shift to ..

I'd run it to 4500-5000 rpm in first then shift to second and go to 4500-5000, again. Depending on the car's gearing, you might need third gear, too.

 

[andrewc4]

Page 55 of the 94 owners manual has a line, "Use '2' only when you accelerate very quickly from a stop. Does this mean I start in 2-3-4 or does this mean 1-3-4? Or should I just ignore all of this and shift as you suggest? If the CAGS goes from 1-4 then, going from 1-3 doesn't seem particularly strange. The 2nd gear range is 15-25 mph. If I'm accelerating modestly, the time spent in 2nd is very short.

Does the CAGS lock out 'feel' the way the R lockout feels without pulling up on the ring?

This week I've been experimenting with double clutching and the shifting seems to be much smoother. It feels like I'm stressing the machine much less.

 

[WhalePirot]

I change my shift patterns for varying reasons. I will also do the 1-3 or 1-2-4 with and w/o the O/D (which you don't have), for easy acceleration. It spreads the wear around. I found a lot of wear-through on my (replaced) 2nd gear, probably because I was doing the bulk of my accelerating in second, with mostly city driving.

GM implemented the CAGS and probably added the manual verbiage for CAFE reasons.

There is a spec for spin-down of the tranny. You shouldn't have to double clutch, but I do this also on some 1-3 shifts, or if I go 1-2od.

Welcome to the 'clutched'.

 

[BoostedVR-4]

Just want to set a few things straight.


1. You can shift using any pattern you want, just don't be going from 1-st to 4th, or 5th, that isn't smart. Will it hurt anything? No, but will it get you moving anywhere? Very slowly.

In any driving, it's ABSOLUTELY ok to shift from 1-3, or 2-4, or 3-5. There's nothing wrong with that.

To get to 60 in six seconds would just be the typical rev it to redline and shift into the next gear. I'm not sure what 0-60 times are, but it certainly isn't a difficult thing to do. That's max acceleration, foot to the floor, lift up, clutch in, shift, release clutch, foot slammed back on the accelerator. Typical granny style upshift. Quick and effective, done properly won't be damaging anything. We'll give you some time before we talk about powershifting...



Halverson, what are you smoking telling him it's not normal he can skip gears while driving? That's why cags was created.

I know you meant to say YES, not no.

Anyways, congratulations on your new purchase, and enjoy. I'd recommend changing to new transmission fluid to see if it helps with some of the shifting. The double clutching will absolutely do no harm, and help the wear on the transmission for downshifting, if you do downshift like I do, instead of throwing it into neutral and using the breaks, you'll quickly learn the rpms the car will be at in every speed in every gear by heart. You'll learn to do it second nature. I heel toe the brake and accelerator when double clutching and it's very smooth, but that takes some experience. Get the basics in your head and let us know when you've got it done pat, and don't even have to think about shifting. You'll learn quickly where the car needs to be in what gear for acceleration you need..


Good luck!

 

[fast.asleep]

New to Standard? I wouldn't want to learn in a vette. -too expensive to replace things.

IMHO - buy yourself a beater for a couple of hundred with a decent manual and learn on that. It's much cheaper in the long run.


congrats on your purchase

 

[fast.asleep]

1. You can shift using any pattern you want, just don't be going from 1-st to 4th, or 5th, that isn't smart. Will it hurt anything? No,

sorry, I'd have to disagree with that

In any driving, it's ABSOLUTELY ok to shift from 1-3, or 2-4, or 3-5. There's nothing wrong with that.

how about if he's going uphill?

Andrew: remember when skipping gears to be light on the throttle. If you need power don't skip

To get to 60 in six seconds would just be the typical rev it to redline and shift into the next gear. I'm not sure what 0-60 times are, but it certainly isn't a difficult thing to do. That's max acceleration, foot to the floor, lift up, clutch in, shift, release clutch, foot slammed back on the accelerator.

that would work but if your always slamming the throttle and dumping the clutch you'll be crying down the road.


As far as using the clutch to decelerate, that's another topic

W

Andrew: you might want to look at http://auto.howstuffworks.com/clutch.htm

 

[Ripp 73]

I'm with fast.asleep. Thats one of the reasons why I didn't buy a manual. I'd never really driven one before. So I got myself a beater 91 Ford Ranger with a 5 speed. Maybe my next Vette will have a six speed?

Either way, enjoy what you have. Even if your Corvette was an automatic you would still have to take some time to learn how she wants to be driven.

 

[Vettefan87]

I am in the same boat. A manual would be nice, but for everyday driving it is nice to just jump in and mash the go pedal, and not have to worry about shifting.

 

[BoostedVR-4]

sorry, I'd have to disagree with that



how about if he's going uphill?

Andrew: remember when skipping gears to be light on the throttle. If you need power don't skip

He didn't say uphill, of course it would be stupid to shift into a high enough gear where say he'd have to have it floored, that's just common sense, this isn't a difficult thing. He clearly said intown just driving with traffic. Not up mountains.

that would work but if your always slamming the throttle and dumping the clutch you'll be crying down the road.

Excuse me? Shifting fast will not hurt the clutch or the transmission when done properly. ( may decrease life down to like 100k miles, but certainly nothing that'll break ANYTHING ) I don't know how you shift, but if you aren't shifting near redline and FAST you aren't going anywhere fast. You don't let the RPM's drop that whole prossess I described should take les than a 1/4 of a second. If you take longer, you are slow.

Slamming the throttle does absolutely nothing. Remember, vehicels are designed to go WOT. Especially since these vehicles were designed to be pushed hard. Don't tell me you bought a vette just to cruise? You drive the car hard, make it break the tires loose going into 2nd and 3rd... None of that will damage anything. Maybe if you don't know how to shift. But what's the point of owning a vette if you aren't going to use it to it's maximum potential...


How you drive your vehicle is of course your choice, but don't tell someone doing any of that will kill there car.

 

[fast.asleep]

mountains or not, gearing is something learned not common sense. An inexperienced driver can cause a lot of damage. The mechanic isn't going to reduce the price because it was unintentional. How you treat your car is directly proportional to how much it will cost you to keep it on the road.

next you'll be telling me that breaking the tires loose wont cause excess wear :crazy


I hope he makes his mistakes on a cheap car so he can laugh about them later

 

[BoostedVR-4]

mountains or not, gearing is something learned not common sense. An inexperienced driver can cause a lot of damage. The mechanic isn't going to reduce the price because it was unintentional. How you treat your car is directly proportional to how much it will cost you to keep it on the road.

next you'll be telling me that breaking the tires loose wont cause excess wear :crazy


I hope he makes his mistakes on a cheap car so he can laugh about them later

Gearing becomes common sense. If you understand the car, the gearing of the car, and how it all works in your mind, not just pretend it's magic, things become much clearer... So as he is learning of course he can go through all the gears, but he will not hurt anything skipping gears. The engine load will be much greater in 4th accelerating at 40mph then say 2nd gear, or even 3rd. He will learn gradually which is the best gear to be in, and whether he is at the right RPMS and speed to skip a gear. Hence the reason cags was created. If skipping gears was a no no, then GM wouldn't have developed it from the factory. It takes into account speed, acceleration and RPM and blocks you out of 2nd.


You do realize your statement is completely TRUE. It's harsher on a drivetrain to see full traction, then if you broke your tires loose.

- Say you are launching your vehicle. Whether you have an auto or 6spd. When you floor it, you are putting stress on the drivetrain. Say you launch and your tires break completely free, that energy is dispersed out of the drivetrain, and a much less strain is occuring.


You do realize that's why they don't recommend slicks or drag radials on stock rear ended vehicles such as most of the ls1's... That's what kills that rear end without upgraded gears or a strange 12 bolt. That shock load to the drivetrain from INSTANT traction actually hurts your drivetrain.

 

[fast.asleep]

blah blah blah

I'm not going to spend my day arguing with you. This thread started as a question from a fellow vette owner who wants to understand the best way to safely operate his car. If your looking for an argument go somewhere else

 

[BoostedVR-4]

Just trying to give ACCURATE information to him. Not scare him.

 

[mylotcat]

Shifting

'94 Coupe - bought it about five weeks ago.

I've never owned a standard before. I've noticed that I can bypass second for start and stop street driving, i.e. first - third - fourth, and then sometimes its up to fifth for 45 mph cruising, or coming to a stop at the next light. Is this typical?

What shifting do you do for street driving with a maximum speed of 45 mph?
..

First, I'd verify whether or not Skip Shift (CAGS?) is enabled or disabled. That will determine whether or not you can shift from first to second, or will be forced to shift from first to fourth during light acceleration from a dead stop. If it's enabled, buy the skip shift eliminator: http://www.slponline.com/.

Then, I'd learn to shift the car smoothly out of first and through all the gears, as well as learn what gear you need to be in so as not to "labor" the engine. When you feel comfortable with that you can move up to performance driving, i.e. the 0-60 in 6 seconds stuff. From your note it doesn't sound like you're having problems "killing" the engine starting from a dead stop, so I won't dweal on that point.

When I taught my son to drive a manual (I did not teach him in my vette!), I told him to shift through the gears in sequence (1 to 2 to 3 to 4, etc), and to use the speedometer as a rough gauge of when to shift up into the next higher gear. Roughly, at 10mph shift into second, at 20 shift into third, and so forth, up to the posted speed limit. However, I also taught him that he needed to keep his eye on the tachometer, and use that as a rough gauge to tell him what gear he needed to be in to keep the RPMs at about 2000. By keeping the RPMS at about 2000 (again, for non-performance driving), you won't "labor" the engine.
Dave