Jeffed Car Talk - Now with Trainwrecks, Formerly with Manual Gearboxes
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i don't drive stick (I keep meaning to learn)
Using a manual transmission is pretty simple; shouldn't take more than one lesson to get the hang of it. Can be a bit of a bugger matching revs on the downshift though ;)
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Can be a bit of a bugger matching revs on the downshift though
Whut?
Synchromesh
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Synchromesh is a way of making it easier to shift gears in a manual transmission i.e. keeping the gears from grinding when the engine speed is different from the speed the transmission is spinning at.
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@RaceProUK said:
Can be a bit of a bugger matching revs on the downshift though
Whut?
@JazzyJosh said:Synchromesh
Synchromesh does nothing to stop engine braking
You may be happy with the car lurching crazily, but I'm not
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Using a manual transmission is pretty simple; shouldn't take more than one lesson to get the hang of it.
one lesson? i must be a pretty slow learner
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Well, the problem with learning manual isn't actually cruising. It's pulling off from a stop, especially on a hill.
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one lesson? i must be a pretty slow learner
Maybe my love of cars offered me a benefit? I know I got the hang of manual within minutes.
@JazzyJosh said:It's pulling off from a stop, especially on a hill.
Easy: just use the handbrake
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That's cheating. :D
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You Hanzo'ed my raw post.
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Synchromesh is a way of making it easier to shift gears in a manual transmission i.e. keeping the gears from grinding when the engine speed is different from the speed the transmission is spinning at.
Yeah, I checked on Wikipedia already. Again, one of the things I actually do know about and understand (well enough) even though I'm not really a car person far beyond "push pedal. turn wheel. get to place".
However, not really being a big car person I never bothered learning the names of the parts in other languages.
Synchromesh does nothing to stop engine braking
And I don't want it to. I prefer to use engine breaking (when sane / applicable) rather than hitting the breaks before a turn where I might need to downshift as well anyway.
It also stops you rolling backwards into the burly van driver
Also, prolongs the life of your... fuck it, I told you I don't know the English names of the damned things! :P
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Clutch?
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Maybe my love of cars offered me a benefit? I know I got the hang of manual within minutes.
i like driving, and learned in a manual car. but it gave me a hard time until i mastered the thing.
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well that lasted longer than i expected. i'm surprised we even made it an hour being reasonably on topic.
If we're going to be talking cars can we split topic into general so that the car discussion counts for badgers?
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If you're changing down sensibly that doesn't even matter.
If you've decided to go from 5th to 2nd, then yeah, that's a different matter.Using a manual transmission is pretty simple; shouldn't take more than one lesson to get the hang of it.
Yes it does.
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Jeffed.
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I've owned manuals all my life, but I decided recently that my next car will be an auto.
It's the way forwards when you drive a lot and spend a lot of time in traffic IMO.
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spend a lot of time in traffic
That, IMEAHO, is where manuals have the biggest disadvantage, at least in UX, even more than starting on hills.
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One of my posts didn't get its like Jeffed. Is that a known issue?
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Can be a bit of a bugger matching revs on the downshift though
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How the fuck old is your car?
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Have you ever, in your life, written a forum post that didn't end in a smiley?
Synchromesh does nothing to stop engine braking
There is a pedal you can use for braking.
Maybe my love of cars offered me a benefit? I know I got the hang of manual within minutes.
Either you're a liar, or you're using the Linux definitions here (meaning: 47 things still don't work, but you personally don't consider them important, therefore "it work fine!")
i like driving, and learned in a manual car. but it gave me a hard time until i mastered the thing.
I went from driving a cute little 5-speed Mitsubishi Cordia-L (looks like a poor man's DeLorean) to driving a 1965 Chevy S-10 (rebuilt engine, original transmission.) IN SEATTLE. Seattle generally looks like this:
Anyway, point is: I rule you.
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Mine has Hill Hold Assist which makes hills a lot easier, but alas, nothing that helps in stop-start traffic.
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1) How the fuck old is your car?
Seven years. And not really relevant to my point
@blakeyrat said:2) Have you ever, in your life, written a forum post that didn't end in a smiley?
Probably
@blakeyrat said:@RaceProUK said:
Synchromesh does nothing to stop engine braking
There is a pedal you can use for braking.
Yes, there is. But sometimes you want engine braking.
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But sometimes you want engine braking.
Which is a scenario where you're only going down a gear at a time, which makes it pretty difficult to jerk the car while doing it. I mean, it's possible, but you'd have to be doing something pretty special to achieve it.
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Well, the problem with learning manual isn't actually cruising. It's pulling off from a stop, especially on a hill.
Meh, that's easy. Hard is to shift gears (up or down) without clutching.
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Yes, there is. But sometimes you want engine braking.
It's slightly useful on the freeway or on long hill unbroken by stoplights.
In my experience, it practically never comes-up.
I'm sure I'll be labelled "worst driver on Earth" but I generally just used the clutch and breaked to the new speed, then found the right gear to match it and synchromeshed that fucker.
It never came up in the S-10 because it was (for practical purposes) a 3-speed (1st was so low, it was useless for anything but towing.) So you basically spent 95% of your time in third, unless you were 100% stopped.
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Seattle generally looks like this
sounds like clutch fun for everyone.
my city it's pretty plain. but it does have a lot of traffic
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There is a pedal you can use for braking.
And relying solely on that pedal is a bad idea on 7 miles of 7%.
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I generally just used the clutch and breaked to the new speed, then found the right gear to match it and synchromeshed that fucker.
I tend to slow down using the brake, while changing down one gear at a time until I'm done braking (or have stopped). I don't know if that's necessarily a better way, it's just the way I was taught.
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And relying solely on that pedal is a bad idea on 7 miles of 7%.
Right; but unless you live in Utah, when does that EVER come up?
I tend to slow down using the brake, while changing down one gear at a time until I'm done braking (or have stopped). I don't know if that's necessarily a better way, it's just the way I was taught.
I guess it depends on whether the traffic is stopping for a light or just the flow's going a different speed.
I think the "correct" procedure is to keep the car in gear at all times.
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I guess it depends on whether the traffic is stopping for a light or just the flow's going a different speed.
Yeah, fair point.
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IMO it's better to brake than engine-brake1, because changing the clutch is much much much expensive than changing the brake pads. I only engine-brake when some heavy metal is playing on the stereo and there's no police around.
[1] Engine brake I'm referring to changing gears to lower speed, revving up the engine, not about going downhill on 2nd gear.
Thank you @tar
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Engine-brake? Engine-break is probably a thing, but I doubt you'd want to instigate it intentionally...
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But the clutch lasts longer, unless you're driving like an idiot. That's how I've always driven, and I've never had to replace the clutch on a car. They're tougher than people think.
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I' ve seen clutches broken because the driver engine-braked too much.
i try to engine break only when the regular brake isn't enough.
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My motorcycle engine-brakes so well I pretty much only need the brakes to come to a complete stop.
Engine-braking is only rough on the clutch if you let the clutch slip a ton, if you get the revs matched and lock the clutch quickly clutch-wear is pretty much a non-issue and you can extend the life of your brakes quite a bit.
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I think it's that combined with general other clutch abuse. Changing too hard, slipping it too much etc.
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Engine-braking is only rough on the clutch if you let the clutch slip a ton, if you get the revs matched and lock the clutch quickly clutch-wear is pretty much a non-issue and you can extend the life of your brakes quite a bit.
This.
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extend the life of your brakes quite a bit
As I said above, Your Doing It Wrongβ’
Changing the breaks (specially in a motorcycle) is something cheap and that should be done regularly anyway. Changing the clutch is expensive and, dangerous, better find a good mechanic or it will never be the same.
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I've never had to replace the clutch on a car.
I have once, but the car was about a dozen years old, and was at the point where everything was starting to wear out. I think the clutch was the straw that broke the camel's back and resulted in the decision to buy a new car rather than pouring more money into the old one. (Its replacement was the one I'm driving now, which is approaching the same decision point.)
Engine-braking is only rough on the clutch if you let the clutch slip a ton, if you get the revs matched and lock the clutch quickly clutch-wear is pretty much a non-issue
That car spent a lot of time in stop-and-go traffic, so feathering the clutch a lot. That's probably the main reason it wore out.
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As I said above, Your Doing It Wrongβ’
Changing the breaks (specially in a motorcycle) is something cheap and that should be done regularly anyway. Changing the clutch is expensive and, dangerous, better find a good mechanic or it will never be the same.
My motorcycle is a dirt bike geared pretty low. Not engine-braking is Doing It Wrongβ’, and near impossible without free-wheeling. Even in sixth gear it has a ton of braking force just by letting go of the throttle.
I've only been through one clutch on my old pickup truck but it was 20 years old and everything was starting to wear out on it. As for motorcycles, they have a tendency to get stolen before I wear anything out
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Using a manual transmission is pretty simple; shouldn't take more than one lesson to get the hang of it. Can be a bit of a bugger matching revs on the downshift though ;)
Bullshit. I got my driving license about a year ago and handling the gears and clutch required like 90% of my attention. Fuck manual transmissions.
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Just think about this: there are grandma's out there driving manuals right now.
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Right; but unless you live in Utah, when does that EVER come up?
Anywhere where you have severe mountain grades -- so Utah, yes, but anywhere else you have big, fat mountain peaks roaming around, too.
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In the UK we learn manual as standard.
#NoTrainingWheels
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Bullshit. I got my driving license about a year ago and handling the gears and clutch required like 90% of my attention. Fuck manual transmissions.
From what I remember of driving manual, changing gear/clutch control required so little conscious thought it was basically automatic, other than an executive-level "I need to change into 4th now" intention.
Although one time I changed from 5th into 2nd. That made all kinds of fun, I was aiming for 4th.
I used to have a very shitty Ford Escort which was given to me free. It used to like to pop out of 5th gear into neutral when you were going 80mph on the freeway. That was always a nice challenge to the reflexes...
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From what I remember of driving manual, changing gear/clutch control required so little conscious thought it was basically automatic, other than an executive-level "I need to change into 4th now" intention.
Same here, though I almost exclusively drove a manual up until a few years ago. In fact, switching to an automatic took me dang near a year for old habits to die. It was as if my right hand and left foot were autonomous and I had to break them of that.
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Hard is to shift gears (up or down) without clutching.
Back in the days I drove a manual, I could pop into neutral pretty easily (but unlike @tar, it didn't happen accidentally), but I think I only got it into gear once without using the clutch, but it wasn't exactly something I attempted often.
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Anywhere where you have severe mountain grades -- so Utah, yes, but anywhere else you have big, fat mountain peaks roaming around, too.
The one that came immediately to my mind, because I drove over it fairly recently, is I-5 crossing from CA into OR. (I think it's something like 6 miles of 6%.) Last time I drove it, I had the automatic transmission downshifted into second, although the fact that I was stuck behind a sanding truck going about 25 MPH had a lot to do with that.