"Spirited" Driving Tips for a Turbocharged LGT

[Xenonk]

I've read numerous write ups on heel-toeing, and how it applies to downshifting, but never to upshifting. Does it apply to upshifting? Also does double-clutching apply to upshifting or is that the same thing? Help a clutch/manual tranny n00b

 

Heel-Toe only pertains to braking situations with a downshift.. when was the last time you upshifted during braking? Usually when you upshift, you WANT your revs to drop to the higher gear anyways, so there's no need to rev the motor up when the car isnt going FASTER when you are on the brakes anyways, it's all self-contradicting if you think about it). Rev-matching can pertain to upshift and downshift as rev-matching is done whenever you want.

 

Heel-Toe is nothing more than a rev-match WHILE you are braking (as you hold the brake down, you will eventually blip the throttle with the same foot that you are using to brake, hopefully your right foot ).

 

Double clutching is different, as it's a techique used before when syncros were invented and it back then, if you didnt double clutch, you would grind the gears. To Double Clutch:

 

1) Clutch in to take it out of gear and put it into neutral

2) Release the clutch

3) Rev-match the engine during neutral

4) Push clutch in and put it into the next gear

5) Release the clutch

 

all of this happens all within a second or less. It just takes practice. You can certainly still practice double clutching on a syncroed tranny, it's only going to make your syncros last longer and stay happier. The more the driver does correctly, the less you have to replace stuff.

 

Get really GOOD at rev-matching.. your rev matches should be soo good that you dont even need to push in the clutch to shift at all.. you should be able to shift from any gear to the next speed-allowable appropriate gear (except reverse) without needing to push the clutch in because you have it all under control with the throttle. You dont know how many times I get a kick out of watching someone's face when I just put my foot up on the seat and do clutchless shifting it's perfectly safe if you know what you are doing and you do it well. The syncros will save you from grinding.. but so long as you get your "window of opportunity" of shifting correctly, you'll be fine.

 

Enjoy the car!

[MilesA]

I've read numerous write ups on heel-toeing, and how it applies to downshifting, but never to upshifting. Does it apply to upshifting? Also does double-clutching apply to upshifting or is that the same thing? Help a clutch/manual tranny n00b

It is used when you need to use the brake and gas pedal at the same time, for example, downshifting while braking for a curve. If you are upshifting, normally you are accelerating, you don't need the brakes, of course, so why use heel & toe?

 

Double-clutching is for the most part unnecessary because all modern cars are synchronized on all forward gears. Just rev match as best you can and slide the shifter into the next gear. Don't try to rush it or slam it into gear, give the synchros a little time to do their job.

 

Try to be smooth in everything when driving.

[Xenonk]

"Heel/toe" can be more accurately described as "ball of right foot on the brake pedal and the outside of the foot on the gas." Doing this enables one to blip the gas to match revs on a downshift while braking. Then there is left foot braking which is used by some turbo racers to keep the turbo spooled up. That was an especially important technique in the days of serious turbo lag.

 

 

left foot braking was also to simulate the brake balance to get the car to rotate, which is extremely helpful during rally and FWD cars as the front wheels will spin and the rears would lock up some.. it's a lot easier to modulate the brakes than to yank the e-brake (as the e-brake is really an on-off switch).

 

 

There's another technique that is named after the famous Rally driver Tim O'Neil call O'Neil shifting.. it's a downshift while left foot braking without using the clutch. I have only done a few times as it's hard technique to learn, but basically it's left foot braking with a downshift to keep the car in motion with power while making the car rotate under trail-braking done by the left foot.. pretty cool stuff.

[Vimy101]

Good stuff.

[TravisS]

Get really GOOD at rev-matching.. your rev matches should be soo good that you dont even need to push in the clutch to shift at all.. you should be able to shift from any gear to the next speed-allowable appropriate gear (except reverse) without needing to push the clutch in because you have it all under control with the throttle. You dont know how many times I get a kick out of watching someone's face when I just put my foot up on the seat and do clutchless shifting it's perfectly safe if you know what you are doing and you do it well. The syncros will save you from grinding.. but so long as you get your "window of opportunity" of shifting correctly, you'll be fine.

 

Indeed, this is the height of knowing your car IMO. I'm not quite there with the LGT yet, but I could do clutchless shifts with my Accord with no problems, and though I mostly just did it when I was cruising around, I still did it.

I don't anticipate the LGT to be too hard, the RPM / gear is nearly identical in the LGT as the Accord was. Not to mention the syncros in the LGT kinda suck in comparison, especially the 5th gear syncro, so rev matching becomes even more important.

[brad32]

I'm glad to see that I'm not the only LGT owner that has stalled it out with the clutch. I usually either "bog it down" or give it too much throttle.

This is one of the hardest clutches to get used to that I've ever driven. Still, I like it better than the auto Nissan that I last had.

[bradlgt21]

wow another Brad... back to the topic I learned stick on this car now I am curious how easy every other car is now that I am starting to get the hang of this one. looks like I should go test drive some other cars just for the fun of it. and the comparison.

[TravisS]

wow another Brad... back to the topic I learned stick on this car now I am curious how easy every other car is now that I am starting to get the hang of this one. looks like I should go test drive some other cars just for the fun of it. and the comparison.

 

I learned on my friends old VW Bug

While I had my learner's permit I drove a '91 Civic DX w/ 4 speed manual

My first "real" vehicle, that I drove for a couple years, was a '79 F-250. If ever there was a vehicle to learn stick on, it was that. The engine had so much torque that stalling it was nearly impossible. I quite literally put it in 1st, stepped out of the truck, and watched it climb a (very) steep hill with no throttle imput at all.

 

In most "normal" vehicles the clutch has an obvious engagement point that you can feel through the pedal. The LGT isn't quite like that, you kinda have to know where the engagement point is.

[Xenonk]

wow another Brad... back to the topic I learned stick on this car now I am curious how easy every other car is now that I am starting to get the hang of this one. looks like I should go test drive some other cars just for the fun of it. and the comparison.

 

 

every car will feel different, but at the end, it's all the same... I drive about 4 to 5 different stick cars each week, you just have to adjust to it.

 

 

the hard part is driving a car with no torque, and on top of that, wide sticky race tires and a 7 lb lightweight fly wheel. You'll HAVE TO rev the car past 3k rpms just to get it moving and not let it stall out.

 

 

just practice to be smooth, rev-match everything, it just makes it easier for the car to operate. It all starts with the driver.. the car doesnt move on its own.

[Xenonk]

In most "normal" vehicles the clutch has an obvious engagement point that you can feel through the pedal. The LGT isn't quite like that, you kinda have to know where the engagement point is.

 

 

You just have to be more sensitive to the car to feel for it, it's there.

 

 

This reminds me of my last student I instructed for high performance driving about "being sensitive". I drove my left tires over a painted white line as we went down the straight.. and I told him to feel for the "thickness" of the paint.. he was amazed because he couldnt tell the subtle changes that I could feel of such differences from the seat of my pants (literally) and through the steering wheel and pedals. Get accustom to everything: sound, feel, vision, smell of the car. Once you are in tuned with the car, everything is just natural.

 

I was told that the average person requires about 1500 repetitions of any type of experience to get "programmed" in their head to make an action feel natural.. I go through about 200 shifts a day.. (100 each way to work, about 20 miles with about 10 stop signs/traffic lights to deal with.. upshift and down shift [10 stops x 4 shifts x 2 ways + miscellanous up and down shifts to keep up with traffic).. so in about a weeks' worth of driving, I have probably have shifted over 1000 times out of the car.. so it takes me about a week and a half to learn heel toe..

 

Take advantage of your situation and perfect your rev-match, heel-toe, left-foot braking, and all other techniques along the way.. you dont have to do it fast or driving fast, you just have to pace yourself and give yourself plenty of different scenarios which will give you more experience and thus sharpen your skills for driving.

 

The more aware that you are, the better the driving gets. Just stay alert, be sensitive to the driving, and allow your body to pick up clues to what the car is doing.

 

I doubt anyone's "spirited" driving have results like mine :

http://img361.imageshack.us/img361/253/img0560dz1.jpg

or

http://img148.imageshack.us/img148/2008/img0507a8ds.jpg

[Th3Franz]

I doubt anyone's "spirited" driving have results like mine :

http://img361.imageshack.us/img361/253/img0560dz1.jpg

or

http://img148.imageshack.us/img148/2008/img0507a8ds.jpg

lol I'm trying! My RE-070's are almost toast.. I should talk to you about what summer street tire to get next.

[DashingMax]

:icon_eek:

[some6uy008]

 

I doubt anyone's "spirited" driving have results like mine :

http://img361.imageshack.us/img361/253/img0560dz1.jpg

or

http://img148.imageshack.us/img148/2008/img0507a8ds.jpg

 

How much longer are you going to keep babying your car?

[Vimy101]

I'm utilizing the tips, boys. What a great car.

[camr]

I have to agree with the mention of the clutch being much different than any other clutch that I have driven. One of my favorite cars was a 92 Volvo 760 Turbo wagon....ran it for 10 years with the same clutch. With the 05 OBXT I had my share of stalls, but have managed to solve that problem. The one shift that I cannot seem to get is 1st to 2nd without a slight jerk....it seems that I either give it too much or not enough gas. Of course my lovely, ever supporting wife is always there with an exagerated head movement, demonstrating the effect of a "rough shift". I often wonder if it is the result of the electronic throttle, as I have never experienced this with any other MT vehicle. The only thing common to every other vehicle that I have owned is the ever supporting wife, sarcasticly pointing out every one of my screw ups.

[KTM 525]

The turbo-lag is kinda annoying.

 

If you think this turbo is laggy your in trouble. This turbo lites up faster than a rag soaked in lighter fluid thrown into a campfire:lol: .

[NewScooby]

From a standstill, a turbo is at somewhat of a disadvantage compared to a large-displacement normally-aspirated engine. You have to get the car on boost as quickly as you can. Rev the car out to 3,500 - 4,000 and gently release the clutch, then floor it. You only have one shift (into 2nd) to take you up to 60 mph.

 

Exactly! When autocrossing this is the way I take off. Rev to around 4,500 and let the revs fall. start releasing the clutch around 3500-4000 quickly(do not dump) release the clutch and floor it when it is engaging.

 

I would get a slight spinning of the front tires and a slingshot type launch. While watching the boost gauge, I see around 5PSI of boost almost instantly when the car starts moving. With 30,xxx miles, my clutch is holding fine. No need for drag strip 6,000 RPM launches IMO.

 

And get a tune, My TDC E-Tune is alot more fun than stock. Stock boost in first and second gear sucks!