driving a manual - what and what not to do

[aaronng]

This is a very good thread as people who just started driving manual can pick up good driving tips from the others. There might even be a few oldies who have been driving manual wrongly who can benefit!

to start it off, i'll ask this question.....

situation: driving towards a small normal surburban intersection to turn left....as i exit the turn i would obviously be in 2nd gear....on approach to the turn i am still in 2nd gear (as it was only a short initial distance to the intersection so i wouldn't be in a higher gear as i'm not travelling that fast)....

question: what i do is as i approach the turn (already in 2nd gear), i depress the clutch so that the engine doesn't 'shudder' or 'jump'.....and release it slowly as i exit the corner.....

who else does this??

If it is a left filter, I don't press the clutch. If there is a stop sign or a give way, I slow to a stop and press the clutch in (before the engine stalls). Check for traffic and go off in 1st. If it is a junction without signs where you can only turn left or go straight, then I stay in 2nd, don't press clutch and carefully take the corner, in case someone is crossing the road. 2nd gear is good for 15km/h. I rarely go back into 1st gear to corner.

other things i've seen ppl do is change to 3rd to avoid that 'engine braking/pullback, and then change to 2nd gear on exiting the corner....i don't see a use for this as it just wears out the clutch more, right??

To me, it seems to be pointless as you can maintain light throttle to stay at the same speed in the corner. In addition, the amount of fuel saved in that 3 seconds is almost insignificant compared to avoiding a heavy throttle take off at the lights.

another thing is ppl clutching it, shoving it into neutral, turning, then clutching again back into 2nd...

Never do this. Don't take corners with the clutch in or in neutral. If you MUST do this, don't go into neutral. Leave it in 2nd and hold the clutch in. Blip the throttle to rev match before releasing the clutch.

so yeh, what method do u guys use? does rolling the car with the gear still in and the clutch fully depressed (so like u're in neutral) hurt the car or anything?

Nope, doesn't wear out anything other than the thrust bearing. And revving the engine with the clutch in puts more wear on the bearing than the act of taking the corner with the clutch pressed in.

What I do is as I approach the corner in 5th gear, 50km/h, I downshift by blipping the throttle (rev matching) to 4th, 3rd and then 2nd. You can go from 5th to 3rd as well, but it's more difficult to blip the right amount of thottle from the 5th to 3rd. I take the corner in 2nd like normal. If 3rd doesnt' stall the engine, I also take the corner in 3rd.

Rev matching preserves the clutch. When you press and release the clutch, do it in one swift and smooth motion. Of course, if you lift your foot off the clutch too quickly, then it'll be jerky. So do it swift and smooth. It takes about 1/4 a second for me to lift my foot of the clutch. It's fast, but not brutally fast.

Heel-toeing is difficult to do smoothly at low revs. It's best suited for 4000rpm downshifts, which is very rare, unless you are breaking a few traffic rules.

I'll let the others reply first before I go into my heel-toeing technique.