3 ms·

It's also worth noting that you can skip gears. For example going straight from two to four and then six when accelerating hard. It depends on the car, engine

It's also worth noting that you can skip gears. For example going straight from two to four and then six when accelerating hard. It depends on the car, engine size/power, conditions, gradient and a few other things. Same when changing down. I'm personally a fan of using the gearbox to decelerate rather than just the brake. I'm currently rocking a 20 year old Nissan Micra "Twister" with an auto gearbox - a proper granddad car (I am as it turns out). It weighs about two kilos and has about 2 BHP but it is a bit of a Q ship. I've seen off some expensive cars at roundabouts with some local knowledge a careful choice of lane and a stomp on power when it counts. It does make some odd noises when turning right (a CV boot is quite fucked). Lane one on a roundabout is often quicker than lane two due to less curvature, unless you can transition from lane two to one to straighten it out. An auto always has some drive engaged so a standing start is often quicker but in a manual you can stomp on the accelerator and run up say 4000 RPM and give your clutch a good old work out whilst using the brake to hold in place. If you have enough power, you can start off in second or ideally you have one of those flappy paddle jobs and stay in first for about a half second and then change up as you go. I prefer a manual box - you feel more engaged with the vehicle but then an auto can also be played with too. You can make it change up and down when you get the hang of it by blipping the throttle and getting to know what it wants to do in certain circumstances.

matthewdgreen 4y ago
I love the feel of going straight from 2-4 on a car with a really tight shifting pattern. Used to drive my dad’s MGB a lot and boy was that car technically a mess, but the shift from 2-4 on an open country road was magic. As long as you didn’t think too much about the missing 5th gear, the useless seatbelts, or the reverse lights that only came on when they felt like it.
- progman32 4y ago
  My old Alfa reliably engages the reverse lights, but often at the cost of shorting out the instrument cluster
- gerdesj 4y ago
  "or the reverse lights that only came on when they felt like it." Quality engineering 8) Are you really talking about a MG MGB? Mind you, your final para. description fits what the Morris Garage churned out back in the day. I went to school in Abingdon (Oxon) which is where the MG sort of wobbled onto the roads originally. I haven't seen a MGB for a while but I have driven a Midget a few times (I'm 52). My dad had a Midget back in the day after his Austin 7 passed away (it cost him £5) and the Midget was what he was driving when courting my mum. Apparently they had to use her tights to replace the fan belt when it failed (yeah, whatevs). I was probably the result ...
  - matthewdgreen 4y ago
    Yes, amazing fun car to drive, we had one in racing green (with ugly black front trim instead of chrome, but still a great car.) Lucas Industries did all the electronics, same people who (apparently) did them for British fighter planes. The engine was a miracle and the acceleration was beautiful. The electrical system, though... at one point my dad couldn't pass the state inspections due to the reverse lights and multiple garages were unable to diagnose the problem. So he rigged a switch under the steering wheel to turn them on manually.
eightysixfour 4y ago
I have had multiple manual cars and do not understand what you mean when you say you enjoy a 2-4-6 shift when driving hard. I skip gears when I’m driving slow and some cars, like the Corvette, have gates to force a 1 -> 4 under a certain RPM. IMO, the best part of a manual performance car is chirping tires (or fully breaking them loose!) on a 2nd to 3rd shift in a turbo car with no-lift-shift.
m463 4y ago
You can also not skip gears when downshifting, aka heel and toe https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Heel-and-toe_shifting https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Heel-and-toe_shifting
bsagdiyev 4y ago
Yep, it's typically how I get up to speed if I'm driving my girlfriends car. NA6 Miatas had no power stock, so a nice full pot through 1, 2, and 3 then up in to 5th will get me to ~50-60 mph and in to cruising revs.

matthewdgreen 4y ago

I love the feel of going straight from 2-4 on a car with a really tight shifting pattern. Used to drive my dad’s MGB a lot and boy was that car technically a mess, but the shift from 2-4 on an open country road was magic. As long as you didn’t think too much about the missing 5th gear, the useless seatbelts, or the reverse lights that only came on when they felt like it.

progman32 4y ago
My old Alfa reliably engages the reverse lights, but often at the cost of shorting out the instrument cluster
gerdesj 4y ago
"or the reverse lights that only came on when they felt like it." Quality engineering 8) Are you really talking about a MG MGB? Mind you, your final para. description fits what the Morris Garage churned out back in the day. I went to school in Abingdon (Oxon) which is where the MG sort of wobbled onto the roads originally. I haven't seen a MGB for a while but I have driven a Midget a few times (I'm 52). My dad had a Midget back in the day after his Austin 7 passed away (it cost him £5) and the Midget was what he was driving when courting my mum. Apparently they had to use her tights to replace the fan belt when it failed (yeah, whatevs). I was probably the result ...
- matthewdgreen 4y ago
  Yes, amazing fun car to drive, we had one in racing green (with ugly black front trim instead of chrome, but still a great car.) Lucas Industries did all the electronics, same people who (apparently) did them for British fighter planes. The engine was a miracle and the acceleration was beautiful. The electrical system, though... at one point my dad couldn't pass the state inspections due to the reverse lights and multiple garages were unable to diagnose the problem. So he rigged a switch under the steering wheel to turn them on manually.

eightysixfour 4y ago

I have had multiple manual cars and do not understand what you mean when you say you enjoy a 2-4-6 shift when driving hard. I skip gears when I’m driving slow and some cars, like the Corvette, have gates to force a 1 -> 4 under a certain RPM. IMO, the best part of a manual performance car is chirping tires (or fully breaking them loose!) on a 2nd to 3rd shift in a turbo car with no-lift-shift.

m463 4y ago

You can also not skip gears when downshifting, aka heel and toe https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Heel-and-toe_shifting https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Heel-and-toe_shifting

bsagdiyev 4y ago

Yep, it's typically how I get up to speed if I'm driving my girlfriends car. NA6 Miatas had no power stock, so a nice full pot through 1, 2, and 3 then up in to 5th will get me to ~50-60 mph and in to cruising revs.