Best Practices of Driving a Manual Transmission

Hey everyone.

I was hoping to get some advice about the proper etiquette of driving a manual transmission.

My 2020 Si I purchased a few weeks ago is my first manual transmission car I've personally owned. I knew how to drive stick since the day I got my license, but I was completely self taught from driving other people's cars. It was just intuitive for me to translate what I knew from riding dirt bikes my whole life and applying the same concept of using clutch/gears to a car. Nobody ever taught me what I should or shouldn't be doing though, and that has me worried that I might be developing bad habits.

Most of my driving practices are with the wear of the clutch in mind, but I'm always looking to learn and get better at everything I do. I've been watching videos and reading some articles about general rules and do's & don'ts that were somewhat helpful but mostly just common sense stuff, so I wanted to hear from you guys.

What in your opinion are the best practices to follow when driving a manual transmission? What are some things you wish you knew about driving a manual when you first started? Are their any specific quirks with the Si, aside from rev hang, that require them to be driven differently?

Any feedback on this, or just general things specific to the Si that I should know about, would be greatly appreciated!

It looks like you already have knowledge and skill set, but my advice is as follows.

Throttle, brake, and clutch are not on and off switches. All are modulated.
Find the release point on your clutch. No throttle and slowly letting out clutch. Muscle learn this sweet spot(do it over and over)
Once your left leg is adapted. Let out clutch and apply throttle at a modulated pace.
Moving on to up shift. Gas off, clutch in, shift, clutch out, then gas on again. (obvious stuff here sorry) Rev hang causes jerkiness if you shift too fast, so slow it down with rate of rev drop.(another learning curve, but not difficult)
Downshifting. Typically I rev match while I downshift for normal everyday driving. I modulate the throttle while pushing clutch in, shifting, and clutch out.
Don't stay in gear when you are stopped. Wait to put it in 1st once the light is green etc. The less time with your left foot holding the clutch down the better.
Don't be that guy that rolls back and forth on an incline...
Drive it like you stole it whenever you can, because it is fun to drive a slow car fast.
I am sure I am forgetting things, but others will chime in.

ycehcky said:

It looks like you already have knowledge and skill set, but my advice is as follows.

Throttle, brake, and clutch are not on and off switches. All are modulated.
Find the release point on your clutch. No throttle and slowly letting out clutch. Muscle learn this sweet spot(do it over and over)
Once your left leg is adapted. Let out clutch and apply throttle at a modulated pace.
Moving on to up shift. Gas off, clutch in, shift, clutch out, then gas on again. (obvious stuff here sorry) Rev hang causes jerkiness if you shift too fast, so slow it down with rate of rev drop.(another learning curve, but not difficult)
Downshifting. Typically I rev match while I downshift for normal everyday driving. I modulate the throttle while pushing clutch in, shifting, and clutch out.
Don't stay in gear when you are stopped. Wait to put it in 1st once the light is green etc. The less time with your left foot holding the clutch down the better.
Don't be that guy that rolls back and forth on an incline...
Drive it like you stole it whenever you can, because it is fun to drive a slow car fast.
I am sure I am forgetting things, but others will chime in.

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Thanks! That was a solid explanation! In regards to what you said about not leaving it in gear at a red light, that is one thing I am always conscious of; having the clutch pressed as seldom as possible to reduce unnecessary wear. However, that was something that I thought was just assumed knowing how it all works mechanically, but I let my buddy (who previously owned a manual) drive my Si the other day and noticed he would just hold the clutch and leave it in gear anytime he was at a stop rather than putting it in neutral coming up to the stop then putting into gear when ready to go. I asked him if he always did that in his old car and he said that he did. That is actually what got me thinking to myself: "what bad habits do I have driving a manual that I am unaware of?"

SDAlexander8 said:

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Its funny you posted those two videos, because those were the exact two videos I was referring to when I said I was watching vids about it.

Amen to the advice above.

I try to "feel" the syncromesh engagement as the revs drop. You can force the shift but it just seems easier on the transmission.

That said, its a trade-off with the excellent advice to minimize the time you're on the clutch to disengage it. If the rev hang was eliminated, the rev drop would be that much quicker.

Out of all the great tips already posted above, I think rev matching is the one most overlooked and important. Especially when, say, you're in neutral or a high gear and then you want to put it in 2nd or 3rd. Finding the right RPM to "blip" the throttle to match will make your shift much, much smoother and better on the trans.

I've driven stick most of my adult life, and until I got my Si I would always wait at stop signs and red lights with my foot on the clutch in 1st. Luckily only lost one clutch (on my highly-modded AllTrac 1990 Celica) but now I'm hyper aware of it and trying to break that habit.

hicompb18c1 said:

Out of all the great tips already posted above, I think rev matching is the one most overlooked and important. Especially when, say, you're in neutral or a high gear and then you want to put it in 2nd or 3rd. Finding the right RPM to "blip" the throttle to match will make your shift much, much smoother and better on the trans.

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I try to rev match most of the time I would say, but I'm still figuring out what rpms to rev to for specific gears when downshifting. For instance, if I'm cruising in 6th gear going ~60mph @ ~2500-2800 RPM and want to go down to 4th to speed it up I never know what rpm range I should be targeting and just guess. Sometimes I get lucky and get it right in the sweet spot though.

Is there like a formula or something, or a set of rules to help with knowing when to rev match at what RPM for each gear?

si_well said:

I try to rev match most of the time I would say, but I'm still figuring out what rpms to rev to for specific gears when downshifting. For instance, if I'm cruising in 6th gear going ~60mph @ ~2500-2800 RPM and want to go down to 4th to speed it up I never know what rpm range I should be targeting and just guess. Sometimes I get lucky and get it right in the sweet spot though.

Is there like a formula or something, or a set of rules to help with knowing when to rev match at what RPM for each gear?

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You should be able to find a chart of every MPH and every RPM for each gear somewhere. It’s just something you get familiar with as you get more seat time.

Speaking of a formula for rev matching. I was a little surprised the Si didn't come with that feature. The Hyndai Veloster R spec had it that I test drove, But wasn't in the car long enough to get a feel for it. I think it's one of those features where if your doing a pretty good job of rev matching yourself, then it doesn't intervene. Going from 6th to 4th in your example. You're not going to match it perfectly, but a blip on the throttle will help the engine and transmission find they're sync easily [like a dirt bike] without the clutch having to take up too much of the slack. If you watch videos of professional drivers on a road course, most of them are pretty gentle on their driveline. You won't see them doing full power up shifts like street racers. LOL!

Jeffers said:

Speaking of a formula for rev matching. I was a little surprised the Si didn't come with that feature. The Hyndai Veloster R spec had it that I test drove, But wasn't in the car long enough to get a feel for it. I think it's one of those features where if your doing a pretty good job of rev matching yourself, then it doesn't intervene. Going from 6th to 4th in your example. You're not going to match it perfectly, but a blip on the throttle will help the engine and transmission find they're sync easily [like a dirt bike] without the clutch having to take up too much of the slack. If you watch videos of professional drivers on a road course, most of them are pretty gentle on their driveline. You won't see them doing full power up shifts like street racers. LOL!

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I got to try this out on a Veloster N that a hyundai dealership let me test drive. I think the guy was desperate to get rid of his 2019 ugly light blue N colored one. Auto rev match was actually pretty nice and quick. But i’d rather become a better driver and rev match myself.

si_well said:

I try to rev match most of the time I would say, but I'm still figuring out what rpms to rev to for specific gears when downshifting. For instance, if I'm cruising in 6th gear going ~60mph @ ~2500-2800 RPM and want to go down to 4th to speed it up I never know what rpm range I should be targeting and just guess. Sometimes I get lucky and get it right in the sweet spot though.

Is there like a formula or something, or a set of rules to help with knowing when to rev match at what RPM for each gear?

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I used this site to help me figure out what at RPMs to shift; you just need to input your gearing ratios, final drive ratio, and tire size. You can find all of this information in the second link under the Transmission category. I'm definitely not an expert at driving manuals--as I've only owned one other one in my entire life--but that website really helped me out.

For the most part I just shift at 2500 or 3000 RPM depending on whether I'm cruising or getting up to speed quickly. Just memorize approximately what RPM the engine should be at for each specific speed and gear, then slowly let out your clutch to match that RPM during gear changes. Note that rev hang is really annoying and you have to wait longer than you would normally expect for the RPMs to drop to the appropriate range. It's just another thing you have to get used to, at least until you end up tuning it out with Ktuner. For the most part, shifting from 1 -> 2 and 2 -> 3 are the most difficult and will take the most time to master. The rest of the gear changes happen relatively quickly and you can do it smoothly without too much trouble.

https://www.blocklayer.com/rpm-geareng.aspx
https://automobiles.honda.com/civic-si-sedan/specs-features-trim-comparison