[anwaar404]

First post alert!!

Whats up Camaro Family!!

At the being of this month, I made the big jump from a 2017 1SS automatic to 2019 2SS manual without any knowledge of how to drive a manual transmission; no youtube, nothing. Does playing Forza count as practice?!

To get to the point, I didn't want my first point to be a whole "How To" thread because there are enough of those on here and they actually helped a lot during this month of daily driving in ATLANTA since I got the car. I experienced my fair share of hiccups and people cursing me out because they see this brand new car thats not moving at the light lol. I've pretty much got the basics down but now it's the small stuff that I cant seem to figure out to make the drive as smooth as possible for me and my passengers.

1. The 1st to 4th force shift... Its pretty annoying but I get the point of it. A lot of times it can be a nuisance especially in regular traffic on hilly roads. It literally forces me into 4th unless I put a little more force on the gear and shift to 2nd or 3rd. I read on a thread that this can damage the transmission in the long run so I guess my question(s) are; how true is that? and what methods do you all use to alleviate this?

2. Rev Match... I love Rev Match (It makes me look like a pro), I use it mostly when I have a passenger in my car just to make sure I'm not giving them whiplash in 1st through 3rd gear and downshifting. When I'm by myself I want the car as raw as possible since I'm still learning so Rev Match is considered a "cheat" to me. I've found that when its off, I need to switch gears a lot faster than when its on and that has been working out fine except when that 1st to 4th crap happens With Rev Match on I shift around 2500-3000 rpms and it's almost flawless from a gas saving point of view.

Where I suck at is downshifting (with Rev Match off) I try to raise the rpms slightly before shifting down but I still break necks lol. Any tips on downshifting smoothly?

Other than that, I'm proud to join the M6 family!!

[protovack]

#1- skip shift sucks, you should buy the skip shift eliminator and install it as soon as possible. After its gone, you'll wonder how other people live with it.

https://www.amazon.com/Muzzys-Camaro...ZM0PZQVDZKQ56M

#2- smooth downshifts are all about popping your throttle right before you do it. It just takes practice, because you are doing something different with each of your limbs.

Welcome to the club!

[anwaar404]

Originally Posted by protovack

#1- skip shift sucks, you should buy the skip shift eliminator and install it as soon as possible. After its gone, you'll wonder how other people live with it.

https://www.amazon.com/Muzzys-Camaro...ZM0PZQVDZKQ56M

#2- smooth downshifts are all about popping your throttle right before you do it. It just takes practice, because you are doing something different with each of your limbs.

Welcome to the club!

Preciate it mane!

I knew somebody would have a solution because even my pops was like wth when I let him drive it for the first time.

[CamaroChriSS]

Yeah your issue is probably revving a tiny bit too early - try keeping an eye on where it revs with skip shift on and use that as a guide of where to hit, then make sure you’re hitting that the instant before you release the clutch (not just when you move the shifter). I also bought a stick shift without having any idea how to drive it about 10 years ago, and it took me a couple days to get the hang of it, then a couple months to get smooth. You’ll get there pretty quickly!

[wintertopdown]

you will gain a sence of when the engine is engaging and needs fuel. keep practicing just do not dump the clutch, ease it out.

[Airfuel]

You’ll know when you are comfortable with the stick when you don’t even realize you are shifting.
It becomes second nature after awhile.

[CamaroChriSS]

Originally Posted by Airfuel

You’ll know when you are comfortable with the stick when you don’t even realize you are shifting.
It becomes second nature after awhile.

Yeah exactly. I feel like so many people have the misconception that stick is miserable in DC traffic, but honestly it becomes so natural that you don't even think about it, and it doesn't bother me at all.

[DD goat]

Welcome to the "stick" family! I've been driving manual trans cars my whole life, and I'm an old guy these days. You'll learn to love it. There's nothing like rowing thru the gears in a cool car. I wouldn't have this car any other way! I know the Auto is faster, and blah, blah, blah, but to me the driving experience in a car like a Camaro is all about shifting!

[anwaar404]

Thank you all for the advice! I will try out these methods while on my way home from work aka my daily dose of guarantee stop and go traffic, which actually brings up another point of interest...

It kind of feels natural to clutch more in stop and go traffic, no faster than 20 mph for about 5+ miles, how do you all approach this? I rather not burn out my clutch over time with bad habits

[anwaar404]

Originally Posted by CamaroChriSS

Yeah your issue is probably revving a tiny bit too early - try keeping an eye on where it revs with skip shift on and use that as a guide of where to hit, then make sure you’re hitting that the instant before you release the clutch (not just when you move the shifter). I also bought a stick shift without having any idea how to drive it about 10 years ago, and it took me a couple days to get the hang of it, then a couple months to get smooth. You’ll get there pretty quickly!

Luckily, I stay pretty close to the Atlanta Motor Speedway so I get to test out different variations of driving with no one around

I'll follow up with you and let you know how it goes

[DevilsReject97]

Originally Posted by protovack

#1- skip shift sucks, you should buy the skip shift eliminator and install it as soon as possible. After its gone, you'll wonder how other people live with it.

https://www.amazon.com/Muzzys-Camaro...ZM0PZQVDZKQ56M

#2- smooth downshifts are all about popping your throttle right before you do it. It just takes practice, because you are doing something different with each of your limbs.

Welcome to the club!

+100000000 to both of these. The skipshift is worth EVERY penny, and you can literally do this in your driveway.

One of the biggest things is to just really listen to the car. Get a sense of the noise and you can almost always tell when to shift without even looking at your speed or even down at the gauges.

Congrats on the upgrade!!!

[Airfuel]

In traffic you don’t have to clutch all the time. That wears on you and the clutch. Do like truckers do, coast in gear and leave space in front to basically just idle in traffic at 5 mph or so. Yes you do have to stop sometimes but that is the nature of the beast.

[ctrlz]

I don't get the enthusiasm for the skip shift eliminator. it is pretty easy to modify your driving style so the system doesn't lock you out of 2nd. On the rare occasions that does happen to me, I have trained myself to push it to 3rd. Also easy.
I am no stranger to working on cars, and even put the eliminator on my amazon wish list before my Camaro was delivered. But once I drove it for a while, I though, "what's all the fuss?" I just don't find it that intrusive. $20 better spent on beer.

[DevilsReject97]

Originally Posted by ctrlz

I don't get the enthusiasm for the skip shift eliminator. it is pretty easy to modify your driving style so the system doesn't lock you out of 2nd. On the rare occasions that does happen to me, I have trained myself to push it to 3rd. Also easy.
I am no stranger to working on cars, and even put the eliminator on my amazon wish list before my Camaro was delivered. But once I drove it for a while, I though, "what's all the fuss?" I just don't find it that intrusive. $20 better spent on beer.

Because the only reason the skip shift is there is to improve EPA mpg ratings, it doesn't actually serve any other purpose.

I can't tell you how many times I fought with it...it's just annoying... so why not just eliminate the need all together?