I know this will sound like a total newb question, but here goes anyways. I've been driving stick for a little less then 4 months now. My new 05 Cavalier is a manual as well. Now, I can get into 1st just fine, but 2nd is just an a**hole, lol. I've tried shifting when the RPM's are about 3K, I've tried between 4-5K, etc. I even tried it when my little "upshift" light comes on in my dash. Yet whenever I shift into second, the car is a little jerky. Is there some trick I'm not getting here...? Do you need more gas or pressue on the clutch to get into 2nd perfect? Like I said, 1st, 3rd, 4th and 5th I can get into just fine, yet 2nd has to be a lil bitch! lol

Any suggestions for this? Its funny, when I really push the car and "race" it, I can get into 2nd fine. Yet when I want to drive it like a normal person, I can't do the 2nd gear, lol.

You have to learn man, there is no trick to it.
You either let the clutch out too fast , or give it too much gas.


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Honestly, I have been driving a stick for about a year and a half now--and my Cav is the same way. Every once in a while, I will hit second perfectly when I am driving easy (for gas mileage), but most of the time, it is jerky. It's kind of a relief to know I am not the only one--I just thought I sucked. I am perfect in all the other gears, but the 1-2 shift is a little jerky.

I'm not the only one! Damn that makes me feel better, lol

The thing that gets me is that I can get it to shift perfect when I'm not even paying any attention. Yet when I watch the tach out of the corner of my eye and shift when the dash light comes on, it jerks. When I shift at higher RPM's and I know it, it jerks. Yet when i race it, shifts fine and when I'm not watching, it seems to shift fine.

My friend Paul drove my car perfect today with no problem. He has been driving stick for about 5 years, and currently owns an 04 Tiburon thats stick. He jumped in my car and drove the thing fluent as hell. It pissed me off, lol

i've been driving stick for a short period of time. It's just the equal balance you know? I tend to give it a little too much gas as I ease the clutch out, but that makes almost lean forward to get going, but not jerk. But when i first learned it was jerky because I let the clutch out too fast.


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the car will be jerky if you're letting the clutch out too quickly and the revs arent matched well.

you wanna give it a bit of gas if your shift is slow, or hold the clutch in a touch longer if you're shifting too quickly.

doing this you can upshift and downshift as smooth as an automatic, and you will get complements from passengers on your stick handling prowess

14.82 @ 97 mph

Mines not jerky at all... You just need more pratice. Pay attention to when the clutch engages. Timing is everything.

I had it going perfect yesterday cause I was timing my cluth and shift and what not, going fast, slow, etc. I think my problem was coming off the clutch too fast, cause it wasn't doing it yesterday

i've had my 5spd z24 for 3 years now... it's just practice you get the feeling after.. but i just like to do the most work possible when i shift just cause.. it's fun! ha ha... if i down shift i always give it gas between gears, and i always get the perfect rpm to match the speed so it's never jerky... but as much as i'd like to say i'm a man of a shifter and i can shift perfect... it stil hapends every once in a while that i do make it jerk like hell when shifting into 2nd... it is the hardest gear to shift in with out jerking... specialy on the isuzu 2.4 trannies lol... get into shifting without the cluth too.. that's cool and when you do that.. your rpms are always matched so it's smooth... well they have to otherwise you'l grind

Shifting without the clutch? Damn, I must be a newb, I've never heard of that? Isn't that bad for the trans?

exodus no its called rev matching and truch drivers do it all the time (well i do anyway) if done properly its exactly the same as using a clutch. the gears just shift at the proper RPMs...

basicly if you're jerking into gear and you dont want that you need to feather the clutch more (as has been stated previously) if you're racing you really dont need to feather you can just dump the clutch, this however is bad for the tranny and clutch so unless you plan on upgrading them in the next few months you should take it easy on your car and make the transitions between gears as smooth as possible.

you can practice clutchless shifting fairly easily...the gear shift will always pull out of a gear with little to no problem with or without the clutch engaged moving into a new gear however requires knowledge of the car. knowing your rpms in all the gears at every speed helps but you can learn it by lightly pushing/pulling the shifter towards the gear you want to be in without using the clutch. if done properly it will slide into gear when you are at the proper RPMs if done incorrectly you'll hear a lovely grinding sound telling you "NO BAD DRIVER"

yeah i don'T suggest remembering all the rpms though... that's never worked for me... it's just a feeling you have for it... the 1st times you do it.. . i promise it will take you a little while untill you can really always do it prefectly without grinding... but basicaly the clutch diconects the trany with the engine so you can change the geer without worrying about anything and then reconnect the clutch to engine... if you don't use the cluth.. then your engine's still turning a part of the tranny so your gear will not go in unless the engine's turning that at the right speed as your wheels are turning the other part of the tranny with the gear your going into.. as long as you got that... and you do it perfectly.. it's enven better for the car since you don't use your clutch...

Thats awesome, I think I'll try later tonight when the roads are generally clear. Hell, if it saves me buying a clutch plate, I'll go for it. I'm usually a quick learner when it comes to it. Thanks

a lot of people seem to think that jerking while shifting is cool or faster you wouldnt believe how many cars i've been in where the driver has no clue how to control their car. even when i race while i "dump" the clutch its still feathered out enough that there isn't much of a shift in body weight. the smoother your shift the more traction stays on the front tires which is definately a good thing.

if you want a fine example go watch any major racing event on the speed channel...wait for an in car view and notice when they shift the car doesnt rock front to back at all. If totally dumping the clutch was a good thing every pro racer would do it and you would see every car rocking when they shift. smooth and quick is the way to go, mastering that can take years of practice for some and others never quite understand it.

all that said i will mention when i have a fellow racer in my car for a spirited ride around i do tend to shift poorly since it gives an illusion of speed in my crappy slowfire of death.

Well when you race, I thought you are supposed to drop the clutch, shift, and get off the clutch fast so it jumps into gear since it goes straight to power...? Is that wrong...? I don't really remember my car jerking all that much when racing it, though i could be wrong.

if its lurching forward or back at all durring your shift then you're not shifting optimally however if you can push clutch, shift, release clutch fast and smooth it wont lurch and you're doing it perfectly. yes you want the power to stay constant in that you dont want your car idling in neutral for 5 seconds while you slowly feather the clutch out.

I'm not saying take your time shifting, i'm saying shift very quickly but do it right. if you're foot is pounding down on the clutch then releaseing just as quickly you're probably lurching and thus you're slowing down.

Ahhh, I get what your saying. No, my car doesn't lurch when I get out of gear, so I think I'm doing it right. I've found out that my car shifts into 2nd gear quite smooth at about 4000rpm's, lol.

it's hard to keep my 3.1L from lurching, when she goes into gear
I usually shift her at 4000 rpm, then the next gear picks up at 2800, and thats right around the torque power band, and the torque just pulls her forward

Duro

I guess 2nd gear is the most troublesome on a lot of cars. For my brother's and my Eclipses, 2nd was the most jerky for both of us when we first started learning. You're probably letting the clutch out too quickly at too low of RPM's. So just let the clutch out slower and give it a little gas to keep the RPM's higher and it will be much smoother.


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