Downshifting

Any tips for a newbie on downshifting? Do you have to downshift through all the gears upon stopping? How does that work

Any tips for a newbie on downshifting? Do you have to downshift through all the gears upon stopping? How does that work

No.

Let's say you're about to take a turn at 15mph in a 10-speed: You'd want to down-shift directly to 6th gear, from whatever gear you're in.

Phillip patience and technique go very far in learning to downshift. I myself had an awful time of it at first but with practice was able to be quite proficient. The information that helped me the most was tap the clutch don't push it way down. And considering it like a two step dance. Up shift (tap tap) downshift ( tap rev tap). Keeping your rpm in m

Any tips for a newbie on downshifting? Do you have to downshift through all the gears upon stopping? How does that work

No.

Let's say you're about to take a turn at 15mph in a 10-speed: You'd want to down-shift directly to 6th gear, from whatever gear you're in.

that is so very very wrong.

You downshift from what ever gear you are in though the gears until you are low enough to make the turn when you are first starting. Also if you need to hard stop just stay in the gear you are in until you stop pushing in the clutch before the truck starts to lug.

If you are coming to a controlled slow stop it's not bad to go though the gears when learning.

Any tips for a newbie on downshifting? Do you have to downshift through all the gears upon stopping? How does that work

No.

Let's say you're about to take a turn at 15mph in a 10-speed: You'd want to down-shift directly to 6th gear, from whatever gear you're in.

that is so very very wrong.

You downshift from what ever gear you are in though the gears until you are low enough to make the turn when you are first starting. Also if you need to hard stop just stay in the gear you are in until you stop pushing in the clutch before the truck starts to lug.

If you are coming to a controlled slow stop it's not bad to go though the gears when learning.

Oh I'm sorry. I was unaware the vehicle wasn't supposed to be in 6th gear to go ~15MPH. Maybe that was 10th.

As you can see, opinions vary. There are a lot of ways to shift. The important thing right now is to find out what your DMV inspector wants to see. In Virginia we are highly discouraged from skip shifting (pretty much what Daniel was saying going from a high gear down to the gear you want in only one or two steps). So here we would have to progressively shift down to sixth to make that curve. You do whatever pattern you are required to do to pass your test. Each inspector will have their own opinions.

Also as Eckoh said there may be times when you are coming to a complete stop in which case you can just use your brakes and then clutch in as you reach idle speed on the RPM. But the inspector is going to prefer to see you downshift. And if it is a light you are approaching then you definitely should have down shifted because you knew it was coming when you saw that yellow sign with a signal light painted on it right? Coming off an exit ramp on a highway you may need to skip shift to keep the vehicle under control but this technique also requires practice since the rev is a little higher on a skip shift than progressive.

I personally haven't yet successfully skip shifted down, but I keep practicing. Downshifting is also my one remaining hurdle in school. I get better every day, but its the thing I need to just slog through and practice.

As you can see, opinions vary. There are a lot of ways to shift. The important thing right now is to find out what your DMV inspector wants to see. In Virginia we are highly discouraged from skip shifting (pretty much what Daniel was saying going from a high gear down to the gear you want in only one or two steps). So here we would have to progressively shift down to sixth to make that curve. You do whatever pattern you are required to do to pass your test. Each inspector will have their own opinions.

Also as Eckoh said there may be times when you are coming to a complete stop in which case you can just use your brakes and then clutch in as you reach idle speed on the RPM. But the inspector is going to prefer to see you downshift. And if it is a light you are approaching then you definitely should have down shifted because you knew it was coming when you saw that yellow sign with a signal light painted on it right? Coming off an exit ramp on a highway you may need to skip shift to keep the vehicle under control but this technique also requires practice since the rev is a little higher on a skip shift than progressive.

I personally haven't yet successfully skip shifted down, but I keep practicing. Downshifting is also my one remaining hurdle in school. I get better every day, but its the thing I need to just slog through and practice.

to skip gears going down you need to slow the truck more and drop the RPMs even lower. When you are with your road trainer and they teach you floating you will learn to do it more. When i was in a straight drive i never used the odd gears going down.

When learning go though every gear when you can. The more you shift the more it because something you stop thinking about and you just do it.