I bought my first stick shift car a year ago and just bought my S2000 a few months ago. Since then I have learned a lot but I know there are some really good drivers out there who can make their S2000 faster just by how they drive it. Any tips for me?

 

you can learn a lot from post whores on this subject.......not!

 

Go here .

 

http://www.whtc.com/Shared/Auto/tutorials/...learnstick.html

http://www.turnfast.com/tech_driving/driving.lasso

 

If you really want to learn how to drive faster and better, you should take a performance driving school or go to a driver's education event at an SCCA event or autocross.

 

Keep the RPM's high when you are shifting. It's an art and it takes a while to get use to.

 

I think the S2000 is a very good car to learn how to drive stick. The reason is the close-ratio gearing. It is very forgiving if you forget to shift down to 1st and start to drive while in 2nd gear. Also you are not as concerned about when to up shift in the S. You can rev the engine while staying in a lower gear.

When I was teaching my daughter how to drive stick, I gave her a couple of lessons in the Accord, but she sometimes forgot to down shift after stopping, and the Accord would always stall if she tried to start in 2nd. When I switched to teaching her in the S2000, things went a lot smoother.

 

Thanks for all the help, most of which I already knew from learning on my MR2 Spyder. I do have a few questions, however.

1) Say you're driving 45 mph and there's a stoplight ahead. What I do is clutch, shift to neutral, and then ease into a stop and brake. Light turns green, I shift into first and go... am i doing something wrong? I read that you're supposed to downshift all the way to 2nd?? I'm confused.

2) What is power-shifting? When I was messing around with my MR2 Spyder I *THINK* i power-shifted but not sure... is it when you keep the foot on the gas beetween shifting gears? Isn't this bad for the car? Does it make it go a bit faster?

3) I'm getting that "CHIRP" sound when I shift from 1st to 2nd gear, does that mean I am doing something right? When do i shift from 1st to 2nd exactly, 8500? 9000? if i hit the redline when i shift am i already doing damage to my car?

4) I still have my MR2 Spyder, it's my everyday car. I've had it for about a year and i feel like I can drive it smoothly. No more jerking, no more stalling, smooth shifting. I drive my S2k like crap though. I noticed that the clutch on my S2k likes to "snap" back at me. For some reason my S2k jerks a lot more and doesn't shift as smooth. I know this is my fault, but what am i doing wrong, why can't i adjust? Also, the shifter is so short i want to shift faster i release the clutch too early and miss the gear.. it sucks. Will it just take more practice.. i only have 1700 miles on it.

Thanks for the help!

 

[QUOTE]Originally posted by krazybartender
[B]1)