A better guide:
http://www.shortshifter.com/techniques2.htm

Memorize it. Practice in your sleep. Practice on the toilet. In the shower, etc.

Also, make sure you're pressing the clutch in all the way--so you won't grind.

Also look up the issues about avoiding oversteer (e.g. not braking or shifting or letting off the throttle mid-corner, etc.), going slow in, fast out, etc.

 

i drove a manual maybe 3 times total for about 20 min each time before I bought my s2k backat the end of 2003. What scared me more than not driving it correctly was car dying in the middle of an intersection with traffic coming your way on a left hand turn. Good thing that has never happened but it came close a couple of times in the beginning. Just give it time and you'll learn to drive a manual pretty smoothly. I used to only rev match down shift but have been more conscious of doing double clutching down shifting in the past years. I know we don't need to since there are synchros but i heard it helps anyway. Car has over 92K and original clutch still going as strong as ever

 

IMO, the biggest problem with learning to drive a manual on the S2000 is that beginners wear the clutch faster than experienced users. Beginners also tend to have the clutch depressed longer during shifts, putting more wear on the throwout bearing. And since this isn't a high torque engine, it's easier to stall than cars with more displacement.

As you gain experience, you will learn to minmize the wear during clutch engagement. Aggressive quick launches at high RPMs put more wear on a clutch. Engaging a gear at lower RPMs (around 3000 RPM) relatively quickly minimizes the wear on your clutch. Over time, you'll get the hang of it. I currently have 182,000 miles on my car and I'm still on the original clutch. There are owners that have more miles than me and still have their original clutch.

BTW: The shifting advice given by Fredster and HarryD look great. Here's something I'd like to add: The shifter is spring loaded in neutral and wants to come to the center, which is where 3rd & 4th gears are. If you're not driving aggressively, you can shift from 3rd to 4th by just using one finger to push the shifter back into neutral, then into 4th gear. With just one finger you're not guiding it into gear - you're allowing it to naturally go into 4th gear. You can't make quick shifts that way, but you can't misshift and the delay makes it really easy on the synchros.

 

you should be fine, mine went through some trouble for about a week
no miss shifts but a couple grinds untill i got it down, (clutch grabs really high lol)

and i dont let people trying to learn driving stick in my car tho
its one thing if its your car and make a mistake
but to me if someone else miss shifts or grinds gears and blows the tranny i would be so pissed....

tired of people asking to drive the s when they cant/dont even know how to drive stick

 

Work on getting your shifts smooth by matching revs and not slipping the clutch by releasing it slowly. Move your seat up far enough that you are firmly putting the clutch pedal into the mat. As you come out of a gear and move to the next pay attention to the rev change. For example, if I take first to 9k in my car, I know 2nd will turn at 6k. Anticipate this and get out of the clutch as the revs fall back to 6k. Earlier and the wheels drag the engine down to speed, slipping the clutch. Later and the wheels drag the engine up to speed, slipping the clutch.

If the car popped out of the next highest gear or you missed engagement and got in the throttle, you did not over-rev. The limiter would prevent this. Good advice from several on hand position. Get in the habit of capping the shifter and not wrapping around the right side. Get your elbow between the seats so arm motion is in line with the gates. Going thumb down on 3-4, 5-6 is easy and a good habit for the tight gates of this car.


I don't want to bust on anyone, but as being new to manuals, you do not need misinformation. To recommend double clutching and then suggest using on up-shifts is pointless. It serves almost no purpose. Double clutching spools up the input shaft and clutch disc to higher revs when you are downshifting, saving clutch wear and lessening the workload on the synchros that are responsible for the task without the double-clutch. On up-shifts, the input shaft and disc are naturally slowing down and the synchros are working in conjunction with this, resulting in a very light load. To emphasize this, lightly shift from 1-2 and you will feel light resistance and there will be a slight pause as speed matches through the drivetrain. Now try the opposite as you approach a stop, the increased resistance you feel is the synchros trying to speed the clutch disc up to wheel speed, much more work for them. By clutch-in, out of second, release clutch and blip throttle (speeding up the disc), clutch-in, engage first, you are using the engine and throttle to do the work for the synchros. A lot of people argue it is pointless, I am not going to debate that. Just trying to help you understand what is going on.

Rev-matching on down-shifts is different from double-clutching as the clutch stays down the whole time and you are blipping the throttle with your heel to bring the engine up to wheel speed so not to upset the car. If you just release the clutch on a 3-2 shift when the engine is turning 700 rpms and needs to be turning 5,000 it puts a big drag to the rear wheels as they spin up the engine. Almost like giving the e-brake a yank, which is not what you want at corner entry, obviously.

As for skipping gears, I have never read of it being a common problem on down-shifts. Up-shift skipping is a big negative, absolutely. There is one situation I have read of with Civics, but never experienced or read of happening in an S2000. You can "furball" a clutch disc by making a big change in gears on a down shift. If you are exiting a freeway, for example, in 5th at 70 mph, and for sh*ts and giggles decide you want to jam it into first and keep the clutch in, you can spin the disc up to a speed that causes it to break apart. Initially you may think there is no harm because I am leaving the clutch in so I do not over-rev the engine, and that is true for the engine. But as soon as you engage the gear the transmission internals are turning at wheel speed and that little Civic disc is not happy about the 12,000 rpms you have just made it do. (these numbers are for illustration purposes, so don't anyone get all fussed about them).

Best thing you can do is ride with someone that has their act together. Go to an autocross, maybe on test-and-tune day (usually the Saturday before the event) and ride with someone in an S2000 that has some experience. The light bulb will come on a lot sooner than it will reading and writing about it. Frankly, you will be amazed. Good luck.

 

Thanks for all the replies! Definitely some helpful information. I bought my s2000 not to just learn the basics and just "get by" when driving a stick, but more because it is something I have always been interested in learning how to do well. I still have a few questions.

1. Where can I get local autocross information? I have searched all over google and haven't really seemed to find anything useful. I would love to take some sort of class or lesson, as well as ride along with someone who really knows what they are doing. I live in the metro Atlanta area and I know there has to be something available. Any local Atlantans have a good recommendation?

2. I have learned rev match downshifting with double clutching pretty well, but like some of you have said, double clutching is not really necessary. When rev matching without double clutching, when do you blip? Push the clutch in, and then blip while it is still in current gear? Or pass through neutral and blip then? Or shift into the lower gear first then blip?

3. Many people have told me there is no reason to downshift while daily driving. I don't get this. When I'm going 55 mph and in 6th gear and I need to take a standard 90 degree turn at about 20 mph, do you simply stay in 6th gear the whole time? That doesn't make any sense to me, I feel it is necessary to downshift 6-5-4-3 before taking the turn.

 

1. http://forum.soloatlanta.com/viewforum.php?f=2
and
http://forum.soloatlanta.com/viewtopic.php?f=2&t=3946

Atlanta has a great group.

2. Shift to lower gear and blip before letting the clutch out. Need to release clutch before revs drop below appropriate wheel speed or it serves no purpose.

3. Yes, downshifting is necessary to take advantage of the powerband. No need to row through every gear.

 

The best advice I was given, is to drive smoothly and slowly for at least a few months (maybe more). Don't try to zip around or bang through the gears. The more time you take perfecting shifts, the better you will be later when you're ready to drive a little more aggressively. I'm not saying you should ever drive like a maniac, but drive like grandma for a while until you really get good at it. The worst thing you can probably do is try to drive fast, you'll most likely develop bad habits that will do nothing but wear out your car and make you look like a jackass when driving.

As far as shifting. I was taught to pull towards you for 1st and 2nd, allow it to self center for 3rd and 4th, and push away for 5th and 6th. Haven't missed a gear yet, not even once.

 

I don't think you over-revved if it popped out of gear. You probably just bounced off the rev-limiter, which is harmless. Over-revving happens when you shift INTO a gear that is too low for your speed and the engine is forced to spin above the redline.

 

If you haven't mastered this then give it a try:

On level ground try taking off in 1st and reverse alternately at idle until you reach smooth. Yeah you'll burn a little bit of clutch disk learning but you'll learn a ton about engagement point and how to engage/disengage the clutch at speed later on.

Just my .02.