kumar75150

well, i just got back from out of town and spent another 45 minutes driving today

i am not great yet but i feel pretty comfortable with everything except one thing: downshifting when making a slow turn

i think that almost always i need to downshift to 2nd gear when i take a turn lets say around 15 mph; is that right?

for example, if i am driving along at 40mph in 4th gear and i come to a street where i need to make a right turn; when do i regain contact with the clutch? when do i shift?

a couple of people told me that i don't need to depress the clutch until i go below 30mph so this is what i am doing to begin with

i slow down from about 40 to 30 using the brake; then i use the clutch and the brake to slow down to about 15; then i take the turn; right as i come out of the turn, i downshift into 2nd; as i pick up speed, i upshift into 3rd and then 4th again

is this what i need to do?

i noticed that if i am turning at 20mph or higher, i can just leave the car in 4th gear and continue driving


so many questions

tpn

If you are just taking the corner, down to 3erd for 40 mph at least. If you are trying to take the corner at maximum then you want to try and power thru the turn.

Get your speed down to a comfortable rate that will safely make the turn by braking quickly with clutch in and down shift to 2nd. At about (or just before) the apex (top of radius) of the turn get revs up and engage 2nd gear and power (accelerate) thru the rest of the turn keeping revs going till you are ready to take 3erd. You should feel a

TXRacer

Braking while in gear is counter-productive; if you're braking, you should be in neutral (or at least clutch in) regardless of the speed. Also, running in 4th gear at 20mph will put undue stress on the engine; you should be using 2nd gear at that speed.

The only other change to your stated technique is that you want to be in 2nd gear *before* you start the turn, use that gear to maintain speed through the turn, then accelerate once you're straightened out. If you find yourself braking *during* the turn, you're not slowing enough before the turn, and with RWD you may find yourself in a spin.

Don't play games with accelerating through the turn or seeing how fast you can go until the stick is instinct to you. Safety before speed.

TXR

tassin06

Just a little correction, or should I say detail... You don't want to be in neutral or to have the clutch in when you break, unless you are downshifting, otherwise you'll kill your brakes faster and you'll increase your stopping distance more than significantly. If you have to do emergency braking, don't touch the clutch until you are nearly stopped, to avoid stopping the engine. You really want to use the engine break as much as possible to save your breaks and decrease your stopping time.

Btw, I'm new in dallas ( from france, that's why my english's so bad) and I have a silver/red since may 2001. I'm in farmers branch and there's a guy in my complex who have a black/black, so if he reads that, next time you see me, stop by and we'll talk about s2k