Noob driving questions

[dunleavy]

Originally Posted by coste1l

9mph?? 180° hairpins or something? I carry 40mph plus into 90° corners easily in mine and its just a noddy car

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Sorry, I should have been more clear. I was referring to tight corners in the residential roads where I live - usually small streets. I just get the feeling I should be using 1st gear in some scenarios.

Is it possible to rev match into 1st gear to prevent the jerkiness?

And thanks everyone for your helpful answers!

[coste1l]

Rule of thumb for me.... If the cars below 4k im in the wrong gear

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[Tom8126]

Originally Posted by Jonathan W

Your video shows 21 MPH (34 KPH) not 17 MPH (27 KPH) as you stated earlier and do you really drive in 6th gear at these speeds occasionally?

Your car's live economy rating goes up as you accelerate towards the end of the video meaning you should be in a lower gear at 21 MPH and not wasting fuel being in 6h gear

I would advise you to read the following thread:

Best gear for 30 Mph?

Just to clarify when the speedo is set in kph the economy works in reverse to mpg its lpk (liters per kilometer) so when you accelerate the number goes up.

Sent by me

[Jonathan W]

Interesting but surely 21 MPH in 6th gear is not good for the car as the engine may constantly be fighting to turn over at that speed?

Originally Posted by dunleavy

Is it possible to rev match into 1st gear to prevent the jerkiness?

You should try rev matching every time you downshift for the reasons explained in the link I posted earlier

[Madcaddies]

Originally Posted by Jonathan W

Interesting but surely 21 MPH in 6th gear is not good for the car as the engine may constantly be fighting to turn over at that speed?



You should try rev matching every time you downshift for the reasons explained in the link I posted earlier

^^
This

No way it is good for the engine to be in 6th gear at those low speeds. IMO you should by a different car. I can imagine you put more stress on the engine driving it like a granny

[DCShoesUSA]

Just to clarify, my car runs well in 6th gear at those speeds without any stress at all if you just keep constant speed. I have more cars at home and I feel/hear if it would be stressful for the engine. I also see on the fuel meter wich speed/gear gives me the lowest result, which this does (:

And for driving like a granny, I'm more than happy to do this in towns with low speeds if it helps me saving fuel and not risking anyones life

[dunleavy]

Originally Posted by Jonathan W

You should try rev matching every time you downshift for the reasons explained in the link I posted earlier

I thought 1st gear was only really used to get the car moving? So it's ok to rev match down to 1st gear from a higher speed?

[coste1l]

Car should do about 40 in first so yeah it has its uses

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[Jonathan W]

As coste1l said but 35 MPH (56 KPH) is the absolute highest the 1st gear can go before hitting the rev limiter in a standard FN2.

I find that 2nd gear is usable just above 9 MPH (the speed mentioned in your first post of this thread) without any engine labouring/struggling. If it helps, it's normal for the car to be jerky in 1st or 2nd gear when off the throttle due to its light flywheel which causes faster

engine braking

engine braking

than other cars that may have a heavier flywheel

[dunleavy]

Originally Posted by coste1l

Car should do about 40 in first so yeah it has its uses

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I think I could reach VTEC more often if I used 1st gear...just wanted to make sure downshifting to 1st at higher speeds wasn't bad for the car in any way.

[Jonathan W]

It's not bad for the car as long as the car's current speed is below 35 MPH and you helping your car by rev matching. However, if the car's speed is over 35 MPH and you downshifted into 1st gear, you will over rev the engine beyond its rev limiter causing bad consequences depending how much it has over revved by.

The rev limiter cannot save you in this scenario since your car's front wheels are driving the engine over its rev limiter but if you are quick, you can press the clutch pedal and select the appropriate gear to prevent over revving the engine

As a general rule, I do not downshift to the previous gear if the car's current speed is less than 10 MPH from the previous gear's max speed. For example, let's say you are driving 50 MPH in 3rd gear (max speed: 77 MPH), you can downshift and rev match to 2rd gear (max speed: 55 MPH) but there's really no need as the VTEC engagement point is just 2 MPH away in 3rd gear (52 MPH). Just plant the throttle pedal down!