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Can anybodt shift this @#*! thing smoothly?

9uns

Autocross Champion
Location
92870
Car(s)
gti
I'm new to driving stick and I have the same issue going from 1st to 2nd but I attribute that 100% to my lack of experience. Is it worth doing the recommended clutch mods (spring removal, clutch stop, etc.) for a new driver?
 

nicholam77

Go Kart Champion
Location
Minneapolis
I'm new to driving stick and I have the same issue going from 1st to 2nd but I attribute that 100% to my lack of experience. Is it worth doing the recommended clutch mods (spring removal, clutch stop, etc.) for a new driver?



I would say yes, absolutely. Clutch stop is personal preference and doesn’t change anything but pedal travel. I don’t care for it personally but it might help some locate the engagement point more consistently. IMO the other mods are more important. The delay valve removal and the pedal spring removal will help you feel what your doing more. Essential to knowing if your doing it right. Dogbone replacement or insert will help with the engine bucking a bit. So would motor / trans mounts but it’s really not necessary to take it that far if you just wanna shift smooth.

But the number one key to smooth shifts is to learn to match your revs! It will be different in each gear and depending on what rpm you choose to shift at. It’s all based on the gear ratios and engine speed. If you don’t develop a personal pattern and learn where your revs should fall to on each shift you will forever be guessing. The tach is there for a reason.
 

nicholam77

Go Kart Champion
Location
Minneapolis
Definitely have this same exact problem. I feel like you have to literally slip the clutch going 1st to 2nd to make it smooth. 2nd to 3rd, for me at least, depends on whether the car is warmed up or not. It is very annoying when trying to blast through the gears. Only thing that has helped a bit is shifting 1st to 2nd at a higher rpm and doing so slower than expected.

Haven't executed any of the recommended mods (clutch delay valve removal, spring removal, clutch stop, etc) but plan to.



You don’t need to slip the clutch on the 1-2 shift. You just need to catch it at the appropriate rev count for the next gear. On the 1-2 shift this means being patient and shifting fairly slowly.

Revs in general will fall faster after the engine is warm. Same for having the AC or other engine loads on.

Do to the gear spreads in the lower gears (at least 1-2 and 2-3) “blasting through the gears” is not going to be smooth and you will have clutch slippage or bucking. Blame VW for that.
 

CosmosMpower

Ready to race!
Location
Dallas, TX
Some cars just have crappy MT's, I hated the 6MT in my 2016 STI Limited so much that I only drove the car 2,300 miles in a year and sold it.
 

TheWombat

Go Kart Champion
Location
Vermont
On my R, I found that the short shift kit I put in along with the heavier knob certainly made overall shifting better, as did the remarkably effective for its price clutch stop. 1-2 though for me is usually a function of how much I'm on the throttle. In most cases, while it's often a bit less than totally smooth, I don't care because I'm getting out of 1 as fast as possible but at low speeds. At higher speeds, as in accelerating from a stop, it seems a lot smoother than when I'm just accelerating normally. Seems almost as if it is happier when you are going faster.....
 

PLF8593

Drag Race Newbie
Location
Philly
Car(s)
19 Alltrack 6MT
I'm new to driving stick and I have the same issue going from 1st to 2nd but I attribute that 100% to my lack of experience. Is it worth doing the recommended clutch mods (spring removal, clutch stop, etc.) for a new driver?

Yes. It'll help you learn better, because you'll be learning on a clutch that behaves the way clutches are supposed to. FWIW my first stick was a 2012 MK6 GTI and I also struggled on the 1-2 in that car, and the gear ratios were much closer.
 

PLF8593

Drag Race Newbie
Location
Philly
Car(s)
19 Alltrack 6MT
But the number one key to smooth shifts is to learn to match your revs! It will be different in each gear and depending on what rpm you choose to shift at. It’s all based on the gear ratios and engine speed. If you don’t develop a personal pattern and learn where your revs should fall to on each shift you will forever be guessing. The tach is there for a reason.

You're talking about downshifting. That's down the road for a new manual driver. I didn't even bother trying to rev match downshifts for over a year after I started driving stick. It's not a *necessary* thing to do in order to effectively drive the car from point A to B. It's more for driving enjoyment.
 

LS1

Passed Driver's Ed
If I may also add that all my VWs so far (GTI, R, Golf) shifted much smoother at certain RPM ranges; I always considered that more or less normal for every car though...Except for my 98 Cobra lol - that thing (to paraphrase Clarkson) was like operating a Victorian torture instrument lever.
 

nicholam77

Go Kart Champion
Location
Minneapolis
You're talking about downshifting. That's down the road for a new manual driver. I didn't even bother trying to rev match downshifts for over a year after I started driving stick. It's not a *necessary* thing to do in order to effectively drive the car from point A to B. It's more for driving enjoyment.

No, I'm actually talking about upshifting. Downshifting is trickier because of the added need to blip the throttle, and I agree that a new driver shouldn't worry about that right away. I went years before attempting rev-matched downshifts or even knowing what they were. But matching revs in general is a central concept to manual transmissions and changing gears smoothly.

If you (not you specifically, but anyone out there) want to shift smoothly, without overly slipping the clutch, which is what the thread is about, you should be matching revs on all shifts. Only time to not be matching revs on upshifts is if you're drag racing or trying to accelerate as quickly as possible with no regard for the driveline components.

If you're not matching your upshifts, you're more likely to get jerking or bucking, clutch wear, and synchro wear.

The reason people can't nail the 1-2 shift is not because of their stock cable bushings or because they don't have a heavy weight knob. It's because it's a very large (45%) gear spread and if you shift at any considerable RPM the revs need to drop a lot. Which makes it tricky and a timing issue. Requires precision.

You should match upshifts for the same reason you would match downshifts. No, it's not essential to get from point A-B. Modern transmission, sychros, DMF, etc. But as you said it's for enjoyment. And part of that is driving with precision and being smooth. Not upsetting the balance of the car. Knowing you are being nice to the internal components.

If people think they can shift at the same habitual speed between all gears and at all points in the rev band, they will not end up with smooth shifts. Unless of course they compensate with clutch slip.

Just my .02 but of course everyone has their own driving style!
 

euroadb

Go Kart Champion
Location
central NJ
Can anyone say if a lightweight flywheel has made the 1>2 shift quicker and smoother? Since there's such a huge difference in gear ratio, having it rev down quicker should help out with this, right? Accelerating from a stop is the worst thing about this car and if a lightweight flywheel will help speed up this shift I'm all for it.
 

Reggie Enchilada

Autocross Newbie
Location
nowhere
Car(s)
yes
Can anyone say if a lightweight flywheel has made the 1>2 shift quicker and smoother? Since there's such a huge difference in gear ratio, having it rev down quicker should help out with this, right? Accelerating from a stop is the worst thing about this car and if a lightweight flywheel will help speed up this shift I'm all for it.

It definitely makes a difference. Another thing to try is the throttle mod coding: http://www.golfmk7.com/forums/showthread.php?t=32578&highlight=direct
 
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