How do you guys avoid pissing people behind you off when shifting?

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LesPaulMan
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How do you guys avoid pissing people behind you off when shifting?

Post by LesPaulMan »

HI all,

When starting at a light with someone behind me, I piss off the guy/girl behind me half the time because I have to wait a solid 1 to 2 seconds before the engine rev would drop in between 1st gear and 2nd gear shift. Most modern US drivers don't seem to be expecting people to stop accelerating briefly during gear change since most cars are auto. Is the only solution to not wait for the rev to drop and let the clutch and drivetrain eat up some of the shift shock?
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Re: How do you guys avoid pissing people behind you off when shifting?

Post by tankinbeans »

I can't say as I have ever had that issue, but I do find it easier to shift smoothly when I wind it out in 1st. The revs seem to drop faster that way.

Cow will likely say to shift as soon as possible and do the bulk of your accelerating in 2nd (though the logistics for this don't quite compute).
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Re: How do you guys avoid pissing people behind you off when shifting?

Post by potownrob »

as tank/ghost of cow said, you can shift early, like by the time you get to 10 mph or so. this seems to help make the 1-2 shift easier. for rev-hang relief, you can also let off the gas sooner, before you clutch in for the shift. this has helped me and others deal with rev hang. if you have severe rev-hang, you will probably have to still play the waiting game. maybe there's an ECU flash that can eliminate or lessen the rev-hang??

edit: also don't forget to not worry much about what's behind you, unless it's a semi barrelling into you. it is (overall) up to the person behind you to maintain a space between them and you. you will learn to ignore them.
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Re: How do you guys avoid pissing people behind you off when shifting?

Post by theholycow »

Yep, depending on the vehicle I'm likely to just use 1st to get fast enough that I can quick-shift and dump the clutch in 2nd near idle. If I remember correctly from previous threads, the Versa's engine may not be optimal for that technique. What I've noticed to be pretty common among other manual drivers (not from this forum) is that they, overall (when you include the interruptions in acceleration), accelerate as fast as or faster than the other drivers around them, obviously in surges of much harder acceleration interrupted by those gear changes...a lot of them make a passenger feel like they're trying to race but in reality they're just keeping up with traffic flow.

One thing that helps is getting a head start, if I'm at the front. I watch the traffic and the lights and I'm ready when it turns green so I go immediately, while the driver behind me generally has a delayed reaction.

Don't forget that if someone is tailgating then it is their own damn fault for having to be irritated by your routine gear shifting. Someone following at a decent distance can continue smooth acceleration and let the gap eat up that slack, yo-yoing/pogoing/whatever you might want to call the repeated changes in gap between a smooth-accelerating vehicle and a surging/interrupting-accelerating vehicle.
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Re: How do you guys avoid pissing people behind you off when shifting?

Post by bobklobb »

Don't let it bother you, if they get that bent out of shape over somebody shifting (which if they ARE getting pissed they probably don't understand the concept of shifting) they can get over it. I have yet to have somebody look more than just confused when I shift, if they even pay enough attention to notice. If somebody was that close to me that they had a reason to get annoyed if I stop accelerating I'd probably start shifting even slower until they backed off or went around.
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Re: How do you guys avoid pissing people behind you off when shifting?

Post by Teamwork »

I know this isn't really feasible nor is it realistic all of the time but I will literally try and avoid being the first person in que for a light when possible. If I am the first person though I will watch the cross pattern for any type of cues that can be used whether if it's visible I can see the cross pattern turning red or a walking aid that's counting down the time to turn red. I'll start to jump the light and be ready before the light even turns green so I can get a head start.

In terms of bogging 1st to 2nd- great advice has really been given. I would either wind out 1st and accept a semi-jerky 1st to 2nd shift or quick shift out of 1st and wind out 2nd. I'm kind of past the point of caring about the situation in my rear view mirror but I will at least be quick enough out of the gates not to be a traffic nuisance. Anyone whose following you this closely is most likely going to lane switch before they get overly po'ed unless they have anger management issues I would think.
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Re: How do you guys avoid pissing people behind you off when shifting?

Post by Rope-Pusher »

I agree with Cowabunga Dude - watch for cross-traffic to stop, anticipate the change of the traffic signal, and start across the intersection when the light turns green. Tummy, it seems most drivers wait until they see the green signal before they begin to scope out the cross-traffic, so there is a delay before they actually start proceeding thru the intersection. This will give you enough of a separation from the car behind you that the lapse in acceleration as you shift from 1st to 2nd won't create an issue.
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LesPaulMan
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Re: How do you guys avoid pissing people behind you off when shifting?

Post by LesPaulMan »

Thanks, everyone!
I think part of the problem is also that I take a solid 2 seconds to do the see-saw in 1st when launching. If I am the first one at a light, is it worth it to rev the engine up to just underneath 2k for a quick start? Usually, I see-saw at near idle, which increases the chance of stalling (it had been a whole two weeks since I stalled in traffic, but doing that again this weekend really made me terrible) and dramatically slows me down.
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Re: How do you guys avoid pissing people behind you off when shifting?

Post by potownrob »

LesPaulMan wrote:Thanks, everyone!
I think part of the problem is also that I take a solid 2 seconds to do the see-saw in 1st when launching. If I am the first one at a light, is it worth it to rev the engine up to just underneath 2k for a quick start? Usually, I see-saw at near idle, which increases the chance of stalling (it had been a whole two weeks since I stalled in traffic, but doing that again this weekend really made me terrible) and dramatically slows me down.
you can launch at 2k if you need to, but i'd try to launch at 1500 rpms or lower. practice in a parking lot or on back roads if you have trouble launching at lower revs in traffic.
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Re: How do you guys avoid pissing people behind you off when shifting?

Post by Teamwork »

LesPaulMan wrote:Thanks, everyone!
I think part of the problem is also that I take a solid 2 seconds to do the see-saw in 1st when launching. If I am the first one at a light, is it worth it to rev the engine up to just underneath 2k for a quick start? Usually, I see-saw at near idle, which increases the chance of stalling (it had been a whole two weeks since I stalled in traffic, but doing that again this weekend really made me terrible) and dramatically slows me down.
I don't think the amount of revs is the issue at hand but it seems like your associating a higher amount revs as a "safety net" from stalling. Things that could really aid your pace is getting a "head start" with the methods we've stated above so you're fully prepared at the soonest possible point. It used to make me really anxious and worry me if I got caught off guard by a "sudden" green light- whether I wasn't paying attention or if the traffic order was off of sensors and went out of order. I would watch the cross pattern or any type of hints of when the light was going to change like a hawk. As I got more season'ed to launching at different points in 1st gear this didn't matter as much but in my first few months I had to rely on this because I was fairly slow and careful when launching in 1st.

STILL to this day though I will try (if possible) to get behind another car at a traffic light que. I find it easier 90% of the time to gauge my pace with someone else in front of me as long as they don't floor it off the line or actually can keep pace with there automatic vehicle (like they won't gas hard, and brake hard for limited ill logical reasons).
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Re: How do you guys avoid pissing people behind you off when shifting?

Post by bobklobb »

Teamwork wrote:I find it easier 90% of the time to gauge my pace with someone else in front of me as long as they don't floor it off the line or actually can keep pace with there automatic vehicle (like they won't gas hard, and brake hard for limited ill logical reasons).
Most drivers here are paying so little attention that 75% of the time I can launch before they even take their foot off the brake. What's more annoying is that almost all of them seem to want a speeding ticket, but they accelerate annoyingly slow getting to that speed. Yesterday the light changed out of order, I got in 1st and rolling before the SUV next to me noticed the light change and then 2 blocks later they go flying past me looking at me like I'M the one not paying attention.

Another forum I frequent had a post asking about how to deal with people getting pissed off behind you and a member there posted this, which I think is a rule to live by https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AjGXn249Fc0
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Re: How do you guys avoid pissing people behind you off when shifting?

Post by theholycow »

bobklobb wrote:What's more annoying is that almost all of them seem to want a speeding ticket, but they accelerate annoyingly slow getting to that speed.
Yes, this. They also come to a dead stop for even the slightest bump or curve. They're not actually trying to get there faster, they're just trying to fund insurance companies and ticket revenues, along with making sure that cops have a legitimate excuse to pull anyone over at any time (and then find an excuse to search the car, etc).
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Re: How do you guys avoid pissing people behind you off when shifting?

Post by LesPaulMan »

Mmmm. It seems like a lot of you are saying that I should try and get a head start on everyone by being more alert than everyone else. TBH, I have been doing this. I always fear people running the light T-Boning me though.
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Re: How do you guys avoid pissing people behind you off when shifting?

Post by theholycow »

Most of all, just skip worrying about the people behind you.

The head start is but one part of the summed whole...and you definitely mustn't do it when you can't see well enough to avoid a speeding cop/kid/drunk.
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Re: How do you guys avoid pissing people behind you off when shifting?

Post by tankinbeans »

I'm a proponent of the jab and shift, not worrying too much about smoothness. There are times when I turn and misjudge how fast somebody is going and I'll bean the smell out of it and think about smoothness when I'm out of the danger zone.
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