Never know what gear to throw it in

[rml605]

Let's say im coming to a stop light and im slowing down and put it in N and then all of a sudden the light turns green, I never know what to do. Im always thinking, should I slip the clutch and put it in 1st? Should I slip the clutch and put it in 2nd? Or should I just engage the clutch fast and throw it in 2nd..

Any tips?

[Shadow]

Depends upon your speed at the time....also depends on how much power/acceleration you want right away. Lets say you're coasting in neutral at around 25 mph. If you really want to accelerate hard, choose 2nd gear. If you don't really want to accelerate much at all and you're just cruising, you can pop it into 5th gear. And of course you also have the option of choosing 3rd or 4th as well. In other words, there's no right or wrong choice. It's your decision to make.

[noob5,000,000]

^That. The knowledge comes with experience. You'll eventually have a mental "chart" for those situations, ie; I only slowed down a little bit, I can pop it in 4th, lightly accelerate then shift back into 5th. Or, I'm down to about 10 mph, I should put it in 2nd and accelerate.

[rml605]

Depends upon your speed at the time....also depends on how much power/acceleration you want right away. Lets say you're coasting in neutral at around 25 mph. If you really want to accelerate hard, choose 2nd gear. If you don't really want to accelerate much at all and you're just cruising, you can pop it into 5th gear. And of course you also have the option of choosing 3rd or 4th as well. In other words, there's no right or wrong choice. It's your decision to make.

I would have to rev match then, correct?

[Shadow]

Depends upon your speed at the time....also depends on how much power/acceleration you want right away. Lets say you're coasting in neutral at around 25 mph. If you really want to accelerate hard, choose 2nd gear. If you don't really want to accelerate much at all and you're just cruising, you can pop it into 5th gear. And of course you also have the option of choosing 3rd or 4th as well. In other words, there's no right or wrong choice. It's your decision to make.

I would have to rev match then, correct?

Any time you choose a gear in which the RPMs will be higher then they are at the time you're shifting, it's advisable to rev-match. So if you're just coasting along in neutral (and your engine is at, say, 800 RPM), then you should probably rev-match no matter which gear you choose. Of course your road speed and the gear you choose may vary, so it might just take a tiny blip of the throttle if you're going slow and you choose a high gear compared to the blip you'd need if you were going fast and chose a lower gear.

For the most part, you'll know which gear to choose as you gain more experience. You'll be able to make your choice without really even consciously thinking about it.

[AHTOXA]

Yup - too many variables there, OP: from the speed you're at when this happens to how fast you need to get going, as Shadow pointed out. Just do what you feel is right at this time and take mental notes. If you end up selecting 4th and it's too slow, try 3rd next time, etc. You'll figure it out and will get used to it over a short period of time.

[potownrob]

it's gonna depend on various things, as the others have pointed out, but i find a rule of thumb is to not shift into 1st gear unless you're either barely moving or going up a steep hill. another rule of thumb is to shift into 2nd if you're not moving anywhere quickly (~10-20mph?) and to 3rd if you're moving quicker but not as quick as you'd like to be going. again, there are many variables about your engine, gear ratios, steepness of the roads, the phase of the moon, etc. with time and practice, you'll get better at choosing the right gear to shift into (and how much gas to add) without having to think much (if at all) about it.

[SonicHKS]

Let's say im coming to a stop light and im slowing down and put it in N and then all of a sudden the light turns green, I never know what to do. Im always thinking, should I slip the clutch and put it in 1st? Should I slip the clutch and put it in 2nd? Or should I just engage the clutch fast and throw it in 2nd..

Any tips?

I'll tell you what my Dad told me when he taught me to drive stick.

You can take off in 2nd gear as long as the car's moving, unless it really lacks torque. So you shouldn't really need 1st, unless you get into a situation where you're coming to a stop or almost a complete stop and need to get moving again right away. If I notice that traffic's going to start moving I'll usually engine brake a little bit more to coast so I can just put it in 2nd or 3rd and keep going. If I have to come to a stop and start moving right away I'll go for 1st gear, however.

Beyond that its just memorization of speed ranges for each gear at low RPMs. For instance, in my Sonic if its moving less than 10 mph I'll usually go for 2nd, more than that I can use 3rd or 4th depending on how much load I'm about to put on the engine and how much acceleration I need.

Performance driving is another matter entirely....if you're going 25 mph and really want some speed, its good to rev-match into 2nd or 3rd and rev it out.

[watkins]

Let me throw a wrench of f*cm into the gears. Sometimes I'm really lazy and launch in third. From a stop.

Do whatever feels right. The more you drive, the more you will develop a better idea of what "right" is for any given situation

[Rope-Pusher]

Let me throw a wrench of f*cm into the gears. Sometimes I'm really lazy and launch in third. From a stop.

We're not mentioning "Lugging", right?

[Raymond_Tengen]

Op, As Shadow explained, it depends on the speed at which you're coming in. Personally, if the car is still moving, I usually just rev the engine a bit, put it in 2nd gear, bring the clutch to its friction point, and then drive normally by release the clutch smoothly. With experience, you'll know what gear to put into. Try to "feel" the speed you're driving and at which gear you're in. It'll become second nature soon~