[daveinsa]

It's been a while (1990) since I had a stick. A couple of newbie Q's:

1. When parked, put it in neutral or first before you turn it off?

2. Is 3k rpm a good shift point on this engine/tranny?

3. How do you handle heavy traffic at a crawl?

I know they are crazy Q's, but this ride is precious to me and I want to do the right thing. The last one I had was a 1990 GLC

Dave

 

[JMVorbeck]

It's been a while (1990) since I had a stick. A couple of newbie Q's:

1. When parked, put it in neutral or first before you turn it off?

2. Is 3k rpm a good shift point on this engine/tranny?

3. How do you handle heavy traffic at a crawl?

I know they are crazy Q's, but this ride is precious to me and I want to do the right thing. The last one I had was a 1990 GLC

Dave

1. Doesnt matter if you use the parking break, which is what you should be doing.

2. From 1st to 2nd it is if you want to avoid that STUPID skip shift!!!! With as much torque as this monster has, in slow city traffic i dont bring it past 2k. Soccer mom in front of me doesnt move fast enough for anything else. But, when I want to be reminded why I paid for this car, 6K does it wonderfully.
(With gas being what it is, I usually have it all the way to 6th after 45 when driving to work)

3. Simply by having a larger left leg, than my right . I have found that keeping your distance from the guy in front of you and just idling along in first or second will reduce the traffic clutch hell.

 

[daveinsa]

Thanks.

Yea, the parking break is always on when parked. That's a given. I just don't know what better. Keep it in first with it on or neutral.

When I can, I get it up toward 5k, but with the CD player blaring, sometimes I'm just looking at the rpm's.

Thanks

Dave

 

[linux_fan]

Keep in mind this is just what I do, it doesn't mean it's the right way:

1 - I always use the handbrake, and put the car in 1st when on a hill.
2 - When driving sedately, I shift around 2,500rpm. When driving for fun, I shift around 4,000rpm. When I want to run the car, I shift about 500rpm below redline.
3 - Ahh, yes, the Friday afternoon rush hour b******t. I see this a lot in Columbus, OH where I work. It depends on how pissed off the guy behind gets when I let the car in front me get about 7 carlengths ahead before I put my car in 1st and drive real slow to catch up, then back to neutral. Most drivers these days have never seen a MT and have no idea how it works, so they get mad when I do this. In that case, I make the car look like an AT and only partially engage the clutch in 1st and drive along at 2mph, occasionally stopping. I have the car at around 800rpm for this (just barely more than idle).

 

[Braman'sGTO]

for traffic you dont even have to use the gas pedal, the LS2 has enough torque to take the car all the way to 5 gear and abut 20mph with out ever using the gas. At idle in 4th you can do about 18mph, that is generaly how I drive through parking lots and up my drive way.

 

[asteng88]

1. When its parked, leave it in gear (if the handbrake fails then you won't roll down a hill)

2. There is a good thread about shifting at higher revs for fuel economy - do a search on the forum for it. It was pretty good.

3. Put it into gear and leave it roll at idle speeds, no need to touch the accellerator. Also you will probably not tire out your left leg pushing in the clutch all the time.

Happy Driving your new GTO

 

[mumrah]

I agree with using the parking brake and backing it up by leaving in gear but you should turn your car off in neutral engage the parking brake then put into gear as a precaution. This ensures that parts aren't under any load while parked.

 

[gameover]

:agree :cheers on your new goat!

 

[TexasRealtor]

Alway leave a manual in reverse. If parked on a hill, it will put a strain on that gear. The logic being that you use reverse the least and can always drive it if that gear went out.

 

[triumph66]

ALWAYS put the gear into reverse before turning the car off and disengaging the clutch especially with a rear wheel drive car. It should state this in the owner's manual actually. I remember that piece of advice being in my 2002 Z28 manual.

NEVER set your parking brake after hard driving as you will run the risk of warping your rotors.

Another good thing to remember with a rear wheel drive car is that it makes it much more difficult for your car to be rigged to be towed if you reverse into parking spots; which would also help with the always leaving it in reverse when you turn off the car.

 

[daveinsa]

That's the first time I heard of putting it in reverse when parked. Makes sense on the least used gear concept though.

Seems to be few Texans on the site. It would be interesting to get a group together for a couple of hours over a couple libations some time.

Dave

 

[muohio]

NEVER set your parking brake after hard driving as you will run the risk of warping your rotors.

How will setting a parking brake warp the rear rotors?

 

[bemeyer]

I never leave mine in neutral as I don't rely on any parking brake. I've had my cars roll down my driveway when doing this, like when I pull out and realize I forgot something and run inside with the car running in neutral.

I don't think the loading on any gear while parked is even a fraction of what that gear sees under full throttle. Did it for nine years with my last car and never had a problem. The average parking spot has no considerable grade, and if one does then you'd better not rely solely on your e-brake.

 

[C5ORGTO]

Don't rely on the parking brake on a hill. I stopped at my house once and left the engine running in my Vette. Set the ebrake stepped out to get my golf clubs. 5 seconds after I got out it started to roll down the driveway. I jumped in the car, but it was on the passenger side and I couldn't reach the brake. Me and my car rolled down the driveway across the street into the neighbors yard. It wasn't pretty, but at least I didn't hit anything. Now I shut it off and put it in gear, if I have to stop at home.

 

[NoBMWforME]

Here's one for you:

I used to live in San Francisco where I owned an early model Audi Quattro. One of the first pieces of advice I got from my mechanic was to leave the car in neutral when parallel parking in the city. This way when someone is parking in the spot in front or behind you and they ram your car in an attempt to make the space bigger, they do not take out your transmission. I always turned my wheels against the curb to keep the car from rolling down the hill along with the parking brake.

 

[zog]

I read somewhere about shifting higher is actually a little better on your gas mileage, less strain on the engine parts/synchros too. I have no information to back these up, just stuff I've read other places.

 

[Kats1stGTO]

Alway leave a manual in reverse. If parked on a hill, it will put a strain on that gear. The logic being that you use reverse the least and can always drive it if that gear went out.

I have read the manual (geek) and checked the service manuals (double geek, only because I'm trying to learn as much about my car as possible) and it states to put the car in reverse before disengaging clutch and turning off car. I agree with TexasRealtor with the logic, makes so much sense. Thanks for the teaching!