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RPM literally means "revolutions per minute," but in more practical terms it is the speed at which the engine is spinning. Idle is usually around 800 rpm, and redline is generally around 6,500 rpm, although different makes and models will vary slightly. RPM will be shown on what is called a tachometer, which looks basically the same as the speedometer, but instead of saying 10 mph, 20 mph, 30 mph, etc, it will just say 1,000, 2,000, 3,000 etc (sometimes it only says 1, 2, 3, etc, and in these cases it will say "x 1000 rpm" somewhere in the middle of the tachometer). Some cars do not have tachometers for some reason, but if your car does have one, base your shifts on the tachometer, NOT the speedometer (at least, do this when your instructor isn't in the car). In my car I generally upshift at around 2,800 rpm, that way I'm not revving the crap out of my engine all the time, but I still have enough power to accelerate moderately.
Don't want to come across as a jerk, but by reading through some of the recent comments on here, I don't get the impression that your driving instructor really knows anything about how cars work. Shifting is mainly based on your car's gearing. 1st gear is pretty short in my car, so going much over about 15 mph in 1st means that my car's engine is revving like crazy. On the contrary, 1st gear in a manual 2015 Corvette Z51 reportedly tops out at 55 mph, and if you were to try to shift into 2nd at 10 mph, you'd literally just be at idle. Coasting isn't harmful for your car, and braking should be done by brakes only, NOT by downshifting. Downshifting saves very little brake wear, and does it at the expense of your clutch disk, which is much much much more difficult and expensive to replace than brake pads.
What exactly is the licensing process on your side of the pond? Am I correct in understanding that you own your own car? Are driving instructors mandatory? If you do own your car and instructors aren't mandatory (other than a final driving test or something like that), I would get with a friend who drives a manual and just let him or her teach me in a parking lot or on a back road. Do this until you feel comfortable enough to take whatever driving tests are required. Just make sure that you know the stupid "no coasting" rules and whatnot, so that you know what not to do during your actual test(s), then once you pass ignore anything nonsensical like that.
Oh no haha, I don’t own my own car and always use my instructors. Instructors aren’t mandatory but I unfortunately don’t have any family here so I need an instructor
Oh no haha, I don’t own my own car and always use my instructors. Instructors aren’t mandatory but I unfortunately don’t have any family here so I need an instructor
If there's any chance that your friend who you have mentioned a few times is willing to teach you, I would try working with him. Some people are better teachers than others, and some people might be good teachers but just don't click with everyone. My mom told me that when she was younger, she had several boyfriends try to teach her how to drive a manual, but they just weren't very good teachers. Then, one of her girlfriends tried teaching her, and it apparently clicked for her.
Driving tests/instructors sometimes have stupid rules like that. In North Carolina, which is where I live, I believe that the official state driver's handbook says that you have to downshift through each gear (shift from 6th to 5th, then 5th to 4th, then 4th to 3rd, etc) when coming to a stop, which needless to say is complete bull****. Just do whatever is required to pass the course. Once you have your license and don't have an instructor in the car telling you what to do, you can go back to shifting into neutral at a stop and whatever else helps make it easier for you to drive.
To be completely honest with you, I don't really care. If numbers on paper meant anything, I would have won my fantasy football league last year because I had the highest rated draft lol. I have a GTI with a six speed manual, and I can't shift as quickly as the optional DSG automatic can. But driving is boring as hell to me if the only thing I have to do is slap it into D and keep from crashing into something, and when I was carshopping a year ago, anything with an automatic was automatically removed from my list.
I have enough trouble keeping my car on the road without having to worry to shift. With 600+ HP it will break loose at even a 60mph roll. Never drove a stick in my life and have no plans to start now.
I have enough trouble keeping my car on the road without having to worry to shift. With 600+ HP it will break loose at even a 60mph roll. Never drove a stick in my life and have no plans to start now.
If you've never driven a stick you have no room to talk.
I said this in your previous thread, and I’ll say it again: you gotta figure it out. Driving stick isn’t about rules, it’s about feel. That comes from experience. Fence in what you need to pass, then go driving as much as you can afford. I can’t tell you any procedure for how to shift for or handle a turn, you just get to know it intimately. If I don’t have to stop, I’m in second gear usually, third if it’s a faster turn across opposing traffic. Push the clutch in when in doubt.
This is going so sound extremely dumb, but what is an RPM? the way my instructor has taught me to change gears is my looking at how fast I’m going. So usually he says that after 10 miles an hour I have to shift to second, after 23 to 3rd, and after 30 to 4th and yeah I haven’t really gone beyond fourth. But the thing about this RPM is that it keeps coming up in my theory test practice and I’m not sure what it even is and now you’re mentioning it as well and so have other people and I’m left wondering.
Maybe it is time to get a new instructor. Shifting by your speed is about the dumbest thing I've ever heard about driving a stick.
The thing about coasting is that my driving instructor intensely dislikes it, he says it makes the car go faster instead of slower and that it’s dangerous which is confusing to me because my fiend James tells me that coasting is a good thing when he tries to help me but then my instructor is like “no, he’s a complete idiot” so I’m confused
My suggestion - Find a new instructor.
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