Up shifting smoothly

[Vyse]

Ever since I went from driving a manual a few years back to then driving an auto my driving technique has become a bit suspect. I will freely admit my gear up shifts aren't always perfect. But during the journey home today I purposely changed my technique to suit my current car (the old technique worked quite wheel during my first stint at driving a manual).

Old technique: Depress clutch to the floor while removing my foot off the throttle completely in a smooth manner, change up the gear. Press the throttle gently while bringing the clutch up to the bite point. At this point my right foot stays in the same position and the clutch gets released completely. Within this technique my current car jerks quite a bit mostly going from 1st to 2nd.

New technique: Depress clutch to the floor while easing off the throttle slightly but never letting off completely, change up, then simultaneously let the clutch out while giving a little more throttle. Ive only started doing it today but it seems a bit smoother at least and the gears seem to slot in with more ease.


I'd like to ask what you guys do to make the changes going up smooth. Is my new technique right or wrong, will it damage the components more?

[Vyse]

If you let the revs drop too low when going up the gears will the not bog down and jerk when you reapply throttle?

[Vyse]

That does make a lot of sense. I only experienced jerkiness from 1st to 2nd and sometimes 2nd to 3rd. I guess its because the torque difference is the largest at the lower gears right?

jaf01uk said:

As explained previously changing gear from acceleration will always result in "noddy dogs" in passengers, the best way as described is to ease off the gas prior to changing gear so the car is just maintaining speed on a partial throttle, this is when you stick the clutch in but the important part (and counter intuitive bit) is to keep the gas pedal exactly where it is, once explained to me as "if you take your foot off you cut off the fuel supply to the engine thus when you go back on the gas you get a rush off fuel back in and that's what causes the jerk" By keeping your foot on the gas pedal at what will effectively be a "fast idle" you keep the fuel flowing and the rush of fuel back in is not noticeable. As also mentioned changing up the gears too quickly can "beat" the revs going into the next gear and result in the clutch coming up while the revs are too high for the next gear giving a surge as the clutch is released... happy motoring
Gary