Advice on Manual Transmission

[bAtesy]

Last night, I had a go at MT. I found it quite interesting and I think I might use it constantly. I have a few questions that I would like answering:

1. When you approach a corner, when do you change gear? When I brake, I tend to change gear at around 4000rpm (which is what I noticed the CPU doing.

2. How many of you use MT and what do you find beneficial from using it and not using?

Sorry if this has been posted before.

 

[Xtreme Drifter]

I think this question maybe already anwered somewhere, use search button if want to know more of this.

Anyway:

1: There isn't a "Standard" rpm to change gear, change your gear when you want, but don't let it bump in the redline. You may want to put the car in the redline, but let it bump in it.

2: Many of us use manual, I am one of them. You really start to understand the need of manual when you drift, because with some pratice, you can put the rpm where you want it, and use better the linear torque of a car, and give you more control. I think many people don't use it because it is a "little" boring at the beggining because you don't have that "sense" when shift up or "shift down", so many forget to "shift down" when approach a curve. I don't find disadvantages skip to manual, maybe in automatic you are able to concentrate better in the brake and in the line, but I don't think it could be, because I can brake and turn with the same perfomance in automatic and in manual.

 

[samj_13]

Welcome to GTP bAtesy!

Anyway, some advice as to downshifting, I seem to have a feel for the car when to downshift, and I use this technique (I don't know what it's called, but I'll call it the Late Technique.)

Let's say you're approaching a 90-degree right hander (like on Seattle Circuit afer the big straight with the hill) at 170 mph in 6th gear. I brake a little bit early, but downshift after my 6th gear RPMs have dropped dramatically, then I just shift continuously down to about 2nd or 3rd gear at about 70 mph. This way, I can keep the RPMs high up when I'm done braking, and power my way out of thee turn. Also remember that straight-line braking is always better than braking in corners.

I feel it's beneficial for complex courses because automatic is too slow in chicanes, tight hairpins, and on slower courses. It's too much shifiting, and manual makes everything easier (for me at least). Manual is better after you've gotten used to racing auto and are confident that you can use it on technical tracks.

Manual works better with high-powered fast cars too.

 

[Mr Deap]

The manual transmission in games like GT4 is just a reminder of speed for a corner. In real life, a car with manual transmission is lighter. If engine would be effective in one gear, I guess everyone will go with that, due that it is faster.

Corner can be taken at many different speed. But most corner tend to go around the same speed. The RPM is a more precise indication to be able to go through the corner as a faster speed.

N00b tend to shift down too much & rev to high in a corner believing the car goes faster in the corner. The best way to go around the corner is to see if you can use an higher gear so you won't have to suffer from the lag between the shifting when shifting up after the corner.

 

[bAtesy]

Thanks for the replies fellas. Without myself knowing (and before you even posted) I had thought about several points that you had brought up here, things like lower revs in corners, straight-line braking etc. I am not very good at GT4 and I'm trying to find ways to make it easier for me. If I knew a way of recording me racing, I'm sure you will all understand how crap I am lol.

Anyway, as I said, thanks for your replies, I've found MT is alot easier for me in the slower cars than it is in faster cars as I have alot more time to think about what I will attempt to do at corners, whereas in faster cars, I don't have enough time to judge the corner.

 

[Korndawg]

Yep, that's how it was for me too at first. Just keep practicing with the slower cars and eventually it will all become second nature to you, I don't even think about it anymore. And once you get better at it it will be just as easy to concentrate on your racing line as it would be with AT, even in the race cars. 👍

 

[WRXmaniaman]

And once you get better at it it will be just as easy to concentrate on your racing line as it would be with AT, even in the race cars. 👍

I totally agree with korndawg, practice makes absolute perfection when using MT. I dont even think about it when im driving!

-MM

 

[FC3Sleepah]

Yeap, now when I try to drive AT I find myself wanting to stay in a gear and tapping my shoulder buttons. =) I found it was clos to a 1 second different on cote d'azur for me.

 

[Fireball27]

Yea theres been many a time when i've been racing at Opera Paris and i'll find myself yelling at the screen "nooo what are you doing?!? why didn't you shift down into first!?!"

 

[bennyrrr]

I find that manual is very beneficial in rally racing due to having the ability to change gears to reduce or cause more tire spin. I can honestly say that with the manual I am faster around any track than driving an auto tranny.

 

[<_Spike_>]

Rallies is where I benefitted most too, especially the Licence tests in the S licence, in auto I could only just manage bronze, in manual I could get to within 10ths of the gold time

 

[darkdragoon7]

this is in regards to the first post ...
1. when you approach a corner, you should try to get the gear shifting work out of the way first and then take the turn, what I like to do is shift down during the Braking part like a Heel and Toe kinda thing

2.the benifits to using MT is that you have more control over your car than with the AT, EX: lets say theres an S turn corner comming up, and you already reving at the limit, the AT would shift up causing you to go faster in to the turn or it might mess up your line,(thats what i found when using AT) but the MT would allow you too CHOOSE when to shift for that turn making it easyer to control the car, plus I noticed while tuning some of my cars that they work alot better in MT than in AT because they have really wide gear ratios and take for ever to rev up, so i just shift it alittle early... I hope this helps

 

[CkDevil]

Rallies is where I benefitted most too, especially the Licence tests in the S licence, in auto I could only just manage bronze, in manual I could get to within 10ths of the gold time

I had the same problem, the one on Chamonix haha... with MT it was damn easy to get gold

But MT is the first 3 days a prik in the ass, I don't ride a car myself (I'm 17 and you need to be 18 in the Netherlands here) so it was a bit challenging first because I looked more at the torque display then the roud haha...

But practice does the trick, first keep driving with the same car for a moment because different cars have different rev's so it's getting used to it... and now I just have to listen to the engine and it all goes automatic... It is so much easier and faster in MT and much more fun , and MT is a must for drifting...

I also agree with the wheelspinning while drifting, with changing gears you can control it yourself

 

[iLex]

I've only recently changed to MT and I must say I love it, although it doesn't always bring me benefits in lap times yet (I've also managed to ruin a cars engine by bad shifting... )
It does give me a bigger kick, though. It increases the feeling of really driving the car. There's more control.
In time, I know I'll get better lap times too.