an Automatic user, making the switch to manual...

[masterrawad]

It is about time I started to grow up and use the manual shifter like a man.


I use automatic all the time when I'm racing. I use it because it is easy and less tricky than manual. some cars change gears when I don't want them to, but that was fine with me.

Until now.

On very rare occasions I try out the manual gearbox and it is fun, but I stick to automatic because I am afraid of mis-shifting and losing speed because of that. Only recently I have started to use the manual gearbox a lot and I practice shifting with it. I am now growing into the habit of using manual shift. However, I'm a bit shaky about it. I sometimes forget to shift an my car is hitting the rev limiter for a few seconds before I realize I'm in manual. I was to put the automatic behind me, sort of like a rehabilitation and race like a man.

How do you recommend I handle this?

 

[Schwartz]

Practice. Oh, and also practice. There is no shortcut. Just... Practice. Not a game, practice.

http://[domain blocked due to malware]/instances/400x/20349081.jpg

 

[masterrawad]

Practice. Oh, and also practice. There is no shortcut. Just... Practice. Not a game, practice.

how do I psych myself out of automatic? I am relatively good at shifting... I just keep forgetting to shift sometimes!

 

[IceMan PJN]

Practice. Oh, and also practice. There is no shortcut. Just... Practice. Not a game, practice.

This.

Just keep doing it until it becomes natural. I was thirty years old when I finally started manual shifting in video games and it took me some time to adjust, but I'm glad I did and will never go back to automatic. I made a real mess of it at first, but with practice and more practice I got good at it. I figured the best way to go about it was to try a relatively basic circuit that doesn't require a whole heap of driver input and work my way up from there.

 

[masterrawad]

This.

Just keep doing it until it becomes natural. I was thirty years old when I finally started manual shifting in video games and it took me some time to adjust, but I'm glad I did and will never go back to automatic. I made a real mess of it at first, but with practice and more practice I got good at it. I figured the best way to go about it was to try a relatively basic circuit that doesn't require a whole heap of driver input and work my way up from there.

I use la Sarthe as my training grounds. a few hills, a straight, two chicanes, and numerous turns.

 

[Turtle]

One thing you want to practice is using the engine noise to help you know when to shift. When I learned to do this I stuck with one car and just practiced shifting based on the noise of the engine by not looking at the RPM gauge. Other than that, just practice and stick with it, you will get completely used to it, it actually doesn't take too long and you'll never want to go back.

~Turtle

​

 

[Samus]

If you just want to get used to the absolute basics take a car to an oval track, Route X if you have it, and just practice shifting up and down without corners. So drive from a standstill and shift up through the gears and then brake in a straight line and shift down to a stop. Shifting up is the easy part, it's just about timing, shifting down at the right time and into the right gear is trickier. So just focus on the first part, timing it first. Listen to the engine as you downshift and you should be able to work out when it's time to shift down. Then accelerate up through the gears and repeat.

Then once you have the basics go to a track and try bringing corners in. Certainly start with a slower car because you won't need quick shifts and just as the others have said, practice.

As for which gear to shift down to there is an indicator in the game but it's not always right, so use that as a guide only. Again you need to listen to the revs in your engine to tell if you're in the right gear. If you're redlining as you corner, you're in too low a gear. If your revs are very low and it feels slow, you're in too high a gear.

Just keep lapping the same track in the same car over and over and soon you'll be upshifting without realising it and downshifting should also become second nature.

 

[karelpipa]

Just play the game without "Oh man, i have manual transmission..what i'll gonna do with that."
No fear, just listen to the revs of engine. It will come natural. (im manually shifting since my 8 - 10 years)

 

[Stonemonkey]

Practice, and make sure you can hear your engine over any music you have playing.

Don't know if anyone else is like this but I can't use manual when playing 2 player split screen as I get confused with the other players engine sound and in an online race recently I was close racing against a CTR I think which kept drowning out my own engine and messing me up.

 

[karelpipa]

Yeah, thats bad. Only solution is to memorize where is good to shift up and do it mechanically. Or watch the REV meter.

 

[Samus]

Practice, and make sure you can hear your engine over any music you have playing.

Don't know if anyone else is like this but I can't use manual when playing 2 player split screen as I get confused with the other players engine sound and in an online race recently I was close racing against a CTR I think which kept drowning out my own engine and messing me up.

I have a similar problem with the wind noise levels, on some cars at speed it's the only thing I can hear, not the engine note.

 

[hazellnut134]

Start with a slow car- I used my daihatsu cuore- and work your way up the pp range.

 

[fbccars924]

Even Zoro does it

 

[Skygrasper550]

Start with a slow car- I used my daihatsu cuore- and work your way up the pp range.

this one.

i use the engine noise to determine when I should shift gears. Drive the car in automatic first, then remember the engine note at which the car shifts up. That way, you won't have to look at the rev meter all the time. 👍 I've been using manual transmission ever since GT2. man did my smile reach across my whole face when proper shifting became second nature

 

[OK8]

Just like other have said, memorise the sound when the rev limiter is coming up and then just listen to it and shift. For corners, try to remember which gear for each corner is best, or try to remember how many times you should shift down for each corner ("this corner is two gears down, and the next one is one gear down").

You could also try turning the rev meter off completely and try shifting that way, so you'll learn to listen to it, and the suggested gear indicator might help as well.

 

[mathieub33]

I started to play manuel recently too, the most difficulting to me is to know in witch speed decrease into the corners to get the maximum speed after the corners.. don't really know how shift down.. in 2 nd, in 4th or in 5th...? how you know the best gear, dooing and doing the track again?

 

[OK8]

I started to play manuel recently too, the most difficulting to me is to know in witch speed decrease into the corners to get the maximum speed after the corners.. don't really know how shift down.. in 2 nd, in 4th or in 5th...? how you know the best gear, dooing and doing the track again?

The best gear is one where the revs don't drop too low so it's hard to control the car and accelerate out, but you shouldn't be shifting up in the middle of the corner or straight out of the corner either. If you can take the corner fast and then shift up maybe 1-2 seconds after the corner, you've got it right, if you hit the rev limiter or have to shift up while not completely out of the corner yet, you've shifted down too many gears.

 

[Tornado]

What I've always done, especially because this:

Don't know if anyone else is like this but I can't use manual when playing 2 player split screen as I get confused with the other players engine sound and in an online race recently I was close racing against a CTR I think which kept drowning out my own engine and messing me up.

I have a similar problem with the wind noise levels, on some cars at speed it's the only thing I can hear, not the engine note.

Is such a problem (though I admittedly have done it since GT2) is shift by speed. Find out what the car's fuel cutoff is, and shift at the speed nearest that that is divisible by 5. For example, if a car's 2nd gear ends at 97 MPH, shift at 95 or 90. That carries two benefits:

• It is relatively easy to remember/keep track of.
• It allows you to remember exactly what speed you need to drop below before you should consider downshifting, so you don't mis-shift.

Now, there are cars where this isn't the best strategy (things with no top-end, mostly), but as you master it you'll be able to adjust your shift points accordingly.

 

[GT911]

The best thing you could do to improve your lap times, you are going to see how you can go faster, and if you learn using the engine to brake you will be even faster, I did the switch from GT4 to GT5P and I enjoyed a lot the difference and the experience is greater...

 

[seanneedscar]

Best thing to do, is, do an endurance race in manual mode. the longer the better

I had my friend do the 9 hour tsukuba in manual. by the time he was done, he was shifting like a pro.

 

[UnionStrike]

Turn off music if you have any, you'll need to be listening to engine noise to shift properly, listen for when it redlines and remember the sound at that rpm range and shift when it reaches it. Nothing to it at all.

I have a similar problem with the wind noise levels, on some cars at speed it's the only thing I can hear, not the engine note.

Only a problem if you don't have a surround sound system I've found...

 

[Tornado]

It's definitely a problem with some cars regardless of your audio setup.

 

[igota33]

I found the easiest way to drive manual in GT5 is to change the button configuration so up/down gear is the right analog stick, it's like a mini sequential shifter. Bump it up to go up through the gears, bump down to down change. I can't remember the default layout but remember the gear shift buttons were awkward to get used to.

 

[masterrawad]

I found the easiest way to drive manual in GT5 is to change the button configuration so up/down gear is the right analog stick, it's like a mini sequential shifter. Bump it up to go up through the gears, bump down to down change. I can't remember the default layout but remember the gear shift buttons were awkward to get used to.

I use the square button as an upshift and the X button as a downshift.

UPDATE: it feels very comfortable now to switch manual gears! Is it me or am I going faster now since I switched to manual?

 

[Samus]

Only a problem if you don't have a surround sound system I've found...

Even if that's true that's not very good, is it? I imagine the majority of gamers use a stereo set up.

 

[risewithefallen]

Just play with manual transmission and it will become habitual after a couple hours/days

 

[HenkHuhnerknubl]

Hey guys,

I'm a little scared about telling you what made me use manual gearbox
.... FM4!

I have driven my real life cars with manual gearboxes for 20 years now,
so it is definetely habitual for me, but GT5 ... except for some special
events or races you're simply not in the need of manual shifting... so
why not sit back and relax and just use brake and throttle.

In Forza it's a different thing... it gives you additional credits for using manual
gearbox, NOT using ABS, NOT using ESP, NOT using the racing line etc.

So, greedy as I am, I had to LEARN driving to get maximum payout...
and YES... I am a lot faster, because I can use the full RPM range,
use enginebrake etc. and after 2 or 3 weeks it has grown as habitual
as driving my real car.... i'm also thinking of getting the extra shifter-kit
("H" and sequential) for my Fanatec wheel in addition to the flappy paddles...

Henk

 

[szczygiel]

Gran Turismo on manual gearbox... a new experience of real driving in real i drive 11years on manual.

 

[sumbrownkid]

Practice. Oh, and also practice. There is no shortcut. Just... Practice. Not a game, practice.

http://[domain blocked due to malware]/instances/400x/20349081.jpg

Man you just talkin practice...Practice.

In seriousness, this is the way to to go.

 

[elric718]

Just like real life, manual is fun and useful on normal drives when you don't have to shift every second.

I enjoy using it with normal cars in GT5, but if it is a racecar with a 7 speed transmission on a tight technical track, in a long race, then no.