Manual gears

[mcmullan64]

Hi all
What a fantastic web site, I can see a lot of diehard fans here. I was just needing a bit of help in turning to manual gears I have used auto since gt1 so well overdue for a change. Is there already help for this? I don't race cars in real life so I don't know the right gear at speed. Any help would be great or being pointed in the right direction maybe to a tutorial, if one does not exist it would be a good subject, thanks.

 

[CBH]

Hi all
What a fantastic web site, I can see a lot of diehard fans here. I was just needing a bit of help in turning to manual gears I have used auto since gt1 so well overdue for a change. Is there already help for this? I don't race cars in real life so I don't know the right gear at speed. Any help would be great or being pointed in the right direction maybe to a tutorial, if one does not exist it would be a good subject, thanks.

You would find a lot of information here GT6 Tuning Forum And also welcome to

 

[JBranco]

it depends on the car, tuning, and transmission. i shift when the red light starts to flash, or a bit sooner than that.

 

[Im_Lukas]

I found that the best time to start adapting to using manual gears was when starting a new game, if you already have an account with progress maybe redo the beginner events and progress through the game again, I first started using manual on GT5 and by the time I was in the 2nd section of events I was comfortable with manual gears.

Learning the correct speeds to shift at in terms of being as fast as possible and keeping the car in the powerband should come later and with some experimentation, I usually take a car to Special Stage Route X and try shifting at different revs to work out when to shift but there's probably a better way I just don't know about. For a beginning I'd say just shift when the red light flashes and when you're comfortable with keeping the car in an appropriate gear for the corners.

Good luck changing to manual. It's definitely worthwhile to stick with it even if at first it is a struggle.

 

[JimbobMarley65]

Hi all
What a fantastic web site, I can see a lot of diehard fans here. I was just needing a bit of help in turning to manual gears I have used auto since gt1 so well overdue for a change. Is there already help for this? I don't race cars in real life so I don't know the right gear at speed. Any help would be great or being pointed in the right direction maybe to a tutorial, if one does not exist it would be a good subject, thanks.

I haven't been using manual gears for very long but the best advice I could give you is to choose a low to medium powered car, switch off BGM if you use it, take a test drive & listen to the engine (Yeah I know the sound sucks). It is tricky at first but it really is the best way to play. You will drop the wrong gear now and again but once you get the hang of it you won't go back.

 

[JBranco]

i've always used manual… since Toca Touring Cars, International Rally Championship, WRC and other… and when i try AT i just can't LOL
my friends that used AT, then tried MT, and they started to play better.

 

[haythem09]

Use suggested gear. After a while you'll probably memorize the track and car anyway. Obviously you might be driving on a variety of tracks and driving a variety of cars so this can just help you get the feel. In real life racers run loads of practise laps before the race anyway. You may want to practise before an online race starts but don't bother offline, just get a good pace and you'll win.

You can always use Free-Run if you find a car or track tricky and you can practise there too.

 

[Denilson]

Hi all
What a fantastic web site, I can see a lot of diehard fans here. I was just needing a bit of help in turning to manual gears I have used auto since gt1 so well overdue for a change. Is there already help for this? I don't race cars in real life so I don't know the right gear at speed. Any help would be great or being pointed in the right direction maybe to a tutorial, if one does not exist it would be a good subject, thanks.

When it comes to use a manual gearbox, it pretty much comes down to to keep the engine working where it is most powerful.

Scenario A:
Your car got a linear powerband from 4000 rpm to 6000 rpm. At 6000 rpm, the revlimiter kicks in (when the rev guage won't go higher and bounce towards, in this case, the 6000 rpm line).
At 4000 rpm, the engine put out 400 hp (revs * torque basically).
At 6000 rpm, the engine put out 600 hp.
If you keep the engine working from 4-6000 rpm, your "average" output over the range would be 500 hp.

Scenario B:
Now, take that same car, but instead of keeping the engine in the 4-6000 rpm range, you now keep it betwen 3-5000 rpm.

At 3000 rpm, the engine delivers 300 hp.
At 5000 rpm, the engine delivers 500 hp.
Thr average output in this case would be 400 hp.

Averaging 500 hp is obviously faster than averaging 400 hp.

What it all comes down to is to maximize the average output over the rev range allowed by each gear.

From a stand still.
1st gear: 0-50 km/h
Rev range: 0-6000 rpm
Average: 300 hp

2nd gear: 50-100 km/h
Rev range: 4000-6000 rpm
Average: 500 hp

3rd gear: 100-150 km/h
Rev range: 4250-6000 rpm
Average: 512,5 hp

4th gear: 150-200 km/h
Rev range: 4500-6000 rpm
Average: 525 hp

5th gear: 200-250 km/h
Rev range: 4750-6000 rpm
Average: 537,5 hp

6th gear: 250-300 km/h
Rev range: 5000-6000 rpm
Average: 550 hp


For each gear, you increase the average output because of how the gearbox is set up (tranny).

As speed increase, so does air resistance, hence why acceleration decrease even though average output increase as you go thru the gears.

Look at the power curve in the settings menu, write down the hp at 500 rpm intervalls.
Then take the car to track and note how many revs the needle drop from 1st to 2nd, 2nd to 3rd and so on.
Make sure you're clear of the minimum rpms the engine work at while stationary (road cars usually stay at ~7-800 rpm, race cars usually stay at 1-2000 rpm).

Then, you can draw a power curve (or just take a pic of the one in the settings menu), and place each gears rev range over that curve. And within the range for each gear, maximize the average output. Note your shifting point for each gear and then try to shift as close to that point as possible.

That's pretty much the basics.
You can ofc achieve even better acceleration thru tweaking the tranny, adjust downforce etc, but the golden rule is what I've stated a couple of times by now: maximize the engines output within the rev range allowed by the tranny.

After a while, you'll hear when to shift. No need to stare at the guages. 👍

Good luck!

 

[TobyV]

I used AT all the time before GT6 and MT (on DS3 and DFGT) has just become second nature for me recently.

For me generally, I rely on the engine sound and shifting evenly and accordingly to braking distance and amount—what I mean by this is I used to brake and then wait until I'm almost at the turn-in point before shifting down quickly to the required gear (e.g. from a high-speed straight (7th gear) to a slow-speed corner (2nd gear)). This meant I had to count the shifts, which meant I wasn't 100% focused on the driving.

But if you space out the shifting between gears (between the start of braking and turning into a corner), it will soon become second nature and you'll no longer need to count the shifts and look at the gear indicator.

And yes, it's a lot more enjoyable with MT.

Keep practising and you'll be fine.

 

[FussyFez]

@Denilson has convered some great stuff, I can't really add anything to that.

Except that, I have been using manual for years. I can't put it to proper use without bumper view. I can't see most of the instruments properly on alot of the interiors, so bumper cam gives me a consistent set of gauges to look at. This is still an issue for me, even with atleast 8 years on GT and 6 years in real life driving manuals

 

[Morgoth_666]

Learning manual can be difficult for some but is very rewarding. My posts tend to be long and perhaps tough to read but I hope I can help a little. Probably the most important thing at first is to be patient and pay attention to what you are doing and what is happening. Don't try to set records right away and you might start setting them before you start trying. If you stay with it until it "clicks" you'll surely begin having much more fun, even if it doesn't turn out to make you much faster.

Without knowing what specific problems you are having, I'll try to cover all the basics and assume you are shifting sequentially:

Just as several others did, I would suggest listening to the sound of the engine, and using the blinking shift light to shift up. Eventually you will learn to hear the sound naturally and won't need that light anymore. The ultimate goal is to find exactly when the best time to maximize acceleration is, and that may often not be right when the light flashes. But in most cars the light will be close enough, particularly when you are learning.


Shifting down is much trickier. You need to be sure you wait long enough that the engine won't over-rev beyond the limiter or it will severely hurt your deceleration. Even if you don't go that high the spike in engine braking may unsettle the car. Be sure to let the engine drop slightly lower than it does when you shift up. This is both to avoid over-revving and because the engine revs higher at a given speed with the throttle open than when it is closed.

A lot of people prefer to shift into each gear with the the engine revving fairly high, but this can cause problems with car stability and with running into that issue with the rev limit. Most of your deceleration comes from your brakes anyway(some believe there is no benefit at all to using the engine to help) so rely on the brakes at first and worry about trying to get things exactly the way you want once you are fully comfortable with what you are doing. Again, listen to the engine and learn how high it will jump up each time you shift down. Also, keep an eye out for bumps or hillcrests as these will complicate things so you might want to wait a little longer before downshifting.

When downshifting from high speed, you can usually shift down through the first few gears very quickly, but when you drop to low speed and start getting into third and second you will want to consciously wait a little bit longer because the lower gears tend to cover a much larger RPM range and because downshifting with the engine revving high becomes much more dangerous in those low gears -- much more so once you start to turn into the corner.

I would advise resisting the urge to downshift that one last time in many corners, too. Very often the time that can be gained by dropping into the gear you might want if the car is straight is not worth the risk from the instability it adds when turning. This is one of the main advantages driving with manual has over automatic. With the limits on the gearing you can use in GT, I find that in most-six speeds I only need second in the slowest of corners and virtually never need to use first. Even many five-speed cars have difficulty getting much benefit from first aside from a standing start. You always have the option to drop down a gear when the car is nice and settled if you find you are bogging down too much. It might cost some time but spinning always costs more.


One of the things that seems to often cause trouble is losing track of which gear you are in. Again, this is where listening to the sound of the engine comes in. Once you are attuned to the sound you shouldn't need to actually look at you gauges very much, and the act of shifting is very much a rhythm thing. It will take time, but as you get comfortable you won't often have to worry about which gear you are in because you will know if the engine is revving higher than you expect you are a gear lower, or if it is lower than normal you need to downshift.

Using the suggested gear indicator can help with this at first as it can be confusing when you are new, but if you are looking at that number and then looking at the number of what gear you are in you are spending all of that time not focusing on the road ahead. Also keep in mind that the suggested gear usually isn't actually suggesting the right gear. It usually warns you to slow down before you really want to and then tells you to shift down to a gear lower than you really want while assuming you'll take the corner slower than you really need to. As a rule I would just assume that you'll want to be a gear higher than it says, and just make note of those oddball corners where you do want the gear it tells you. Once things start to become a little bit natural for you I'd suggest turning it off entirely.

 

[mcmullan64]

Learning manual can be difficult for some but is very rewarding. My posts tend to be long and perhaps tough to read but I hope I can help a little. Probably the most important thing at first is to be patient and pay attention to what you are doing and what is happening. Don't try to set records right away and you might start setting them before you start trying. If you stay with it until it "clicks" you'll surely begin having much more fun, even if it doesn't turn out to make you much faster.

Without knowing what specific problems you are having, I'll try to cover all the basics and assume you are shifting sequentially:

Just as several others did, I would suggest listening to the sound of the engine, and using the blinking shift light to shift up. Eventually you will learn to hear the sound naturally and won't need that light anymore. The ultimate goal is to find exactly when the best time to maximize acceleration is, and that may often not be right when the light flashes. But in most cars the light will be close enough, particularly when you are learning.


Shifting down is much trickier. You need to be sure you wait long enough that the engine won't over-rev beyond the limiter or it will severely hurt your deceleration. Even if you don't go that high the spike in engine braking may unsettle the car. Be sure to let the engine drop slightly lower than it does when you shift up. This is both to avoid over-revving and because the engine revs higher at a given speed with the throttle open than when it is closed.

A lot of people prefer to shift into each gear with the the engine revving fairly high, but this can cause problems with car stability and with running into that issue with the rev limit. Most of your deceleration comes from your brakes anyway(some believe there is no benefit at all to using the engine to help) so rely on the brakes at first and worry about trying to get things exactly the way you want once you are fully comfortable with what you are doing. Again, listen to the engine and learn how high it will jump up each time you shift down. Also, keep an eye out for bumps or hillcrests as these will complicate things so you might want to wait a little longer before downshifting.

When downshifting from high speed, you can usually shift down through the first few gears very quickly, but when you drop to low speed and start getting into third and second you will want to consciously wait a little bit longer because the lower gears tend to cover a much larger RPM range and because downshifting with the engine revving high becomes much more dangerous in those low gears -- much more so once you start to turn into the corner.

I would advise resisting the urge to downshift that one last time in many corners, too. Very often the time that can be gained by dropping into the gear you might want if the car is straight is not worth the risk from the instability it adds when turning. This is one of the main advantages driving with manual has over automatic. With the limits on the gearing you can use in GT, I find that in most-six speeds I only need second in the slowest of corners and virtually never need to use first. Even many five-speed cars have difficulty getting much benefit from first aside from a standing start. You always have the option to drop down a gear when the car is nice and settled if you find you are bogging down too much. It might cost some time but spinning always costs more.


One of the things that seems to often cause trouble is losing track of which gear you are in. Again, this is where listening to the sound of the engine comes in. Once you are attuned to the sound you shouldn't need to actually look at you gauges very much, and the act of shifting is very much a rhythm thing. It will take time, but as you get comfortable you won't often have to worry about which gear you are in because you will know if the engine is revving higher than you expect you are a gear lower, or if it is lower than normal you need to downshift.

Using the suggested gear indicator can help with this at first as it can be confusing when you are new, but if you are looking at that number and then looking at the number of what gear you are in you are spending all of that time not focusing on the road ahead. Also keep in mind that the suggested gear usually isn't actually suggesting the right gear. It usually warns you to slow down before you really want to and then tells you to shift down to a gear lower than you really want while assuming you'll take the corner slower than you really need to. As a rule I would just assume that you'll want to be a gear higher than it says, and just make note of those oddball corners where you do want the gear it tells you. Once things start to become a little bit natural for you I'd suggest turning it off entirely.

Wow, totally overwhelmed with the help thanks, I will get on track and try these tips out. I will try auto then change to manual to see if I am faster, very excited, thanks again guys.

 

[FussyFez]

Wow, totally overwhelmed with the help thanks, I will get on track and try these tips out. I will try auto then change to manual to see if I am faster, very excited, thanks again guys.

Don't worry about being faster yet, just focus on getting to grips with changing, then look for speed after you have figured out what gear you want for each of the corners.

Good luck and have fun!

 

[SmileyOr]

Many helpful tips above. I may have missed a few, but one thing I use manual for, when I do, is to stay in a higher gear in the higher HP cars so I don't spin out as easily powering out of turns.

And for downshifting to transfer weight to the front for a little better turn in response instead of braking when you really don't have to slow too much going into a corner.

I still spend a lot of time in auto mode though just to focus on the tracks I don't know or cars I just can't find the tachometer in

Not all cars have a flashing yellow and red light to indicate when to shift. It can take years, or thousands of miles, to be able to hear the right rpm of a single engine to know when to shift.

You'll learn to "use the force" after you've done it enough. Just think about a sport you're good at and what it took to become as good as you are at it. You'll stop thinking about the mechanics of it and begin looking to the future plays.

 

[Brian Daniels]

Learning manual can be difficult for some but is very rewarding. My posts tend to be long and perhaps tough to read but I hope I can help a little. Probably the most important thing at first is to be patient and pay attention to what you are doing and what is happening. Don't try to set records right away and you might start setting them before you start trying. If you stay with it until it "clicks" you'll surely begin having much more fun, even if it doesn't turn out to make you much faster.

Without knowing what specific problems you are having, I'll try to cover all the basics and assume you are shifting sequentially:

Just as several others did, I would suggest listening to the sound of the engine, and using the blinking shift light to shift up. Eventually you will learn to hear the sound naturally and won't need that light anymore. The ultimate goal is to find exactly when the best time to maximize acceleration is, and that may often not be right when the light flashes. But in most cars the light will be close enough, particularly when you are learning.


Shifting down is much trickier. You need to be sure you wait long enough that the engine won't over-rev beyond the limiter or it will severely hurt your deceleration. Even if you don't go that high the spike in engine braking may unsettle the car. Be sure to let the engine drop slightly lower than it does when you shift up. This is both to avoid over-revving and because the engine revs higher at a given speed with the throttle open than when it is closed.

A lot of people prefer to shift into each gear with the the engine revving fairly high, but this can cause problems with car stability and with running into that issue with the rev limit. Most of your deceleration comes from your brakes anyway(some believe there is no benefit at all to using the engine to help) so rely on the brakes at first and worry about trying to get things exactly the way you want once you are fully comfortable with what you are doing. Again, listen to the engine and learn how high it will jump up each time you shift down. Also, keep an eye out for bumps or hillcrests as these will complicate things so you might want to wait a little longer before downshifting.

When downshifting from high speed, you can usually shift down through the first few gears very quickly, but when you drop to low speed and start getting into third and second you will want to consciously wait a little bit longer because the lower gears tend to cover a much larger RPM range and because downshifting with the engine revving high becomes much more dangerous in those low gears -- much more so once you start to turn into the corner.

I would advise resisting the urge to downshift that one last time in many corners, too. Very often the time that can be gained by dropping into the gear you might want if the car is straight is not worth the risk from the instability it adds when turning. This is one of the main advantages driving with manual has over automatic. With the limits on the gearing you can use in GT, I find that in most-six speeds I only need second in the slowest of corners and virtually never need to use first. Even many five-speed cars have difficulty getting much benefit from first aside from a standing start. You always have the option to drop down a gear when the car is nice and settled if you find you are bogging down too much. It might cost some time but spinning always costs more.


One of the things that seems to often cause trouble is losing track of which gear you are in. Again, this is where listening to the sound of the engine comes in. Once you are attuned to the sound you shouldn't need to actually look at you gauges very much, and the act of shifting is very much a rhythm thing. It will take time, but as you get comfortable you won't often have to worry about which gear you are in because you will know if the engine is revving higher than you expect you are a gear lower, or if it is lower than normal you need to downshift.

Using the suggested gear indicator can help with this at first as it can be confusing when you are new, but if you are looking at that number and then looking at the number of what gear you are in you are spending all of that time not focusing on the road ahead. Also keep in mind that the suggested gear usually isn't actually suggesting the right gear. It usually warns you to slow down before you really want to and then tells you to shift down to a gear lower than you really want while assuming you'll take the corner slower than you really need to. As a rule I would just assume that you'll want to be a gear higher than it says, and just make note of those oddball corners where you do want the gear it tells you. Once things start to become a little bit natural for you I'd suggest turning it off entirely.

Nice book you got here.

 

[Brian Daniels]

Me personally I just decided one day to hope on the MT recklessly which at first cause me the downshift early and drop back a few places in races but gradually I taught myself through experience instead of guides and strategies, I dunno worked for me. (I can't stand AT anymore, looking at you electric/hybrid cars).

 

[KOGSoldier]

Just got a DFGT and started using MT...it was tuff the first couple of races or laps even but I've gotten batter at it to have fun in the races including spinning out (no more driving aides either)

Bottom line more fun and more rewarding to use MT and wheel over ds3

Good luck with it buddy you will be going good soon enuff