Switching from Automatic to Manual – Tips/Advice:

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David Pickerill

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9
When I very first started playing GT4 I set the option for gear change to be automatic kind of lame but force of habit really as every driving game I’ve ever played I’ve always done this, any way a while ago a couple of people told me to switch to manual as it made the game lots better and also I want to start driving in real life so to help me get used to it I switched to manual.

I’m on about 26% completion and for the last hour of so of play I’ve switched to manual transmission and I’m really enjoying it but I wondered if you could give me some tips and advice.

1. Since switching from automatic I’ve managed to take a 1988 Volvo 240 GLT around the Nürburgring Nordschleife in 9`40.300 would you say that’s on OK time?
2. What’s the best time to change gear is it just before the rev counter hits the red line.

Any advice you can give me would be appreciated.
 
We have saved another one!!!
Listening to the engine works great for me,however on some cars listening does no good. And by that I mean to keep the cars in its power range. For example, taking a supercharged car all the way to the redline is not the best idea. Sure it sounds cool but your just losing power. Shift where the power ends

Not to sure about the ring time though, you could ask boogie man though:dunce:
 
I just decided one day to switch. A good way to practice is to drive the lisence tests in manual. That's how I learned and now when I drive in automatic on accident, it feels really wierd because I can't shift when I think I should. The best thing to do is practice.👍

As opendriver said, do not wait too long before shifting, I usually shift at the same RPM displayed after the horsepower. Like in the Focus ST 170, I shift at 7000 RPM, or when the needle reaches the 7, but seeing as I am not really good at manual, I'm not sure if that's good or not.

Edit: My dad just told me some good advice! Look at the power/torque chart, and right where the lines cross is a certain RPM that's very important. What you need to do to get about an equal balance of power and torque, is shift in a spot just a bit higher than that RPM. You want to make it so that your car starts accelerating right at that RPM. You kind of need to practice to find the ight shifting spot to match perfectly, so you memorize the sound and shift instinctively when you hear the pitch. But shifting doesn't need to be absolutely perfect, you can be off by at least 500 RPM every time you shift and still easily win the race. The difference is very slight.
Sorry if that made no sense, just shift a tiny bit higher than the RPM at where the lines cross, and you'll do fine.
 
Actually the best to place to shift a manual varies from car to car. It's a shame they don't have power graphs in GT3 & 4 like they did in the first 2 games. In GT4 there is a power graph up in the corner of your tuning page, but it is stationary (does not move) and in GT1 & 2 whenever you added or removed a part, it would show you specifically how that affected your power band.

In gT4, (unless i'm missing something) there is no power graph. The only place that the game displays both power & torque is in your garage...you click on your car and it will tell you: 81 hp@6,000 rpm 47.3 ft-lbs.@4,000. This is useful info because this tell you

1. Where your car's engine has the most twisting force (torque) and

2. Where your car's engine will be spinning the fastest in the least amount of time (horsepower).

Generally, torque is best used for acceleration...in effect, you should only use peak torque when you're starting off or when you're powering out of a corner. Pure peak torque can't be used as a guideline unless you're towing a motorboat, which would make a pretty boring videogame :D

Horsepower is what you go by (generally) once you're already moving in 2nd or 3rd gear, tho there are a few exceptions...hp is more important for racing, and generally you should be shifting gears manually just past your peak hp.

It really sucks there are no power graphs in GT4 because some cars still have useable horsepower beyond the peak, and the only way to observe this is to watch your car's speed. If it is visibly slowing past the peak hp, that's when you should be shifting gears. Some cars, however (the NSX comes to mind) can tolerate late shifting well into the redline-area.

To put it simply: torque is what gets you going, horsepower is what KEEPS you going.
 
I just converted recently to avoid switching between the two, mainly because of my involvement in the 300 MPH club, where manual transmission is critical for getting the maximum speed of your car.

I found it a bit challenging at first, but now I'm pretty fluent with it on the track. I think that starting with low powered cars first will help, as you can start familiarising yourself with the shifter, and training yourself to shift while braking, turning etc.
Only move on to the race cars when you feel quite comfortable with shifting the cogs on the 'road' cars. Being fluent with the shifts is critical when driving cars such as race cars & the FGT's, where you sometimes have to shift very quickly (as fast as half a second per shift).

Doing the liscense tests & missions, like someone said before, is also a good idea. When to change gears, well, I too am still not completely sure. I usually shift just as the Rev. light flicks on.

Hope this helps...👍

FormulaGT
 
MINICOOPER120
Look at the power/torque chart, and right where the lines cross is a certain RPM that's very important.
Click to expand...

Actually, if the power is given in horsepower and the torque in ft-lbs, and if the graphs have the same scale (1 HP is the same vertical distance as 1 ft-lb), the lines will always cross at 5252 RPM, on any car, any engine, anywhere. That's a factor of the choice of units, and by choosing different units, you can make the lines cross anywhere you want.

Torque by itself is useless -- power, which is defined (or measured) as torque multiplied by RPM, is key. A good example is electric motors -- electric motors typically have maximum torque at or near 0 RPM, but that doesn't mean that you should gear the motor to stand still. :)

If you want to use the HP graph to determine your shift points, basically you want to shift at the point where the HP in the new gear will be equal to the HP in the old gear. The shift point is basically a factor of the ratio between your current gear and your next gear. If you're in 4th gear at 1.0 and planning to shift to 5th gear at 0.8, your RPM will drop 20% when you shift. So you want to shift at the RPM value which is past the HP peak such that a 20% drop in RPM will shift you left on the power curve to the same power level. However, on a lot of small displacement or turbocharged cars, that point doesn't exist -- it's past the rev limiter -- in which case you should shift just before hitting the rev limiter.
 
Unless there's a huge gap between the power peak and the redline, you might as well shift at the redline. Sure, you aren't gaining much by exceeding the power peak, but when you shift, your engine will be at a lower RPM than before you shifted. Why shift at the power peak and possibly fall out of the power band when you can shift just beyond the power peak and stay inside the power band?

Of course, this all depends on the car and engine, but I think you'll find that most cars redline at just the right place to keep you within the powerband after a shift, without going too far...for example, engines with a lot of low-end grunt but poor high-end redline fairly low, like musclecar engines and diesels, while cam-happy four-cylinders and racing engines redline fairly high.

Manufacturers know that allowing the engine to rev too far beyond the power peak would just put useless wear and tear on the engine, but they also know that staying inside the powerband is important. Trust their decision to put the redline where it is, and use it.

Short answer -- shift right as the rev-limiter light comes on, but before the rev-limiter has a chance to kick in. It takes some practice, and some cars rev too quickly to avoid the rev-limiter, but that's the best way to go.

Down-shifting is simple in theory, but more difficult in execution -- just wait until your RPM has dropped to a point where downshifting won't cause you to hit the rev-limiter.

Oh, and GT4 doesn't really care about this, but for future reference in more-realistic sims and real life -- shifting mid-corner is generally a not-so-smart idea. In low-grip situations, or when you're at the limit of adhesion, the shock of letting out the clutch to complete a shift can cause the drive wheels to break loose.
 
Wolfe2x7
Oh, and GT4 doesn't really care about this, but for future reference in more-realistic sims and real life -- shifting mid-corner is generally a not-so-smart idea. In low-grip situations, or when you're at the limit of adhesion, the shock of letting out the clutch to complete a shift can cause the drive wheels to break loose.
Click to expand...

It's pretty much a non-issue in GT4, but in real life, rev matching your downshifts -- which sometimes involves using all three pedals at once (heel-toe technique) -- is a very useful skill to learn and practice.

The "shock of letting out the clutch" is avoidable with proper rev matching, although you still need to be careful any time that you get back into the throttle while turning; especially so after a downshift, because you'll be rolling back into the throttle right in the middle of the power band.
 
jbrennen
It's pretty much a non-issue in GT4, but in real life, rev matching your downshifts -- which sometimes involves using all three pedals at once (heel-toe technique) -- is a very useful skill to learn and practice.

The "shock of letting out the clutch" is avoidable with proper rev matching, although you still need to be careful any time that you get back into the throttle while turning; especially so after a downshift, because you'll be rolling back into the throttle right in the middle of the power band.
Click to expand...

Indeed, which is why I said that the shock of letting out the clutch can cause the drive wheels to break loose, not will.

By the way, what do you mean "pretty much" a non-issue -- GT4 doesn't even have a clutch button, and there's no way to control the throttle yourself between shifts. ;)
 
manual is the best no mater what because you can down shift earlier and extend your rpm range to the max and double clutch and is also easier when your drifting if you no what your doing.instead of top speed you should try drifting its alot more challenging then just holding the throttle and going fast you have to be able to controll you car as its completley sideways.
:) :) :) :) :
 
new drifter
manual is the best no mater what because you can down shift earlier and extend your rpm range to the max and double clutch...
Click to expand...

** Fast-and-the-Furious alert **

Unless, of course, you spend all of your time driving a semi truck...or a Ford Model T.
 
hehe, i once won a gold medal by 1/1000th of a second(i've also lost by 1/1000th of a second but thats a different story)! i was trying to beat my ghost on the last straight as it seemed we were going just as fast, but instead of changing gears i keeped redlining it and that put me ahead with a few thousanth of a sec. :sly:
now try that with automatic gears! :)
 
Wolfe2x7
** Fast-and-the-Furious alert **

Unless, of course, you spend all of your time driving a semi truck...or a Ford Model T.
Click to expand...


lol. he said, extend your RPM range?

lmbao. your RPM range is set when the car is put on a track. you cant magically change it be downshifting.

You can place yourself in a meaty part of your cars powerband.

I.e. if your particular vehicle has very good throttle response and power/torque from 4400 rpms-6400 rpms. shifting from 5th, down to 4th, and placing yourself in 5000 rpms, is a good idea.

lets not forget this is a game folks :)
 
double clutching is basically used if your tranny has no synchros (older cars, mainly, and ones w/ broken synchros), it does nothing to increase any factor in performance in more modern transmissions.
 
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