Tips on Driving a Manual Z4

G

grdz4roadster

Member
 Chicago & Geneva, Illinois
I wanted some tips on how to drive a manual properly. This is my 2nd manual car, well actually the 1st. When I was in high school in the mid-80's, my sister drove a 1987 Toyota MR2 and I learned how to drive manual with that car and drove it on occassion. So, although I know how to drive a manual, I'd like some feed back as to what is the proper way to drive, shift, down shift, etc.

When driving my Z, I usually shift to the next gear at 3,000 rpms (or 1st to 2nd at 20 mph / 2nd to 3rd at 25 or 30 mph / 3rd to 4th at 35 or 40 mph / 4th to 5th at 45 mph / 5th to 6th at 50+ mph). When approaching a stop light, I'll sometimes down shift all the way down to the stop or I'll sometimes shift to neutral and then coast to a stop. What's the proper way, down shifting or shifting to neutral and coasting to a stop? Is it bad for the transmission to down shift? Also, when traveling on roads with speed limits of 30 to 45 mph, should I be shifting to 5th or 6th gear or should I be driving in the gear where the rpms are at 2,000 to 2,500 rpms?

Please help as I don't want to do any unnecessary harm to my Z. Thanks in advance for your advice!
 
Change gears when ever you feel like the engine is revving to much. 3000 rpm sounds about right, but can change from car to car depending on the type of engine.

Don't shift to neutral and coast to a stop. Down shift and use the gearbox to help you slow down. (think this is called the engine braking)

Drive at whatever rpm the engine feels comfortable with.
 
If you're going to downshift you should also get used to matching speeds by blipping the throttle in neutral during the shift. The synchros in the Z4 work well, but why make them work too hard? Once you're proficient at matching speeds you can get used to heel-toeing so you can do all this shifting while steadily braking.

When decelerating it doesn't hurt the engine to let the rpms drop to near idle with the car in a higher gear. The reason I'll sometimes avoid that and downshift instead isn't really to use engine braking (the brakes on the wheels work fine for that purpose), but to be ready to accelerate. Idling along at 1000rpm in 5th or 6th you're pretty much dead in the water until you downshift, whereas if you downshifted and are at 2500-3000rpm in 2nd one quick stab at the throttle and you can dart away from any hazard.

As far as upshift speeds are concerned it depends on driving conditions. If accelerating gently and trying to maximize economy then 3K rpm is an OK shift point. If being a bit more aggressive then somewhere in the mid 4's works well for me. The 3.0 si Z4's basically have 3 ranges (dictated by the 3-stage intake and the VANOS systems): Idle - 3200 rpm (economy), 3200-4500 rpm (moderate), 4500-7000 (max power). I only shift up in the 3rd region if I'm really getting on it (and the rate of fuel consumption increases precipitously).
 
It's strange how differently we drive - in Europe 'Stick Shifts' are the norm so we sort of grow up with them - Auto's tend to be at the 'High' end of Market. That said I do love Auto's - the Z'd has one of the best - Manual when you want to - Auto when not - and Sport lock Down in between, I rate it. Debate :evil: IMHO :roll: Biased as I have one :D
 
In the US, Auto tends to conjure memories of the big family sedan. Only little economy cars, high performance cars and some trucks come standard with manual. When we bought my wife's Subaru Forester we had to search high and low for a manual - and all the dealers looked at us like we were from Mars for wanting one. Different cultures I guess.

Every vehicle I've ever owned has come with a stick (and the trucks come with two).
 
if you want to economise on fuel consumption, instead of coasting to a stop in neutral, you should allow the car to coast to a stop while in gear, clutching in just before the stall point.

the reason for doing so is this: if you're in neutral, the ECU is injecting fuel to keep the engine spinning at idle. if you're in gear, the momentum of your car's forward movement keeps the wheels and hence the engine spinning, without the need for the ecu to inject fuel... so you're actually not using fuel for that period. there's some fancy name for this feature, i just can't recall it right now.
 
Gosh, so many different ways of shifting...for me shifting around the 3-3500K rpm is usually when I first crank letting things warm up. I don't let the car go beyond 55mph before the oil temp is warmed, then normal shifting around 45-5500 + everywhere else. Don't drive it like a granny too much though, if you bought the car worrying about mpg you're going to become bored trying to shift and get the best gas mileage you can out of it. It was born to be punished. As far as down shifting to a stop, that's what I usually do. Like Vachss said, I want to be ready to go when I need to and I'm one who could care less about saving a tablespoon of fuel. Regarding heel-toe shifting, that comes with a bit of driving and I wouldn't be concerned about that right now, of course that's just my opinion. Race car drivers do it to shift as quickly as possible, it's really neat to see. I learned to heel-toe a little when I was younger but because my legs are short and feet small, it's hard in a standard. Proper, true fast heel-toe can only be done with pedal and other mods. I still prefer to depress the clutch all the way.
Good luck, and don't rush. You'll find your comfort zone the more the drive it :wink:
 
grdz4roadster said:
When approaching a stop light, I'll sometimes down shift all the way down to the stop or I'll sometimes shift to neutral and then coast to a stop. What's the proper way, down shifting or shifting to neutral and coasting to a stop?
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If you're coming to a stop, there's no need to downshift. Just leave the car in gear, and shift to neutral before the car's almost at a stop and before the engine starts bogging. Don't coast to a stop in neutral if there's still some distance before you would stop because you'd just be wasting gas and you wouldn't be able to react quickly and accelerate in case of unexpectations. If you're slowing down for a corner but you won't be completely stopped, then downshift to the appropriate gear.

Is it bad for the transmission to down shift?
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It's not bad as long as you match the engine revs properly.

Also, when traveling on roads with speed limits of 30 to 45 mph, should I be shifting to 5th or 6th gear or should I be driving in the gear where the rpms are at 2,000 to 2,500 rpms?
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If I'm just cruising and relaxing, I'm usually in 4th gear or 5th gear going 45mph. In the Z4, you're okay driving in 6th gear going 45mph as long as you're not bogging the engine.
 
Current doctrine in the UK for learners is to remain in gear, then declutch as coming to a stop and select the required gear. I was taught to downshift through all the gears.

Once the fluids are warm, change up at 8000 rpm is my advice :D
 
BMW says to let the brakes do their job, which is to STOP the car. The gears are to make the car go faster.
 
So many different opinions! My friend today told me I downshift too much. Basically saying downshifting is for the track and spirited driving. Being that I'm not great at rev matching yet I think the man has a point.
 
This is one of those subjects whee everyone has an opinion and they're probably all correct for the way they like to drive, traffic and road conditions, speed, etc. Personally I suggest as long as the engine is spinning freely, neither too fast nor too slow and is in the correct gear BEFORE the next hazzard arises, and the change is smooth then you're doing just fine.

My objective driving a manual is to leave the passengers unaware it's a manual. Of course if you want to race around that gets a little harder.

I would suggest you get a driving instructor to give you a couple of 1 hour lessons in your car on varying road conditions to critique and then take a 1 day track experience. Should be a well invested few $'s and the latter a lot of fun...
 
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