[sam william]

its been 6 weeks and i am still having trouble on down shifting the instructor told this week if i am not improve i well be down grade me to D licen which relay got me upset after all the hard ship and the money invested and the time it come to this is there any way that i can improve my down shifting up shifting is excellent according to him and most time when i down shift i go to the wrong gear and grind the gear . other thing he said i drive too slow for the traffic .
i am starting getting really cranky i don't know what to do
please help
thanks

[Lunker]

Downshifting is the hardest part for me too, so don't feel bad about it. Just remember, you have to speed the transmission up by accelerating with the transmission in neutral and the clutch out. Pay attention to what speed you're going and what gear you should be going into. I saw a tip here that helped greatly. If you're going 15mph 1 + 5 = 6th gear, 25mph 2+5 = 7th gear, 35mph 3+5 = 8th gear, 45mph 4 + 5 = 9th gear. This all dependent on how fast you're losing speed if going uphill. By the time you're in neutral, you may lose enough road speed to be going down 2 gears instead of 1.

[doug33]

Anyone who says they do not grind the gears is either lying or driving an automatic. Lunker just take your time and everything will be alright.

[Jackrabbit379]

Originally Posted by doug33

Anyone who says they do not grind the gears is either lying or driving an automatic. Lunker just take your time and everything will be alright.

I might scratch one every once in a while.

[marylandkw]

Originally Posted by sam william

other thing he said i drive too slow for the traffic

That made my skin crawl. YOU are a student. YOU are learning. HE/SHE/THEY should never say or do anything to get you to operate outside your comfort zone.

Bad things on the road happen really fast. IMHO, drive a bit slower, let the world pass you by. Once you get used too everything the speed will come. But don't let too much speed come, then you get a whole other set of problems.

[millersod215]

I can understand his concerns about your downshifting, if you're not downshifting correctly, or are not able to downshift at all, you pose a threat to the traffic around you. Downshifting is essential to getting yourself slowed down properly, i tried to train a guy a few weeks ago, and he had no idea at all how to downshift, and with all my mentoring, he still couldn't get it, i sure hope you're not in the same situation, and that you pick up on it quickly. There's really nothing tough about it, until you learn to hear the motor, look at your RPM's, it's as simple as that, as far as going for the wrong gear, i don't really understand that, just go backwards the same way you go forward through the gears, main thing is "take your time", and don't get so worked up when you miss a gear that you end up stopping in the middle of the road, i have a vague idea this is what your instructor might be hinting on when he says you're too slow for traffic, if you're so focused on missing your downshifts, you'll eventually end up doing things in traffic you don't even realize you're doing, Ex:driving, and opperating too slow in traffic :sad: Give it time, and listen to what your instructor has to say, and do your best to learn the little tricks that will make it easier for you.

[jnk2001]

Originally Posted by sam william

its been 6 weeks and i am still having trouble on down shifting the instructor told this week if i am not improve i well be down grade me to D licen which relay got me upset after all the hard ship and the money invested and the time it come to this is there any way that i can improve my down shifting up shifting is excellent according to him and most time when i down shift i go to the wrong gear and grind the gear . other thing he said i drive too slow for the traffic .
i am starting getting really cranky i don't know what to do
please help
thanks

you'll get it. In the mean time, grind a pound of round for me, will ya?.... :lol: :lol: :lol:

[serbie]

Originally Posted by millersod215

I can understand his concerns about your downshifting, if you're not downshifting correctly, or are not able to downshift at all, you pose a threat to the traffic around you. Downshifting is essential to getting yourself slowed down properly, i tried to train a guy a few weeks ago, and he had no idea at all how to downshift, and with all my mentoring, he still couldn't get it, i sure hope you're not in the same situation, and that you pick up on it quickly. There's really nothing tough about it, until you learn to hear the motor, look at your RPM's, it's as simple as that, as far as going for the wrong gear, i don't really understand that, just go backwards the same way you go forward through the gears, main thing is "take your time", and don't get so worked up when you miss a gear that you end up stopping in the middle of the road, i have a vague idea this is what your instructor might be hinting on when he says you're too slow for traffic, if you're so focused on missing your downshifts, you'll eventually end up doing things in traffic you don't even realize you're doing, Ex:driving, and opperating too slow in traffic :sad: Give it time, and listen to what your instructor has to say, and do your best to learn the little tricks that will make it easier for you.

Good advice. If possible, explain to your instructor what the issue is. See if they are willing to show you one more time, so you can see what is happening when it works.

[WorldPax]

The thing that helped me was realizing I had to control the throttle much more precisely than I do when downshifting my car. When you attempt to downshift, press the throttle gently until it hits the rpm you want and try to hold it there while pushing in the clutch and shifting into the lower gear.

Are you rushing the shift maybe? If so then give yourself more time to shift, ie slow down sooner.

Has your instructor given you any more feedback as to why he thinks your downshifts are not working out for you?

[sam william]

thanks to all of you and i well do my best Monday because tomorrow we will have about 1 foot of snow on the ground and heavy wind so no school
by the way the instructor is the best in town among many school 23 years exp. and great guy i really like him .
down shifting is going to be solve and i will be with the other team
i will keep you update once again thanks to all