When to change gear??

coffeelover

Hi.
My driving instructor told me that everytime the rev metre goes to about 2 you should change gear but I don't have a rev metre in my car so at what km are you supposed to change gear?

W.Shakes-Beer

You just do it really by feel. There's no place where you "have to" change.

Ideally you dont want to rev the car too high but you don't want it to start bucking from not having enough revs.

Just practice OP and you'll get a feel for it.

slinky2000

there is no right and wrong answer. You change gear when you need to depending on your driving style at that moment.

As a rule of thumb learn to listen to your engine and never let it seem like it's overexerting itself by reving too high.

After a few days you'll get the hang of it. Many of us have passed our tests with no rev meter.

mickdw

Wait til the engine is jumping out through the bonnet and then change!

You are obviously a new driver. Play around with it. When you change to the next gear, the car should cleanly drive on without jerking/jumping. If it does this, it is all good.

sierrasapphire

just as it hits the resticter. :P

Vicxas

The rule of thumb is before the engine starts to scream at you and before it looks like the car is bucking.

cml387

Mrs CML was told about this rev counter nonsense as well when she was learning.
Watch the road and listen to the engine.It'll tell you when you need to change gear.

si_guru

Further proof that all new drivers should spend 1 year on a 50cc 2-stroke FS1E to learn how to drive....

..and stay alive.

coffeelover

Ya I know when to change it by listening to the engine but I was confused by this 'change when the rev metre hits 2' :rolleyes:.. Thanks for the replies

Compton

he means when the meter hits 2000 rpm.. which is wrong anyway i think its should be 2.5k at least.

no1beemerfan

When driving your own car, around 2500 rpm. When driving other's cars......when the needle hits the red line :pac:

AugustusMinimus

As others have said, you just get a feel of when to change gear.

My best advice to you is to get out of 1st gear fast enough. 2nd gear is good for anything over 10mph or so.


The rev guide also depends on what car you are driving. 2,000 rpm seems too low for a petrol engine.

Max Power1

shblob wrote: »

he means when the meter hits 2000 rpm.. which is wrong anyway i think its should be 2.5k at least.

not in a diesel it isnt

KTRIC

2000 rpm !! Jaysus , glad I don't drive a car then.

Mint Sauce

no1beemerfan wrote: »

When driving your own car, around 2500 rpm. When driving other's cars......when the needle hits the red line :pac:

You mean drive its like you hired it?



I rarley look at the rev metre when I'm changing gear OP, you'll know your self once you are driving by how the car feels and is responding.

Nissan doctor

I'd actually question the teaching ability of an instructer telling people to change at a certain RPM.

When to change gear depends 100% on the driving situation you are in at that moment.

SV

I suggest in or around the 7500 mark.

Alanstrainor

Moved to Learning to Drive

Nissan doctor wrote: »

I'd actually question the teaching ability of an instructer telling people to change at a certain RPM.

When to change gear depends 100% on the driving situation you are in at that moment.

And +1, the rpm you will need to change gear at will vary depending on the situation.

Perhaps the OPs instructor just says this to give an idea to someone new to driving. Even still I would consider it poor instruction to be honest.

dr.fuzzenstein

coffeelover wrote: »

Hi.
My driving instructor told me that everytime the rev metre goes to about 2 you should change gear but I don't have a rev metre in my car so at what km are you supposed to change gear?

2K? Is your driving instructor an 85 year old truck driver by any chance?
Even in my diesel i rev higher than that.
On a slow cruising day I might change at just over 2k, when I'm in a mad rush and I need to cut through traffic, maybe 3k, when I'm overtaking and it gets squeezed, redline.
You should be shifting gear as the situation demands, also, no worries about a rev counter. my first 3-4 cars never had one either.
You could look into retrofitting one maybe?

starlit

Once you start hearing the engine roaring or revving that's when you should go up a gear, suit it to your speed too like 10km for 1st gear when moving off, 2nd gear at 20km onwards, 3rd gear at 30km onwards and 4th gear at 40km to 59km you should probably get between 50km-60km onwards once you get to 5th gear or higher if you have it with your gearbox.

When you are slowing down that's when you should change down or drop down a gear like from 3rd to 2nd or 4th to 2nd maybe. You should change down your gear if taking a sharp bend and braking a bit, you should change down a gear when you are taking a turn preferably at 2nd gear, changing down a gear just before stopping or stopping at a junction you should have got down to 2nd gear by then, clutch and brake control is important here, handbrake up, get into neutral, when you are ready to go, get back to 1st gear and get ready to move then.

When getting to reverse gear, no need to put too much gas a little bit of acceleration to get the car moving is enough maybe be under 5km be about enough, do so slowly and be ready the brake just in case, and be ready to use your clutch, turn wheel if necessary depending on direction you are reversing/backing/turning, and get into to 1st gear as soon as possible without stalling! Straight into 2nd gear once you have moved off. 2nd gear is the gear that gets the car actually driving.

Good luck OP

antodeco

What's the car OP?

Most of my gear changes are done about 4k. In my mini I change at about 7k

**Timbuk2**

You'll get a feel for it, there's no need to look at the tachometer - my mother's car (which I learned in) doesn't have one so I just got used to going by the sounds of the engine.

However, change gears based on the revs of the engine and not necessarily the speed you are going at. I've heard people say they've been told to "change to 3rd at 30km/h, 4th at 40km/h, etc." but there is no right gear for a particular speed, it very much depends on other factors, such as steep hills, weight the car is carrying, how much you need to accelerate, etc.

Trust me, it will come with experience. Just spend time practicing driving, don't worry about looking at the tachometer, and in a few weeks the thought of not knowing when to change gear will be laughable.

Having said that, changing down the gears (e.g. going from 4th to 2nd before a turn) is harder to get right, as the engine doesn't make noticeable noises as it does while going up the gears. Speed comes more into play while going down the gears - if you change to 2nd while going too fast, you may notice the engine rev up slightly and the car slowing down. To make downchanges more smooth, you can bring a bit of accelerator into play - while changing down, just before you take the clutch back up, press on the accelerator pedal slightly to rev the engine - the revs of engine increase to roughly match the speed of the car, and you will get a smoother downchange (and therefore you can accelerate around the corner, or whatever the necessary manouevre is) - this isn't necessary for your test though, and it's possible to smoothly change down without having to do this, but this helps!

Midnight_EG

**Timbuk2** wrote: »

Having said that, changing down the gears (e.g. going from 4th to 2nd before a turn) is harder to get right, as the engine doesn't make noticeable noises as it does while going up the gears. Speed comes more into play while going down the gears - if you change to 2nd while going too fast, you may notice the engine rev up slightly and the car slowing down. To make downchanges more smooth, you can bring a bit of accelerator into play - while changing down, just before you take the clutch back up, press on the accelerator pedal slightly to rev the engine - the revs of engine increase to roughly match the speed of the car, and you will get a smoother downchange (and therefore you can accelerate around the corner, or whatever the necessary manouevre is) - this isn't necessary for your test though, and it's possible to smoothly change down without having to do this, but this helps!

4th to 3rd at 4k revs FTW, then 3rd to 2nd at 3.5k revs FTW!

johnmcdnl

Midnight_EG wrote: »

4th to 3rd at 4k revs FTW, then 3rd to 2nd at 3.5k revs FTW!

I love all you petrol heads with your huge rev numbers

I'm learning to drive in a 1.9 TDi Golf and I doubt I ever pass 2000 revs ever unless I'm in 5th on a main road and banging it on even then I'd hardly ever pass 2.2 I don't think but I never actually really looked tbh I'd actually love to just drop a gear or two once to see what the car even sounds like but I'd have the auld lad bash me head in for trying to be a boy racer or something if I ever tried it when he was in the car with me

for the OP as everyone else has said - just listen to the engine and you'll know yourself - the engine should never get really loud or start to stutter.. should always be a nice steady hum basically... after a wee bit of driving you'll know yourself and you'll never look at the revs on the clock... it'll become second nature to you....

if your worried about not having a rev meter for the hill starts don't be - just practice a bit with a decent amount of revs - better to over compensate a bit than under compensate but you'll figure it out as well... just going to take a bit of getting used to but you'll be a better driver for it... instead of trying to keep a needle at a certain number you'll be learning to do it instinctively which may take a "WEE" bit extra effort for you but when you have it you have it for good... instead of getting used to having it at 2000 and then having to learn to do with without looking... you'll have skipped a stage...

it's just like figuring out what speed your driving at without looking at the clock every 2 seconds... once you know what speed your at you'll not need to look at the speedometer everytime you enter a town or a 50kph limit or a 60kph limit... you'll just know yourself...

once you figure it out you have it for life and it won't matter what car your in... you'll just know

Midnight_EG

johnmcdnl wrote: »

I love all you petrol heads with your huge rev numbers

Those revs are only if I want to slow down and listen to the backpressure :pac:

If I'm dropping gears it's 4th to 3rd at 5.5k

challengemaster

johnmcdnl wrote: »

I love all you petrol heads with your huge rev numbers

I'm learning to drive in a 1.9 TDi Golf and I doubt I ever pass 2000 revs ever unless I'm in 5th on a main road and banging it on even then I'd hardly ever pass 2.2 I don't think but I never actually really looked tbh I'd actually love to just drop a gear or two once to see what the car even sounds like but I'd have the auld lad bash me head in for trying to be a boy racer or something if I ever tried it when he was in the car with me

Actually, just something to be aware of - Rev limiters tend not to work when downshifting, there's been many a time where people have missed a gear / gone into 1st instead of 3rd in a downshift and blown the engine, it'd be one to watch with a daysul, significantly lower rev limits and all, unlikely as it may be :P

Roaning

shblob wrote: »

he means when the meter hits 2000 rpm.. which is wrong anyway i think its should be 2.5k at least.

I heard that economically you are supposed to change at 1800rpm. Anything above that is wasting fuel in that gear.

Having said this it changes from car to car. I've driven a jeep where I had to rev to about 3000rpm just to change. It shuddered so much when I changed at 1800.

**Timbuk2**

Every car is different so it's not really wise to surgically analyse the tachometer, you will get a feel for it much easier by just listening to the sound of the engine. My dad's car has a tachometer ('05 Nissan Primera Petrol) and I just glanced at the tachometer to see roughly what revs I was changing it at when I drive it, and it's between 2,500 and 3,000, but some cars (especially diesel) might be much lower.

dr.fuzzenstein

Roaning wrote: »

I heard that economically you are supposed to change at 1800rpm. Anything above that is wasting fuel in that gear.

Having said this it changes from car to car. I've driven a jeep where I had to rev to about 3000rpm just to change. It shuddered so much when I changed at 1800.

1800?
That could drop you below 1000 rpm, you'd kangaroo down the street.

_Conrad_

Roaning wrote: »

I heard that economically you are supposed to change at 1800rpm. Anything above that is wasting fuel in that gear.

Having said this it changes from car to car. I've driven a jeep where I had to rev to about 3000rpm just to change. It shuddered so much when I changed at 1800.

That doesn't make much sense, you can't have a blanket rule like that for all vehicles. Various vehicles have different gearing, differnet engines and different ways in which they need to be driven, as you've just indicated for yourself by stating that you couldn't do that in the jeep.
In my car if i changed up a gear at 1800 rpm from 1st, 2nd or 3rd, maybe even 4th i'd end up at between 1000 and 1200 rpm and be completely off boost (turbo diesel) and have to drop a gear again to get moving properly.


Back to the original topic though, you just need to practice and get a feel for it, get to know how the car responds and how it sounds when you find a spot where it works well and you take off properly