I drive an 04 GT manual, so what I tell you might be slightly off.
1st gear should go up to close to 3000 RPMS before you shift to 2nd. When shifting to 2nd, don't release the clutch out too fast or you will get a jerking motion. In some ways, you almost have to treat going to 2nd gear a little special than any other higher gears and let the clutch out a tad slower. (I believe its due to the huge change in the gear ratios from 1st to 2nd)
2nd to 3rd and 3rd to 4th and 4th to 5th are quite easy and you can release the clutch out faster. (The gear ratios are a closer and tend the loss of RPMS is minimal in the change)
The real trick is mastering 1st gear to start. Shifting to 2nd gear requires you to let out the clutch faster than 1st, but not as fast as 2nd to 3rd or 3rd to 4th etc. Of course, don't hold clutch shifting into 2nd too long or you will wear out the clutch faster.
So my recap on shifting and having a smoother ride: (this is for a GT, Base models you will have to kind of find the powerband and confort zone).
1st gear - Find the friction, apply some gas. Let the car move about close to 10mph and let out the clutch completely.
2nd gear - When 3000 RPMS (or close to it), pop in the clutch and shift, release the clutch a little slower than changing to higher gears from 2nd, but not as slow as 1st gear. This part will take some practice to get use to.
3rd, 4th gear, 5th, gears you can shift them about 2500 RPMS and let the clutch out pretty fast, but don't do an instant dump or you will get a jerk.
At first, your left foot will get bigger and your back will hurt more in traffic. Right now, as a newbie manual driver, your concerned about stalling, correct shifting patterns, and quite tense of the whole situation. It will take about 2 weeks before most of the motions you do become automatic. About your 3rd week you should become confortable to the point that you can drive in traffic.
Most of the time you will be spending 1st gear and 2nd gear in traffic. 1st gear is more for those ~10 mph stop and gos. 2nd gear is more for those 10 to 20 mph stop and go. What I try to do is keep the RPMs around 1400 RPMS to stop the 2nd gear from getting the stutters (not good for the car to stutter around). IF your going too slow for 2nd gear and too fast for 1st, just pop in the clutch and shift to neutral and let the car coast a little to a stop OR if the cars ahead start moving and your still rolling, start from 2nd gear, but don't let the clutch out too fast or it will jerk.
So my recap in driving in traffic with 1st and 2nd gears:
1. 1st gear should be used for moving less than ~ 10mph.
2. 2nd gear around 10 to 20 mph.
3. If traffic is going too slow for 2nd gear (less than 1400 RPMS) and is about to stop. Pop in the clutch, shift to neutral and let it coast and brake to a stop.
4. If traffic looks like it was going to stop and you already poped in the clutch (car is still rolling), but traffic starts moving on you, shift to 2nd (or if your in 2nd, that's okay too.) and release the clutch out slowly. In some ways, its almost like starting from 1st gear and you have to find the friction point, move the car a little, and release the clutch.
In addition, you might want to spend a few hours on the weekends practicing on hills with no traffic around, so your not sweating bullets when the car rolls back when you release the brake.
I would suspect that the base models have to downshift to 3rd like GT models to get any real passing speed at 65mphs. GT's can pass cars on 4th gear, but its just rather slow. Most manaul cars use 3rd to pass cars on highways.
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