How to never miss a shift at the track

I drag raced automatics for years and always heard the stick shift drivers complaining about how they would miss shifts when racing. It almost became an excuse for why they would lose to someone.

Now that I'm drag racing a manual, I didn't want to have to make the same excuses, nor did I want to have the .5 second (or more) penalty at the drag strip for not being able to get the car into gear.

I've missed a shift once in the time I've drag raced a 6 speed and it was because I did NOT follow the techniques above. I have never missed a shift using the techniques shown here and now you won't either.

[Mlgradar]

I wish I would’ve known this a week ago. I was racing and going to 4th gear, but instead of it going to 4th it went into 2nd and boom i have a bent valve. Good thing my warranty is covering it

[kawininji]

2:40 "you can't get into any other gear like this" watch me >.>

[WynterK]

This guy knows his stuff! I've never missed a gear in my life and I use the same method of which he's teaching. It's not just about banging gears it's all in the feel of the gearbox. The gearbox speaks to you the same way the steering wheel does for example. To this day I still don't understand how people miss second gear.

[muaz]

Basic Tips for Beginner ( Apply for right or left driver )

1 to 2 : left force + down force. feel it hit the left wall and slide in

2 to 3 : little up force to the natural and let the shift moving into the centre between 3 and 4, it will goes to the centre automatically.. and apply upward force again

3 to 4 : just down force

4 to 5 : a little upforce combine with right force ( feel it hit the right wall )

5 to 6 : depend on how the gear is made ( relation with reverse gear ) but, basically, just right force feel it hit the right wall, then slide it down..

those are the tips for beginner.. but by time u will realize it just slide natually..
but it good to have a tips like this as a guideline..

[Roadzery]

My instructor didn't know that, nor did he know what's the meaning of heel and toe downshifting, of course i told him all about it but it turned out to be a bad idea because i broke his bubble or something and he started doing dirty stuff with his pedals, trying to stall the car, messing up with my driving and what not... 22 y/o no license, driving better than everyone in my family, so next time somebody tells you that you need a license to be able to drive a car just tell them what my martial arts instructor told me "Doesn't matter the color of the belt, it's just there to hold your pants"

[bazza]

To be fair, this is exactly what you're taught in your first 2 driving lessons here in the UK. 

[davidhoffman]

4-5 doesn't really work that way if you pushing up because it wants to slip to 3rd

[genghiskhan]

This is how I taught myself to shift. Nobody said it to me, but after a couple 3-2s while learning I slowed down and took my time letting the springs find the center before finding the next gear myself.

[ChainsawChuck]

My most common mis-shift isn't from hands slipping off or going into the wrong gear, it's from getting way too jazzed up on adrenalin and letting off the clutch too early.

Beyond that, the only real problem I can see (other than that the 4-5 is going to require some side force) is that if you try to do the 2-3 too fast, and don't give the lever enough time to center itself, you could end up ramming it back into first instead.

[SVTCobre]

This helped alot as I'm currently still learning my 6speed Camaro. Thanks!

[ghost-carnage]

Ride gate 1st to 2nd, straight forward with 2nd-3rd, straight back 3rd-4th, 4th, to 5th aim your palm towards 5th and ride gate keeping pressure to the right you slide right in, 5th-6th ride gate, straight back.
Getting stiffer detent springs REALLY helps for those 2-3 shifts and 3-4 shifts.

[LRyan]

2:27 is the way how driving school teach in China.


Because every shift you have the same hand position, so you never screw up, especially some times you forgot which gear your in, (yes, it will happened).

Because the hand position is same, so you know what gear your in. 1st left up, 2nd left down, 3rd neutral up, 4th neutral down, 5th right up, 6th right down. it will never miss it. because your hand can feel left and right motion with out change the position. (Try hold your shifter like 2:27 and shift)

And also you can change gear in some situation with out change your hand position.

In your video, from 3rd to 4th, it will easily miss gear by pushing the shifter to the right ( g force change or some bad road condition.)

I think most important is practices, and try to limit extra hand movement.

[zapzap]

I watched this video before driving a stickshift. Now I’ve driven one daily for over a year. I’ve never missed a single gear and am shocked that people miss gears because this has made it so easy

[Pogostck]

This isn't about missing a shift, it's about how to get into some gears.

Everyone misses gears every now and then (depending on gearbox and shift time). It just happens. Live with it.

[FEGTTTSDH]

Excellent vid, I never miss a shift with this form... If you see "shifting fail" in youtube they always never use this metod

[jimthigpen]

Good job !  That will help those with any brains who can learn without criticism . Most of your critics probably live at home and don't own a car . Thanks for sharing !

[Sam_Sk]

At his could be very helpful for me when I get a manual car in the future!

[rayragnarok]

this is shifting 101. learned it the same way, however, on some cars going from 4th to 5th gear you actually have to "push" the stick out to the right and up, same for the 6th. With practice it becomes routine though. Driving the same car for 3 years i ve yet to miss a gear. sometimes i let go of the clutch too fast, but that rarely happens now.

[epicraptorman]

I've been driving manual for a little while now and I already do these. Good to know I'm doing it right.

[AngryLlamaAttack]

Man that gearbox sounds amazing.. So crisp and tight!!