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Ok, Ive been wondering this for a while and im not sure if I've asked it here before. I know that when I finally get on the road I'm going to be having the woofers bumping and ive been told to listen to the engine to know when to shift, so naturually, theres a problem here. With experience, is it just instinct to know when to shift?

Looking down at the tach works. But in all honesty, you should be able to feel the revs, either through the wheel, the shifter, your feet on the floor. A good driver should be able to feel it as well, but if your driving that hard, you should be concentrating more on the car than your music, ie: turn down the music.

i always got my music blasting but i can kinda tell how fast im going and know roughly around what rpms im at

I learned to drive stick in a car without a tach, so I never look at my gauge pod. In fact, i've turned the dimmer all the way off, so at night i can barely even see my pod. When you've been driving your car long enough you should know exactly how fast your going and how high your reving just from feel alone.

thanks a lot.

ahah my buddy's piece of crap neon doesnt even have a tachometer

ahah my buddy's piece of crap neon doesnt even have a tachometer

Just get out there and drive. After a while everything becomes second nature.

Yea, as of now im waiting for my g2 which I'll get at the end of winter which is a nice present.. winter is over and I get to drive! I had a civic that I practiced manual trans on.. hardest part was accellerating from a stop. I would either put too much gas to it and just rev the f--- outta the engine or not put enough while letting off the clutch and stall. Can't wait till the end of winter... bah!

I learned stick on a 85 nissan pickup 4cyl which was off 2 cogs on the timing. You wanna talk about tough love learning? haha!

Shifting techniques is also dependant on your driving styles. If you're hard on the accelerator, you can get away with poor shifting easier. If you're soft on the accelerator and you practice poor shifting and don't know how to handle your clutch, expect to go ker-clunk, ker-clunk, ker-clunk, ker-clunk
It really does become second nature... You really can't describe when and how to shift, or it'd become, "put 3lbs of pressure at a rate of 3/4 inch/second for 4 seconds while simultaneously...."

You know, on second hand, maybe you can give an explanation that way :S

listen to the engine, thats what I do. It substitutes music for me

lol, thanks guys.

It has taken me over 15 years to get the nerve to try stick again. I am glad someone asked this question. So far though the MX-3 is good to beginner's. I drove my Dad's old '69 Camaro that is 4 speed way back when and it's a beast to beginners. Fun to drive cause of the big 454 in it but tough to learn stick on. Good luck in mastering the skill...

the mx3 is so easier than other stick cars to drive, because of the short gears, you can be in 5th doing 25 miles per hour.. my other car when i was in 5th at 25 moh would probably die out on me. You can start off second gear with the mx3 without dying