Tips about Driving a Standard Neon
 

Hello,
Anyone got good tips about driving standard 5 spd neon or in fact any car, i heard from few that which shifting down from higher to lower say to stop at a light use gears instead of breaks, say i am at 60 and in 3rd gear i should not put it in neutral and brake to stop but should go to 2nd let go of clutch a bit than to 1st and let go of cluth and than to neutral. But some say it will kill the transmission , some say its illegal to drive /stop by just putting standard into netural and braking .


Its so confusing.

RE: Tips about Driving a Standard Neon
 

You should leave it in third until your RPMs are low, at which point you should be at a lower speed, then shift to neutral. That's called engine braking and it supplements your actual braking.
Downshifting is bad for your syncros. Have you ever noticed that at times it's hard to downshift, as if something is blocking it? That's because your syncros are out of "sync" and forcing it to a lower gear can and will wear them down faster, unless you have dual syncros per gear...chances are, you don't.
Yes, everyone does it. Does it mean that you should too? Nope. Don't get into bad driving habits early. Unless you're on a track where you need to downshift and you have a built tranny don't do it bro.

As for being illegal[>:] Ask for documentation on that because that's BS.
There aren't any laws on how an individual drives their car. Only laws on how and individual should act on the road.

RE: Tips about Driving a Standard Neon
 

first off, putting your car into 2nd at 60 mph is gonna start the damage right there...
second, you normally dont need to downshift in a neon because downshifting is to help slow the car without using the brakes as much, this is usually done with big trucks or when hauling sumthing...it doesnt take much for a neon to stop just using the brakes....the only time i downshift is when im bored or when i have to stop real fast when moving pretty quick, like if a deer runs out infront of you, or sumone pulls out in front of you....otherwise when regular driving, its more or less pointless on small cars....again unless your driving a semi or pulling a fifth-wheel, you really dont need to downshift at all

RE: Tips about Driving a Standard Neon
 

Oh man i think i gotta call SGI and inquire about this bull**** that some people told me. Maybe its illegal in vancouver but need to clarify, cause till now i never heard anyone telling me to go to 2nd and than 1 and than neutral cause it will be bad for my transmission.

So its perfectly good for the transmission and car to go to neutral from 5th gear without going to 4th ,3rd and 2nd and 1st and than neutral? by just using brakes, cause brakes seem to be good on neon.Too bad it aint abs :(.

And how to check for dual syncros per gear...chances are, you don't. ??

RE: Tips about Driving a Standard Neon
 

it sure as hell isnt illegal in canada.

All downshifting does in a neon is kill gas millage. Just use your brakes.

RE: Tips about Driving a Standard Neon
 

as p3 asked does going from 5th to N hurt the transmission? cause i do that on off ramps and i dont want to do it if it hurts my transmission or any other part of my drivetrian.

RE: Tips about Driving a Standard Neon
 

Your first statement is confusing...please use punctuation and take a breath.
Who is telling you to downshift like that? You don't need to be on the clutch that many times just to come to a stop. Most manual cars can't be put into 1st gear unless the engine RPMs are low and speed is below a certain mph anyway.

It's not bad to shift into neutral when coming to a stop. It's worse to downshift. You can also leave it in the current gear you're in and let the engine assist you in stopping just like motors do in automatics and then shift to neutral when you get close to your stop.

Take your tranny apart. Your car is most likely stock, so you don't have dual syncros unless the previous owner installed them for autox or the likes.

RE: Tips about Driving a Standard Neon
 

lot of WHAT THE HELL DOES THAT MEAN info. here's the deal, if you have a 4-cyl car (non-perf gas sipper like the neon), as soon as you want to slow down, put the STICK (not auto) in N and let off the clutch. this will mean you are stopping with your brakes and not with your motor that WANTS to be at idle unless you have your foot on the gas.

it don't matter if you have ten syncs per gear (i drove my 85 528i BMW on the german AUTOBAHN for 2 weeks with NOOOO clutch pedal at all, just gotta know your ride).

RE: Tips about Driving a Standard Neon
 

Neon - BMW
Apples - Oranges

My motor hates idle. It would rather be above 5k.

RE: Tips about Driving a Standard Neon
 

can't you shift your car without using the clutch pedal? even if everything works right?

RE: Tips about Driving a Standard Neon
 

Let's not confuse the new driver. We have enough young Mario Andretti's on the road who don't know how to drive. I cringe whenever I hear a motor rev at 3500rpms while slowing down.
Honestly, why would you want to power shift as a new driver, with a stock car, and only street driving, even on the autobahn?

http://auto.howstuffworks.com/transmission.htm

http://everything2.com/index.pl?node_id=58654

Sure I downshift too........to pass but not to hurt my tranny.
And, P3, don't put it into 1st when you're slowing down, that's how you ruin 1st much quicker. 2nd has enough umph to keep you going from a yield. 1st is to get the 2700+lbs car moving anyway.

RE: Tips about Driving a Standard Neon
 

to p3: silver is right about the trans.

to silver: most autobahns are 2 lanes. trucks (18 wheels) can only go 100kph (62mph). small cars (smaller than neon) have a top speed of 110kph. for some reason they think it's fun to pull out in front of a car (my '85 528i) that is going 240+kph (the gauge didn't go higher, but the needle did). on average i would have about 250 meters/yards (a meter is about 2 3/4" longer than a yard) to NOT HIT THAT BAST%$#@&D!!!!

math time. to change kph to mph round off to the closest 10. 10 20 30, you get the idea. drop the last 0 and * by 6. 100kph, drop the last 0=10. 10*6= 60mph. for every 30mph add 1 mph if your annal. happy motoring.

RE: Tips about Driving a Standard Neon
 

I know what you mean about keeping your distance. I hate it when you're about a couple car lengths from the car in front of you and another one slides into that opening as if it was meant for them...grrrrrrrr.
There is just much more in your BMW then there is in the chrysler tranny of old though and for a young new driver, he will kill the tranny before he knows it. He doesn't have to baby it, just take care of it so that he won't be in here later about what to do next with his tranny. I know, not all cars (even the same models) are created equal, but in general, most things break because of abuse (on purpose or by accident-s).
It's funny that you put that up because I've wondered if there was an easy way to convert. My turbo timer is right in front of me and it displays in KPH and since it's backlit and right in front of me, I always referrence that instead of the big gauge that states MPH, lol.

RE: Tips about Driving a Standard Neon
 

Heck I know mine is GENII but the owners manual recommended downshifting.

RE: Tips about Driving a Standard Neon
 

if you are looking to get the longest life from both your eng, clutch, and trans don't downshift; simple as that. i remember my grandad told me that downshifting, for some reason he didn't know, seemed to help the eng last longer. i still don't trust this thought. the more parts are used the more they wear out, just like your tires.

while downshiftting will help with both brake pad and rotor wear, they are way cheaper to replace than either a clutch or trans.

RE: Tips about Driving a Standard Neon
 

thats what i always thought...when downshifting to each stop from 55 mph, if you go through every gear, then you are using your clutch 4 more times then needed...after 1 day of downshifting, thats 1 day your taking off the life of the clutch.....why spend more then needed???

RE: Tips about Driving a Standard Neon
 

WEird urs displays MPH instead of KPH on the big gauge thingy? Looks like its other way around for me : http://www.sbclansite.com/carpics/100_0006.JPG


Ok tom i wont downshift but in winter it might be needed though on snow so will try it than.

RE: Tips about Driving a Standard Neon
 

My car is US built too, that's why it's MPH instead KPH like yours. My Greddy TT is Japan built and that's why it's in KPH instead of MPH.

RE: Tips about Driving a Standard Neon
 

I dont get it whats a TT and and mine is mph i thought my display was kph, what is it that you talking about i am lost.

RE: Tips about Driving a Standard Neon
 

TT is turbo timer

RE: Tips about Driving a Standard Neon
 

PLEASE don't downshift in the winter, lol. You will lock the tires up or just send yourself into a slide if there is ice. I live in the mountains in PA, really bad for snow and ice and if you slip up even one time downshifting thats it, as soon as your tires start sliding your going wherever it feels like taking you.

I always downshift and I have always been told to. I don't downshift and drop it into secound and hit 3500rpms, I just downshift when the gear I'm in hits about 1500 rpms and break a little before I go into the next gear down and let it out nice and easy. I have never had a problem with any of my cars(92' cavi, 72' chevy truck and 97' Mazda MX6) Along with any of my familys cars or trucks. Its all about how you do it, the reason I was tought to do it is when your going fairly fast(like 65mph) and you just push in the clutch and use your breaks your going to heat your rotors up real bad(maybe warp them) and wear your break pads down, so I use a mixture of the 2 things, seems to work pretty good.

RE: Tips about Driving a Standard Neon
 

[/quote] Spud's right, it's turbo timer. Your pic shows KHP as the primary speed reading with MPH as a secondary, but you're saying it's MPH? I thought Canadians had KHP speedo. I think you're confusing yourself, lol.

I do a form of what you do but I leave it in the gear that it's already in, i.e. 5th gear from the highway, then once I'm in my idle rpm, I throw it into neutral. I hardly downshift unless, I need to STOP within a shorter distance than normal and then I only downshift to the next lowest gear. Everyone was taught differently, I was taught to throw it into neutral, but I don't. Like I stated before, automatic cars don't downshift, they stay in the current gear and use the engine to brake that way while the driver is applying the brakes, that's how I do it.

RE: Tips about Driving a Standard Neon
 

snow and ice is reason i now have a neon. drive like granny if the temp gets close to freezing. i was doing 30mph and upshifted to 3rd and the tires broke. slid to the on-comming lane, got enough control not go into the 10 ft deep ditch on the left side. but, that pesky driver comming at me head-on (what WAS he thinking) convinced me to try and get back into my lane PDQ. missed the other car by about 1/2 mm (for some reason his eyes were real big) and went right into the 5 ft deep ditch on the right side of the road and removed a sign that didn't really need to be there anyway. moral of the story: snow and ice are the work of the DEVIL!!!

RE: Tips about Driving a Standard Neon
 

p3, was your car running when you took that pic? Is the oil light always on?

RE: Tips about Driving a Standard Neon
 

Naa that oild thingy is on only before engine starts runing after that no lights go on the dasboard at all. :)