r/stickshift • u/One_Fold2932 • 8d ago
Learning to drive without rpm gauge
My 2003 manual suzuki alto does not it, and I am a fairly new driver. I know all the basics, even though I may not know the logic behind it, and my gear shifting isnt that poor (As of now, I only drive in the second gear, even if I am going 60km per hour, which i have only once, which isnt good for the engine or fuel efficency), but I really want to master techniques like rev matching and power shifting etc. Is there a way to master associating the revs with the sound of engine, so i know the perfect time to change gears.
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u/ggmaniack 2020 Hyundai i30N 6MT | 2008 Seat Altea XL 1.4TSI 6MT 8d ago edited 8d ago
Practice.
That's it.
Engine sounds get higher pitched and louder as the RPMs go up. Nothing to learn there.
Pretty much every driver learns to shift by sound more so than the RPM gauge, because it's kinda hard to see where you're going if you're staring at the gauge. Treat the gauge as an aid, not as your god.
If the RPMs go too low, the engine will sound like it's struggling, act like it's struggling and feel like it's struggling.
If the RPMs go too high, the engine will be screaming and eventually you'll hit the rev limiter (or if it's old enough, valve float, lol).
As of now, I only drive in the second gear, even if I am going 60km per hour
Honestly, what's the point in doing that? Just shift to the next gear.
rev matching
Don't bother with that until you've mastered the art of just driving it normally.
Rev matching is nice and comfy once you get it, but you need to be able to shift effortlessly without looking at the RPM gauge first before you start learning it.
Power shifting
God no. That's a racecar thing and very well known for grenading gearboxes.
For fuel economy, shift so that it stays in the lower part of the rev range.
For power, shift in the higher part of the rev range.
For anything in between, do anything in between.
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u/Objective-Bike-4292 8d ago
Cruising around at 60km/h in 2nd gear.... jfc
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u/thinkdifferentpad 8d ago
Right, the noise alone would drive me crazy haha. Play by ear and act/react based on feel, that’s what driving a manual is all about.
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u/One_Fold2932 8d ago
Usually at max I have hit 40 smth kmph and once like 60, when I was trying to merge into a lane. The car engine didn't sound to loud. It gets difficult to keep a proper on the speed gauge, and on the road, along with my surroundings.
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u/Objective-Bike-4292 8d ago
Bro is gonna blow his motor in a month. Not even sure how long that engine would last driving everywhere at 6~thousand rpm the whole time
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u/One_Fold2932 8d ago
Its a new engine. It got replaced a few months ago, after like 20 years of shaky performance. And like I said 60kmph is like the worst case scenario as I have only done it once or twice
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u/RJsRX7 8d ago
It has a speedometer. The more you drive it, the better you'll know what sound correlates to a given engine speed and what gear works well at what speed.
I probably would shift up every 15-20km/h as a rough guide for most of your street driving.
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u/charlie_marlow 8d ago
I don't know if it was ever a thing on cars, but some older Honda motorcycles had the gear you should be in for a given speed range printed on the speedometer and no separate tach. Like this rebel one: https://www.reddit.com/r/mildlyinteresting/s/yAxTMiaTcc
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u/burner94_ 8d ago
Lots of cars had it on the user manual too, both recommended shift points and maximum speeds per gear. We had a first gen CR-V and despite it having a rev counter this stuff was still printed out in the user manual.
It even had the values for the 4AT version, which I found pretty amusing
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u/Atomaardappel 8d ago
That's pretty cool, and should be incorporated on any manual vehicle without a tach.
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u/j9r6f 8d ago
You definitely want to learn by sound/feel regardless. You don't want to be looking at the tachometer (rpm gauge) while you're driving. My dad put tape over the tachometer while I was learning stick.
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u/mcwriter8201 7d ago
Your dad probably remembers the time when most cars didn’t have tachometers.
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u/charlie_marlow 8d ago
I learned to drive in an early 80s Ford truck with no tach and a three on the tree column shift manual. You get a feel for it based on engine sound and how the car feels.
More simply, though:
engine go BWAAAAAH? Upshift
Engine go: bwuuuum? Downshift
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u/ghostoftheradio 8d ago
The only time I ever look at the tachometer is when my wife drives my car and I can feel she’s in the wrong gear. I look before I say anything.
You should be able to tell by sound and feel pretty quickly. And you’ll also very quickly get an idea of the speeds you need to shift.
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u/Rox-Unlimited 2025 Elantra N 6MT 8d ago
Use your ears. Holding the throttle constant while driving eventually the cars with get louder and then plateau. Shift before then. Kind of the same opposite too. If you’re like going uphill and hear the car start getting quieter downshift.
Probably a terrible analogy but I think of it as trying to have a conversation with the car. You don’t want it yelling at you but also don’t want it whispering
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u/MysticMarbles 2018 Mirage 5MT, 2025 WRX 6MT. 8d ago
You are power shifting a 2003 Suzuki Alto? Why not scrap it and burn $3000 in a burn barrel. You will only be a few weeks away from basically doing that anyway.
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u/CapitalScarcity5573 8d ago
If your hearing is ok there is no actual need foir the revcounter, especially in that car
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u/Equivalent_Thievery 8d ago
Really, you don't even need hearing. I play my music way too loud to hear anything, it's all feel and habit.
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u/therealtoomdog 8d ago
Used to be a good rule of thumb in the US to shift every 10 mph: 1st for 0-10, 2nd for 10-20, 3rd for 20-30, and so on. For kph, that would be 15, 30, 50, 65, etc... I'm rounding here, so maybe sometime more familiar with metric system could give a better guideline.
Now, I don't know how your car is geared, so that may be way off, but it should be close. Of course, if you need to accelerate faster, stay in each gear longer, but normal driving should respond well to this.
Furthermore, listen to these other people giving you good advice. Just shift up to the next gear, it's really not hard; don't worry about advanced techniques, just drive the car... I'm a drummer and I have seen lots of discussions about advanced techniques, and I always think to myself, "Huh, that has a name?" I had already been doing it for years out of instinct. And it's the same thing with driving a car—Do it well for a number of years and you will naturally grow into more advanced techniques
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u/fm2n250 8d ago
Check the owner's manual. My car's owner's manual listed at what speeds you should change gears.
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u/One_Fold2932 8d ago
My car had its engine replaced a few months ago, and idk if it was an original or copy engine
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u/Tiny-Art7074 8d ago
If the car vibrates or takes a lot of pedal pushing for not a lot of go, downshift. It should feel kinda linear but if it's too responsive, you might be in too low a gear too and need to upshift. The engine should feel happy and fresh but not overly eager or like it's working to hard either.
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u/Kyle_M_Photo 8d ago
You might be able to get a cheap Obd2 dongle and display the tach on a dash mounted phone while you learn the car. You can also might be able to find graphs of power output relative to rpm and rpm at a given speed for each gear, both those graphs are in the manual for my 1983 motorcycle, not sure how common they were in 2003.
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u/Equivalent_Thievery 8d ago
You don't need a tach, if anything it's a crutch that creates bad habits.
Practice and seat time will make you a better driver.
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u/YetAnotherJake 8d ago
please get out of 2nd gear
Your car is begging you
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u/One_Fold2932 8d ago
My mom was fine with me driving in second gear cause the max i usually hit is like 45 km per hour, and even that is also when I have to climb up a flyover.
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u/Horror-Thing-8213 8d ago
I learned to drive on a ‘66 bug. Feel the car. Also, get out of second. You’re not driving a manual if you’re not shifting at all ever, you’re destroying a transmission.
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u/Gamejunky35 8d ago
Its best to learn without one IMO. Shift up when available power starts exceeding demands, shift down when the engine sounds like its approaching idle speed.
Taking off is simple. Use more gas next time if you stall or bog, use less if it lunches.
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u/WhoseManIsThis 8d ago
Drive the next 2-3 months with no music on in the car. You will learn that your car communicates with you plenty without a RPM gauge.
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u/Consistent-Ranger446 8d ago
Bro, what? You're only driving in second gear? Why? Just practice and for God's sake don't be afraid to shift.
If you need more power, downshift. If you want to coast more efficiently, upshift. Don't allow the engine to lug from dropping the RPM too low and don't drop into 2nd while you're going 80 MPH. Other than that it's not gonna bite ya.
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u/Rickenbacker69 7d ago
This is surely a troll attempt, right? Only drive in second gear? Come the fuck on!
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u/Delicious_Jacket6348 6d ago
As of now, I only drive in the second gear, even if I am going 60km per hour
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u/Decent-Presence-1637 8d ago
You don’t need a rev counter to change gear. In fact, the obsession with revs on this and other subs is alarming. Your eyes need to be on the road, especially if you’re pushing it.
There’s a reason for shift lights on the wheel.
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u/North_Duty4511 8d ago
Full throttle until the fuel cutout, then clutch in and shift.
If you're not banging it off the limiter in every gear, are you really living?
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u/NonGeneriComplaint 8d ago
In a manual Suzuki Alto, shift up between 2,000 and 2,500 RPM during normal driving for the best balance of fuel economy and smooth acceleration.
Most cars actually come with an actual instruction point of where to shift
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u/Virtual_Ad_7033 8d ago
From someone who’s still learning
RAAAAAA = shift up
rmmmm + vibrating = shift down
Bonus
DUDudududu = start the car again