i just recently bought(monday) an 06 5 speed coupe ls. love the car. i'm new to driving a manual transmission, relatively. i drove my moms car for a few weeks, 01 escort, and thats about all the experience i've had with a manual, so i'm still learning how to launch and shift. i shift pretty slow compared to most, but i still do it quick and smooth. although i hate how sometimes the car just does not want to go into second gear and i end up missing it and then i get embarassed. i think off the line these cars arent too fast, might just be the 17s i have, lol. but 2nd gear oh man, my car loves second gear. gun it from 35 or so and it just goes. i still need to learn how to downshift, what gear to downshift at what speed, what gear NOT to downshift at certain speeds lol...you know...for 'passing power' gas mileage is ok, but when i'm in a standard i cant help but to put some gas on it, lol. i would like to see a picture of the stock shifters, mine feels short and stiff, at least compared to my moms car.


anyone know what i can expect to run in the 1/8 stock? if i can learn to launch...if anyone has pointers on that that would be nice as well. my focus with custom catback and custom made short ram ran a best(in 110 degree weather) of 10.79, but it was an automatic.

 

if you ever row through all your gears at WOT you can find out the max speed in each gear.

for example, 1st is like 30, 2nd is 60, 3rd is 90, and I couldn't tell you 4th because the government won't let me its probably like 120 or so...

so lets say you're on the freeway driving about 65 in 5th gear, you can downshift into 3rd and be in the optimal gear.

I would recommend taking it easy for a while though, you don't wanna accidently downshift into 1st or some gear you shouldn't be because you're trying to downshift fast.

 

What color os your car, Im in Cleburne too.

 

why 1/8? Go 1/4

 

i dont know of any 1/4 tracks nearby here. and its silver ^^ heres a pic(it came from the dealership this way) you can recognize me pretty easily. i do delivery for pizza hut so i'm always out on the town..so to speak, lol.

 

Looks good, mine is silver also, but stock , I dont recall seeing you around town, have you ever seen a loud,gold colored Porsche running around town?

 

yeah i just got the car monday, and actually i do. it had porsche in really big letters on the ass end and was an older model?

and thats my old car in the background- its an 04 focus hatchback with an ugly body kit

 

The Porsche s mine too. I used to work at oreilly's

 

the gear ratios dont change HAT much from Auto to manual...do they? redline in 1st gear onmy auto is around 45mph...

 

um that seems kinda high

 

yeah i think thats wrong? 45 is like the end of first gear in my friends 3 speed dodge shadow

 

im positive im in the 40s..my friends magnum is in the high 50s before he hits 2nd

 

I'm pretty sure they are really different, never driven an auto before

but the auto does have less gears...isn't it a 3 or 4 speed auto?

 

yeah 4 speed w/overdrive

 

actually they change quite a bit...think about it...autos have one less gear...therefore each gear is longer to allow they same range of overall speed....each gear on an auto is slightly longer

 

i think mine shifts right over 40 as well at wot...

 

I love my base 'Balt and no one can take that away from me! Have fun w/ the coupe!

 

i also love my car... it may not be super fast stock, but i'll make some mods to it when i have some extra cash and eventually will get a turbo when it comes out... but for a daily driver (i travel a lot for work) it's enough for me... feels good on the road, and has enough get up and go when i need it... never have a problem passing someone, and has more than enough umph for me around town...

 

I love my 2.2.

Injen CAI/GMPP Performance Exhaust makes me known. They complement each other well. Glad to hear that you like the "base" balt. It would've been nice to get the SC, but, my LT gets less attention.

Last friday night I took an Alero (unsure of year, and engine, plus, it's an ALERO!) out in first gear (yes he was racing, and it was an older dude) and he quit, as he was loosing. He stayed behind me for a good 2 miles b4 he went somewhere else.

Anyways, I think the LS/LT is a good car/engine. It just sucks that we sometimes get **** on by the "other" cobalts!

 

yea, but don't let it bother you... most cobalt owners respect all the models.. i mean we're all cobalts... anyone that makes fun of the other models isn't worth the breath to argue with... everyone got their car for a reason... i could have gotten the ss/sc, but wanted an automatic because i drive so much... at the time, i didn't know you could get the 2.4 with auto, or i would have gotten it... but i'm more than happy with my decision, and if you are happy with your decision than don't let anyones negativity bring you down...

 

Here are the gear ratios from GMs spec website:

 

I'm not letting anyone get me down that has a "better" cobalt D4u2s0t.

Just we get crap sometimes about modding the 2.2. I'm NOT saying that ALL SC OWNERS are dicks but some are. I guess to each their own and I don't let it get to me.

As long as people are happy with their car and what they do to it, it's all good!

 

Hey rnjmur, you'll love the GMPP Perf. Exhaust.

I have it on my 2.2 and it sounds awesome. Although I'm sure it'll sound different on the SC, you'll still love it!

 

Yeah, the stock exhaust is ok, but I want a little more of a performance sound. The high flow cat will give me a small gain in HP, but the sound is more my concern. I will probably order it at the end of next week, so I should have it on and ready to rip soon!

 

Here's some words or wisdom for driving a manual...

The shifter in the Coablt is MUCH nicer than the shifter in your mom's escort...those escort have really sloppy and rubbery feeling shifters.

The old-school rule of thumb was shift every 10mph. I think the better way to do it is start out by shifting at 3,000rpm for normal driving. Ideally you'll shift lower than this, but you'll get a feel for what's appropriate depending on your driving style. I normally shift around 2500rpm if I'm not romping on it.

Downshifting...You're not going to be road racing so there's no real science to this. If you're slowing down to a stop, then wait until you're at about 40mph and then downshift into 3rd. Once you get down to abour 1000-1200rpm, press in the clutch and stop. There's no need to downshift into 2nd unless you're going pretty slow and you need to speed up again, and downshiftin into first should only be done if you're goin less than like 5mph. Downshifting into 4th isn't usually needed either unless you've slowed down some and you need to accelrate again and 5th is just too high.

Hope this helps. I really like teaching people how to drive a manual...I see so people who do it so wrong...it's no wonder why so many cars need clutches after a year...