# Tips on shifting in Cruze Eco



## jblackburn (Apr 14, 2012)

You can take off very gently with almost no gas pressure in the Cruze. Ease up on the clutch gently, then very gingerly hit the gas. When you go to change gears, let up on the gas while depressing the clutch at the same time. Move the stick, and slowly let up on the clutch and hit the gas about halfway- 3/4 up with the clutch. 

And you can easily shift at 2000-2500 RPM between 1st and 2nd and still have plenty of power. The Cruze engine is unlike other 4 cylinders in its amazing low end response. 

Watch out for the 3-4 shift in the Eco. It'll catch you by surprise with no power if you shift too soon. 

Play with it some more and you'll get the hang of it. Part of learning to drive a new manual car is just learning what to predict. My girlfriend (who has only ever driven auto) is trying to learn to predict what gear to be in when.


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## CruzeEco96 (Oct 25, 2012)

Thanks for the tips. Yea after 2nd gear I am very good with it. I do rev match downshift but I wish I could heel toe(pedals are too small for me).


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## obermd (Mar 3, 2012)

Welcome to Cruzetalk and congrats on your new Cruze.

Park on level ground and put the car in first with the clutch in. Now, without touching the gas, slowly let out the clutch to get the car moving. Do this in reverse as well. When I was teaching my son to drive a stick he said this was the single best exercise I had him do.

Once you can do this reliably, follow jbalckburn's instructions for shifting into 2nd. If you start your up shift at 2,000 RPM you will be okay for power at the end of the shift. The Cruze's clutch/shift system is designed for medium to slow shifting, not for fast shifting.

Keep working on it and eventually a manual transmission will be automatic. Just watch out for the wide brake pedal in your significant other's automatic. You've made it over the first hurdle - getting the car to shift without stalling.


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## CruzeEco96 (Oct 25, 2012)

Will do. But I was wondering, do you or any eco driver pull onto intersections fast or relatively slow. Thats the biggest hurdle for me. It's hard to get up to speed in first and second gear, but after that it is easy. I am trying to get a smooth ride as well as pretty good pickup


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## tecollins1 (Nov 6, 2011)

obermd said:


> Park on level ground and put the car in first with the clutch in. Now, without touching the gas, slowly let out the clutch to get the car moving. Do this in reverse as well. When I was teaching my son to drive a stick he said this was the single best exercise I had him do.
> 
> Once you can do this reliably, follow jbalckburn's instructions for shifting into 2nd. If you start your up shift at 2,000 RPM you will be okay for power at the end of the shift.


This is exactly how i do it let the clutch out till it grabs (1/2 to 3/4) and the car starts to roll then apply gas. you can get her going as low as 1k on flat ground easly. i believe it idles at 800ish so not much throttle is needed.

Beginers will apply the gas first then roll off the clutch thats why the RPMs always shoot up to 3k and you only inch forward a little, then you pop the clutch and it causes the car to jerk really hard.

When i teach someone to drive my car i ALWAYS tell them slowly let the Clutch out first then apply gas as needed. not vise-versa.

btw welcome to the forum.


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## tecollins1 (Nov 6, 2011)

CruzeEco96 said:


> Will do. But I was wondering, do you or any eco driver pull onto intersections fast or relatively slow. Thats the biggest hurdle for me. It's hard to get up to speed in first and second gear, but after that it is easy. I am trying to get a smooth ride as well as pretty good pickup


when i first got my car it was the same for me. mostly because i havent owned a manual only driven friends cars. so getting into first gear was always a pain.

I use to shift too early and that didnt let the turbo spool up enough. you just have to learn how to get going whith the turbo lag and more experence with the clutch.

it took me about 3-4 weeks to get the hang of it. you will learn quick though. i use to practice hill starts in the park were they have car trails off the main road.


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## obermd (Mar 3, 2012)

Here's an entire thread on the topic of shift points. http://www.cruzetalk.com/forum/9-chevrolet-cruze-general-discussion-forum/7038-shifting-manual.html.


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## CruzeEco96 (Oct 25, 2012)

Thanks guys. I will soon master it, hopefully before wintertime. I'll make sure I read the thread that obermd posted. Anyways, thanks again.


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## Kruise (Sep 28, 2011)

my 1to2 shifts were jerky, more so than my other shifts. But recently I have been going 1to2 almost immediately after I get rolling, as soon as I am sure that I will not stall. I feel that such early shifts make things much smoother and I get no jerk whatsoever.


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## obermd (Mar 3, 2012)

I start my ECO moving at about the same speed as most other cars on the road. The difference comes in after 2nd gear and it depends on if I want to start normally, floor it, or go for MPG. Usually I do a normal to slightly MPG start, which translates into not quite keeping up with most of the SUVs and large pickups. I do keep up with smaller cars and pickups.

Soon enough, the manual shift will become automatic and you won't have to think the actual shift, just when to do it. Even when to shift will largely become automatic for you as well. One of the great benefits of driving a stick is that you, as the driver, have a lot more control over the amount of power being transmitted to the wheels. To do this properly and well you will out of necessity become more aware of what's going on around your car, which will make you a better driver as long as you learn to react and predict properly given the additional information you perceive. As a side effect you will become well versed in steering with just your left hand and when you drive an automatic your right hand won't know what to do. Mine is usually wrapped around a soda in traffic as a result - just to keep it out of the way when driving my wife's Solara. Stick shift drivers simply drive differently, even in an automatic.


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## CruzeEco96 (Oct 25, 2012)

Kruise said:


> my 1to2 shifts were jerky, more so than my other shifts. But recently I have been going 1to2 almost immediately after I get rolling, as soon as I am sure that I will not stall. I feel that such early shifts make things much smoother and I get no jerk whatsoever.


Yea i have reading around on here that people shift early from 1st to 2nd. I have also noticed that when shifting at lower rpms, it's a very smooth shift. I am going to test out some more theories I have today so I'll post my best findings.


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## Tjax (Sep 14, 2012)

With My 2LT Stick I found that when downshifting I can smoothly drop into 4th at 40MPh, 3rd at 30MPH 2nd at 20MPH which is easy to remember. Slightly off topic, 1st gear is WAY too short and kinda bugs me. I find that when Making a LH turn at an intersection I run out of gear about halfway into oncoming traffic! It's not like it needs to be that short either because anything over quarter throttle and the tires want to roast unnecessarily. I'd like to ask the engineer who designed that what the heck they were thinking?


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## Tjax (Sep 14, 2012)

To the OP though the other comments about letting the clutch up about half-thee quarters to the top and then just softly touching the gas are right on the money. I also found that I bring the clutch pedal up a tiny bit quicker that first 1/2 to 3/4 from the floor, and then the last bit of travel at the top a little slower and more delicately at which time I'm gently pushing on the gas like a mm. Then once the clutch is all the way up you can push smoothly on the gas to where you like. Once this is fluid it all happens without any pauses between points. NOW, my problem is I deal with some anxiety and depression issues and if I am not fully relaxed my back muscles tense up. This makes driving smoothly very difficult lol because now my back and legs are tight and I have to use my muscles differently and adjust. Heck it's kinda funny because when I get close to work and I started feeling a little stress come over me my shifting is noticeably jerkier. Shifting is kind of like playing an instrument actually. Nice smooth movements are key.


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## Kruise (Sep 28, 2011)

Tjax said:


> With My 2LT Stick I found that when downshifting I can smoothly drop into 4th at 40MPh, 3rd at 30MPH 2nd at 20MPH which is easy to remember.


Yeah I do pretty much the same thing and use that to assist in my rev matching. 3nd gear at 30mph demands around 2000 rpm. 4rd gear at 40 mph necessitates 2000 rpm, etc. Sure its not the most accurate (in fact its probably around 2100 rpm) but its good enough, usually.


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## XtremeRevolution (Jan 19, 2012)

Kruise said:


> my 1to2 shifts were jerky, more so than my other shifts. But recently I have been going 1to2 almost immediately after I get rolling, as soon as I am sure that I will not stall. I feel that such early shifts make things much smoother and I get no jerk whatsoever.


I learned to drive a manual on my Eco as well, back in January. To make the 1-2 shift smoother, you need to let off the clutch more slowly, and apply the throttle at just the right time and amount. Once you get it right, you can shift smoother than an automatic. It does take some time. keep at it, in a few weeks you'll be very good.


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## Patman (May 7, 2011)

Welcome to Cruzetalk and congratulations on you new Eco moreover teaching yourself how to drive a manual(esp in a new car and buying one on top of that). I have a manual LS and I was not aware there was any difference between the shifting/driving of the ECO vs the LS. Anyway I always found most people's biggest fear was taking off on going up hill. You will find driving a manual, stay on the brake and start letting out the clutch until you feel it starting to pull and then let off the brake and give little gas as needed. If you taught yourself so far you will have this mastered in a matter of no time. The Cruze has the easiest shifting gate I have ever driven and this is my 5th manual car. 
My first manual transmission was in a 1972 Ford Pickup truck with a camper on it. We did not even use first gear. You think first is low in the Cruze the truck was screaming in first gear at 15 MPH. This thing had enough power to pull a small house LOL


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## obermd (Mar 3, 2012)

The power curves of the 1.8 and 1.4T engines are enough different that shifting points need to be adjusted.


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## mhsvideoman (May 6, 2012)

No offense- but this is a conversation you should have had before you got the car. Learning to drive stick on a brand new car isn't highly recommended.


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## obermd (Mar 3, 2012)

mhsvideoman said:


> No offense- but this is a conversation you should have had before you got the car. Learning to drive stick on a brand new car isn't highly recommended.


I have to disagree. I taught my son to drive a stick on a brand new Mitsubishi Lancer GT. Unless you are lucky enough to grow up with stick shifts the only way to learn to drive a stick shift is to force yourself to learn by buying one.


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## jblackburn (Apr 14, 2012)

> Will do. But I was wondering, do you or any eco driver pull onto intersections fast or relatively slow. Thats the biggest hurdle for me. It's hard to get up to speed in first and second gear, but after that it is easy. I am trying to get a smooth ride as well as pretty good pickup


If you really need to move, get on the gas hard and shift before 3500-4000 RPM into 2nd and you'll still have plenty of power. I do this pretty often when needing to make a quick left turn. It'll keep your tires from spinning a whole lot and the huge lurch when you drop the clutch in 2nd at a high RPM.



> Slightly off topic, 1st gear is WAY too short and kinda bugs me. I find that when Making a LH turn at an intersection I run out of gear about halfway into oncoming traffic! It's not like it needs to be that short either because anything over quarter throttle and the tires want to roast unnecessarily. I'd like to ask the engineer who designed that what the heck they were thinking?


Eh, it's about like a Honda. It makes starting off easy. Shift as I mentioned above and it keeps the tires from squealing too badly - at least with the Firestones.

The thing that bugs the **** out of me is the 2nd-3rd shift. At 2500 RPM, the shift into 3rd yields about 1300 RPM and lots of bogging if you're going uphill. Which is annoying because every other gear change is fine at that engine speed.


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## obermd (Mar 3, 2012)

The ECO doesn't as much of a drop going from 2nd to 3rd.


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## sciphi (Aug 26, 2011)

The Eco's gears, say what you will about them, are at least fairly linear. There aren't that many instances where one needs to rev to the moon to get going. Although doing turns at about 20 mph can be tricky to decide which gear to be in. I often find myself downshifting to 2nd and quickly upshifting back to 3rd if there's any sort of hill or acceleration needed. Otherwise it's in 3rd.


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## jblackburn (Apr 14, 2012)

sciphi said:


> The Eco's gears, say what you will about them, are at least fairly linear. There aren't that many instances where one needs to rev to the moon to get going. Although doing turns at about 20 mph can be tricky to decide which gear to be in. I often find myself downshifting to 2nd and quickly upshifting back to 3rd if there's any sort of hill or acceleration needed. Otherwise it's in 3rd.


Same with the LT. I may have been a few 2-300 off, but there is a big gap there.


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## CruzeEco96 (Oct 25, 2012)

mhsvideoman said:


> No offense- but this is a conversation you should have had before you got the car. Learning to drive stick on a brand new car isn't highly recommended.



I agree it isnt recommended but I have learned about manual transmissions for a while(since I was 12). I have ridden many motorcycles so I got the basic principles of how the clutch works. I am 16 now so when I bought the cruze eco, I really was looking forward to the manual transmission. Even with no experience of driving one before, I drove the car home.


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## XtremeRevolution (Jan 19, 2012)

CruzeEco96 said:


> I agree it isnt recommended but I have learned about manual transmissions for a while(since I was 12). I have ridden many motorcycles so I got the basic principles of how the clutch works. I am 16 now so when I bought the cruze eco, I really was looking forward to the manual transmission. Even with no experience of driving one before, I drove the car home.


IMO, as long as you're not burning up the clutch by revving it like crazy, you won't have a problem and additional wear you put on the clutch while learning will be minimal.

I taught 5 people how to drive on my Cruze and not one of them did anything I'd consider to be destructive or consequentially detrimental to the clutch.

Sent from my myTouch_4G_Slide using AutoGuide.Com Free App


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## CruzeEco96 (Oct 25, 2012)

Hey. Just saying thanks to everyone here for helping me out on shifting. I now shift much smoother and have not stalled in about 3 days. 

Anyways I was wondering if any of you guys heel toe? It seems very hard to do so because of the small pedals the Eco has. Does anyone heel toe on a daily basis?

Thanks


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## jblackburn (Apr 14, 2012)

CruzeEco96 said:


> Hey. Just saying thanks to everyone here for helping me out on shifting. I now shift much smoother and have not stalled in about 3 days.
> 
> Anyways I was wondering if any of you guys heel toe? It seems very hard to do so because of the small pedals the Eco has. Does anyone heel toe on a daily basis?
> 
> Thanks


I've only done it while racing, and occasionally when I slow down from 5th to 2nd gear or something pulling to a stop. The Cruze doesn't like that if you do it otherwise - you'll get a faint whiff of clutch burning smell.


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## CruzeEco96 (Oct 25, 2012)

jblackburn said:


> I've only done it while racing, and occasionally when I slow down from 5th to 2nd gear or something pulling to a stop. The Cruze doesn't like that if you do it otherwise - you'll get a faint whiff of clutch burning smell.


Oh ok. So do you rev match downshift regular then? That's what I have been doing since I've gotten the car.


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## jblackburn (Apr 14, 2012)

It really depends how fast I'm slowing down. If it's a yellow from 45-55 to 0 and I need to slow down quickly, I heel-toe to 2nd or 3rd to have the engine help me a little bit as I come to a stop.

Downshifting as I'm slowing down to another gear but not entirely stopping, I'll brake to the speed I want to be at (clutch to the floor), then blip the throttle just a small bit as I change to the gear I want to be in.

Otherwise, I just push in the clutch and brake to a stop most of the time around town.

That's just my way, anyway. I've been driving manual for about 14 years now. The fuel economy geeks will tell you to use each gear til around 1000 RPM as you slow down to keep the car in "fuel cut-off" mode, but ehhhhhhhh. Just wears out the clutch more than it saves you gas.


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## obermd (Mar 3, 2012)

I don't bother with heel to toe shifting in my Cruze. I've found that it's simply not required in this car. I will, however, skip gears to get to the gear I need after hard braking. Just be slow on the shifter when doing this and try to match engine speed.


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