Hi Scotty! I have a 2016 mitsubishi lancer 5 speed. My problem is that i have severe OCD every time i drive my car while shifting gears. I always overthink it which sometimes leads to me messing up (letting out clutch too early, too late). Days where my mind is somewhere else, i can shift perfectly fine. This sucks and makes me lose the enjoyment of driving... would you by a chance have any pointers on what i can do to get my mind off me breaking the transmission?
Well, first off realize that it takes A LOT of bad shifts to break a transmission. So no need to stress out about it. Shifting becomes a pretty much automatic motion after a while, so just keep rowing the gears and doing the best you can to enjoy it.
When I drive stick, I usually picture in the back of my mind the actual gears changing as I move the lever. That helped me a lot when I first started, so maybe it can help you too. But don't stress....you'll be fine.
You won't break the transmission by shifting a little rough here or there. Driving stick is all about getting into a rhythm. Try to let the clutch out smoothly right as the revs are coming down. You'll get a good feel for it the more you drive the car - don't worry too much it will become second nature soon enough
I drive a Semi truck in the oil field and a good rule of thumb is GRIND IT TILL YOU FIND IT LOL. Just kidding, slow is smooth and smooth is fast. Shift with a steady count of 1...2 so basically clutch in then out of gear is 1 then take 1 second and go to the next gear. But don't over think you will be fine.
Focus on the road and your surroundings instead of the shifting. The safety of you and others depends on it.
