How To Accelerate Faster In Manual Car?

How to accelerate faster in manual car? Is it even possible to have a quick acceleration in a stick shift? Let’s find out.

The transmission of a car transmits the engine power to the wheels. It has various gears to do the tasks of speeding up and down. 

A manual transmission gives more power to the drivers as they are responsible to choose which gears to shift to and when to press or release the clutch pedal. 

The normal driving procedure is starting the engine and then gradually accelerating the speed. 

How Do We Drive Under Normal Conditions?

The engine in a manual car idles at around 700 rpm. To start driving, you have to press the clutch pedal with force, engage the first gear, and boost the revs at approximately 2,000 rpm. 

Then, you have to decrease the rpm by disengaging the clutch slowly. Press the accelerator while you are still releasing the pressure on the clutch. 

When you downright depress the pedal, it is possible to accelerate as much as you want.

how to start a manual car
Having faster acceleration is possible in manual cars. Source: MotorBiscuit.com

How To Accelerate Faster In Manual Car?

You will do it the way you start the car in a normal condition but in a slightly different way. Hold the clutch, move the gear into the first mode, and rev the engine at around 2,000-4,000 rpm. 

The difference is you will disengage the clutch all of a sudden at this point, not gently, and press the accelerator.

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The more the rpm, the more power the engine will deliver and you can release the clutch faster. You should rev until 6,000 (given that your car and engine allow it) to accelerate even faster.

Once you set the vehicle in motion, the rest of the part is easier. Go full throttle until the rev meter almost touches the red zone. 

At this stage, you will have to do two things side by side – taking the pressure off the accelerator and pressing the clutch pedal.

how to make your car accelerate faster
The mentioned technique is for faster acceleration, not for faster gear change. Source: Mechanic

Now, you can change the gear. You should use all the gears a row for a faster acceleration because all the stick shift cars accelerate quicker in second than in third gear. Don’t forget to depress the clutch and stomp the accelerator after changing the gear.

This is the technique for the fastest acceleration in a manual car, but not the fastest way to shift.

The Problems Of The Accelerate Faster In Manual Car Technique

Now you know how to accelerate faster in manual car. But, it is not free of flaws. 

Driving your car this way will put massive stress on the clutch and wear it out pretty quickly. It can also cause potential damage to the gearbox and drivetrain. 

Besides, if you are driving a front-wheel drive car, your wheels will slip and tires will screech when you release the clutch pedal too fast. The wheel spin reduces the acceleration by a great margin. 

It will not only make your launch slower than expected but will also increase the wearing at an excessive rate.

Is It Necessary To Apply This Acceleration Boost?

The real question behind how to accelerate faster in manual car should be: “How confident do you feel in controlling car speed and your sharp sense of your car size?”.

The aforementioned technique for accelerating faster in manual car is in fact applied mostly by race drivers, who have sheer experience in driving in competition at high speed, and safely of course. 

This technique helps racers to gain an initial advantage at the start of a race, to boost the speed to the top as soon as the signal is given. 

how to launch manual car
The technique for accelerating faster in a manual car is applied mostly by race drivers. (Photo: UbiCar Insurance)

Moreover, when applying this technique, racers even give no care for wear and tear of the clutch pedal, the engine power, and the drivetrain as long as they can win on the race road. Because if they win, they can just replace it with a new mechanical part.

Some may say professional drivers who are not racers can still do this technique in a manual car with ease and safety. 

Well, that’s quite true that due to their profession, they gradually develop a suitable strategy to apply this technique in the common streets for two following reasons:

  • To start moving the car quickly to the necessary speed after the light turns green
  • To jockey for position over 2-4 other cars at a traffic bottleneck

FAQs on Accelerate Faster In Manual Car

  1. Which one accelerates faster, a manual gearbox or automatic one?

Modern automatic gearboxes accelerate faster than manual ones. Automatics can change gears faster than humans because they use the finest computers. 

Automatic transmissions may push the vehicle quicker than manual gearboxes.

  1. Is it bad to accelerate fast with your car?

Although acceleration would never destroy your engine in the same way as, for example, striking a tree at 60mph would, it does do damage in the long run. 

Quick acceleration puts a lot more strain on your engine than gradual rises in speed, adding to engine wear and damage even if you don’t notice the changes immediately away.

Check out this video from Conquer Driving to learn more about how to launch a manual car quickly from a standstill!

  1. Does accelerating fast damage transmission?

Acceleration stresses the engine and gearbox, causing it to consume gasoline more quickly. When drivers “gun it,” the car interprets this as a request for more power, using more gasoline than the driver would need to attain the same speed more gradually.

  1. How fast should you accelerate your car?

From a complete stop, aim for a five-second acceleration to 15 miles per hour. Use a modest throttle setting and shift between 2000 and 2500 rpm with a manual gearbox.

  1. Is it dangerous to accelerate in high gear?

Accelerating at low rpms or in too high a gear causes the engine to work harder, putting undue pressure on the motor. Allow the revs to climb before switching back up. This is especially true while carrying big things or climbing hills.

Final Words

Therefore, mastering faster manual transmission to a certain safe level of normal driving on normal roads is extremely beneficial but it requires drivers to intensively practice and fully understand their car. 

An effective practice exercise is to accelerate in front of a soft collapsible standing pole without touching it or pushing it away. 

Finally, after getting familiar with the pattern, you would be given much more confidence when it comes to how to accelerate faster in manual car.