How well is manual shifting modelled?

[Zombiescu]

I am 16 and i just got my first car a 2001 Honda Accord 2 door coupe that is standard/manual whatever u would like to call it. And im just wondering if AC models it close to a real car where i could practice my starts/stops with a g27 setup? i know its nowhere near the same but its something while im waiting to get money to fix the car and insure it

[ling.speed]

Shifting model of driving is very good.
When comparing to real car realism is still somewhat limited, as there is no mechanical feedback in the hardware (you can always switch to any gear), but IMHO AC is as good as it gets when driving.

With damage "on" some gearboxes require careful shifting, with somewhat tight rev matching, and will deteriorate if abused in a pretty similar fashion real gearbox would.

That said, since the development focus went into driving, the start/stop mechanics are wonky.
You can't stall the car completely, and clutch starts are more difficult than IRL.
Its pretty close to badly executed electronic clutches of small, cheap cars thou :P. And that's because clutch friction model is kind of simplified, but there are no games on the market that simulate it properly (that i know of) so~.

ps: If you want to train simple driving and shifting, Euro Truck Simulator 2 can be useful and fun too :P, you get full 12+2 gears and there are red lights and traffic around to make it interesting.

edit: i probably should add that i use G27 as well and while realism is limited, it does help keep my real life driving skills (especially shifting) not rusty. :)

[Zombiescu]

Originally posted by ling.speed:

Shifting model of driving is very good.
When comparing to real car realism is still somewhat limited, as there is no mechanical feedback in the hardware (you can always switch to any gear), but IMHO AC is as good as it gets when driving.

With damage "on" some gearboxes require careful shifting, with somewhat tight rev matching, and will deteriorate if abused in a pretty similar fashion real gearbox would.

That said, since the development focus went into driving, the start/stop mechanics are wonky.
You can't stall the car completely, and clutch starts are more difficult than IRL.
Its pretty close to badly executed electronic clutches of small, cheap cars thou :P. And that's because clutch friction model is kind of simplified, but there are no games on the market that simulate it properly (that i know of) so~.

ps: If you want to train simple driving and shifting, Euro Truck Simulator 2 can be useful and fun too :P, you get full 12+2 gears and there are red lights and traffic around to make it interesting.

Ok thank you, i have a fair bit of hours on ets2, always drove automatic but now i guess it would be good to start driving it manual, thanks for the advice :)

[gomslork]

Starting the car with the clutch does not work very well, and I have no idea when they are going to fix it. It works very well in rFactor 2 and Stock car extreme if that helps. rF2 has a free demo you can try.

[ling.speed]

On topic of ets2... manual shifting might not be realistic (as most trucks have automatics now :P) but it's definitely fun... it's important to try different shifting layouts and pick the most comfortable one.
Personally i like "Splitter" as it can resemble normal car gearbox the most since it skips gears (1-3-5-7-9-11). It's nice in cities.
"Range" is great on the road/highway but shifting only top row (1>3>5) or only bottom feels awkward in city. And messing up mode change by going 6>1 instead of 6>7 is deadly.