ok im noob when you downshift what is involved when you downshift, engine rpm ect..??

SMMMOOOOTHTHTHT is the key. Comes with practice. Lots of practice. More practice. And a light left leg in tune with the right foot.

As was said: by hearing and feeling. The tach is nice but only for pushing the engine to the top without damage.

The following if attempted (last part not recommended unless you want to change a clutch or are in need of a clutch and do not care)in an area where nothing is in front of the car for about 300 feet.

Imagine a 2x4 in front of your front tires, just touching them with the wide part flat on the pavement. You are to drive over the 2x4 and stop with the tires still touching the wood. In first gear, then second gear, then when able to do task everytime without racing the engine, do it in 4th gear.

This teaches left leg clutch feather and disengage along with right foot accelerator feather to brake coordination.

The latter really beats a clutch plate but if you can do it, you will never have to worry about smooth shifting or hill holding without burning a clutch again. My father taught me how to drive a clutch this way. Took better part of two hours and I still remember what burned clutch lining smells like to this day. My sister took the clutch out, but she was three years and 80,000 behind me on the same clutch.

Duane

Sounds like your father was a good teacher.

I'm going to use that exercise with my daughter.

Usually, you downshift and use the brakes also.
Downshifting is good for reducing your speed before you get to sharp curves, especially in combination with braking. I don't drop more than one gear at a time for this kind of downshift, just use it to help slow the car and set it up for the curve.
The other kind of downshifting is where you're coming to a stop sign or a red light, and you either push in the clutch and use the brakes to slow the car, or drop to a lower gear to let the engine "compression brake" and then use the brakes to finish the stop, with the clutch held in.
As a beginner, I thought you had to progress down through the gears when coming to a stop. Really a tedious way to do it, and not necessary.
In a general way, you'd want the clutch to be either all the way to the floor or all the way up. Too much time in between wears it out too fast. Starting on an uphill incline may be the exception to this rule.
I hope this helped answer the question. No substitute for practice.

I presume that you have a stick, and you are new to stick shifts or you would not be asking.

Don't worry about downshifting. The transmission is fully-syncronized, so you can downshift to any gear without any tricky throttle or clutch work.

Don't watch the tach, use your ears and your backside to feel what the car is doing and how much gas it needs when you let out the clutch. Just concentrate on shifting (up and down) smoothly so that your passengers don't spill their coffee. You'll get the hang of it in a couple of days. I'm teaching my 16 year old daughter to drive in my 5 speed wagon. If she can do it, you can.

Does your car have a tachometer? Is it a stick shift? What year? What engine?

Happy to help but need more info.

Regards,

Bob

:>)

ive got a tach , i have a m46, i983 w/th B21a engine.