Lets learn to drive manual! Save my clutch Season 1

[akahenry]

I learned how to drive stick in this car and let me tell you that it's one of the easiest cars to learn on. I've driven other cars before this (not everyday, just like around the block and etc) and the clutch engagement point in this car is light as heck- in a good way. Though with this said, the engagement point is somewhat high and I HIGHLY recommend beginners to adjust their clutch engagement point (one of the best FREE mods to the car); It makes the car a lot easier to drive, not to mention more reliable. Suffice to say, I recommend practicing at night when traffic is much more limited. Also, practice in residential neighborhoods or suburbs where there are a lot of stop signs- it'll MAKE your leg "remember" the engagement point of the clutch a lot better. One last thing, don't worry about stalling your car, it happens. Cars now a days are pretty much built to be stalled and stalling the car won't do any major harm to the longevity of the vehicle. If someone behind you honks, so be it. GOOD LUCK!

[calidus]

When I start my BRZ it idles around 2k RMPs and I shift into 1st and accelerate buttery smooth. When I am sitting at a traffic light or a stop sign and I am idling at 750 RMPs, I suck, it feels like I am getting rear ended going into first. I take is this is just one of those practice things? Go drive around a neighborhood and stop at 100 stop signs?

[DarkSunrise]

Originally Posted by calidus

When I start my BRZ it idles around 2k RMPs and I shift into 1st and accelerate buttery smooth. When I am sitting at a traffic light or a stop sign and I am idling at 750 RMPs, I suck, it feels like I am getting rear ended going into first. I take is this is just one of those practice things? Go drive around a neighborhood and stop at 100 stop signs?

Sounds like you either need to:

1) With your right foot, press the gas pedal slightly harder at beginning of the clutch engagement point,

2) With your left foot, pause slightly at the engagement point coming off the clutch, or

3) Some combination of the above.

[calidus]

100 = pedal pressed to the floor
0 = unpressed pedal

When going into 1st gear, I am taking the clutch pedal from 100 to 0, How much gas do I need to give it, to get those smooth starts? 0 to 20? 0 to 40?

[daiheadjai]

Originally Posted by Suberman

Double clutching is just not necessary. Us old farts remember how to do it from when we were young and our crappy worn out gearboxes required us to learn. Dropping down from second to first while moving at any sort of speed is much easier if you double clutch but it'll still go in if you don't. Triple cone synchronizers are just magic.

I double-clutch out of habit (I'm 30 and have only driven manual for about 4 years) - it actually feels more natural than non-double clutch rev-matching for me now...
And actually doesn't take much more time or effort.

[Hardy]

Can anyone actually heel-toe with the stock gas pedal in this car? I was playing around at lunch, and I think I would have to remove my knee joint to twist enough to do it. Any recommendations to a full length fuel pedal that would fix this?

[flashburn]

Originally Posted by flashburn

What about shifting into first gear, while coming to a stop (say at a stop sign), but not disengaging the clutch until < 5MPH? Is that still putting wear on the synchros?

Still curious about this...

[himbo]

Originally Posted by flashburn

Still curious about this...

Ideally you should just shift into first when the car is fully stopped. Also OK if you're just slowly rolling forward. Personally I like to just shift into first when its totally stopped a couple of seconds after I depress the clutch. That way you don't hear the rear diff engaging. Doesn't mean anything but I'd just prefer not to hear it engage...

[flashburn]

Originally Posted by himbo

Ideally you should just shift into first when the car is fully stopped. Also OK if you're just slowly rolling forward. Personally I like to just
shift into first when its totally stopped a couple of seconds after I depress the clutch. That way you don't hear the rear diff engaging. Doesn't mean anything but I'd just prefer not to hear it engage...

Mechanically speaking though, why does it matter? Do the synchro's engage as the shifter is gated into a gear? Or as the clutch is depressed?

[daiheadjai]

Originally Posted by Hardy

Can anyone actually heel-toe with the stock gas pedal in this car? I was playing around at lunch, and I think I would have to remove my knee joint to twist enough to do it. Any recommendations to a full length fuel pedal that would fix this?

I couldn't do it at all - I bought the Cusco pedal and it helped immensely.
I am planning to learn and perfect my technique with the Cusco, then maybe remove it before I return the car at the end of my lease and try it on the stockers.

[Manic]

Originally Posted by calidus

When I start my BRZ it idles around 2k RMPs and I shift into 1st and accelerate buttery smooth. When I am sitting at a traffic light or a stop sign and I am idling at 750 RMPs, I suck, it feels like I am getting rear ended going into first. I take is this is just one of those practice things? Go drive around a neighborhood and stop at 100 stop signs?

When you first start the car (if it's a complete cold start) it will idle around 1.5k to 2k to get the coolant going. If you wait a little bit, it'll drop down to its normal idle which is as you stated around 750-650. When starting, you don't want to release 100% depressed to 0% depressed. Depending on your clutch engagement point, it's more like 100% depressed to 60% (whenever your clutch starts to engage) and then to 0%. Once the clutch starts to engage, give it maybe 5-10% gas, enough to keep the engine above 1k RPM. Personally, I occasionally go up to 1.5k or 2k when starting from a stop. It'll wear the clutch out as you're putting a little bit more torque on it than if you were to launch at a lower RPM, but it gives you a bit more margin for error.

The real trick is the slight pause at your clutch's friction point. A couple ways you could practice this:
1. Find an empty place to practice. Without using any gas, launch the car into first. This requires you to find the friction point of the clutch, and ride it ever so gently so as to not stall out the engine. If you feel the engine starting to die, depress the clutch fully and start again.

2. Find an empty parking lot. Practice starting and stopping in reverse. Do this properly, you know, looking behind you, with your arm on the passenger seat. Make sure you don't look at your tach. This will give you a feel for your engine RPM and your clutch engagement point without looking. This helped me a lot.

3. Find a slight incline. Do a hill start, first with the parking brake trick (if you haven't learned this yet, you just need to set the parking brake to give yourself time to do a regular launch. You'll need to give it a little bit more gas though. Once you reach your friction point, gradually let down the parking brake and you're off.) Once you're moving, try to stop and hold yourself in the position with just your gas pedal and clutch. I don't recommend doing this a lot, rather this is just for practice. It helps you figure the friction point in a hurry and once you can do hill starts, you can do anything.*

*I don't advocate using your clutch to hold yourself on an incline, always use your brakes. This is merely for practice finding your friction point.

[LeeMaster]

Originally Posted by Manic

2. Find an empty parking lot. Practice starting and stopping in reverse. Do this properly, you know, looking behind you, with your arm on the passenger seat. Make sure you don't look at your tach. This will give you a feel for your engine RPM and your clutch engagement point without looking. This helped me a lot

I remember when I was 13 I was sitting on the passenger seat and my dad accidentally slapped me in the face for doing this technique. Could potentially turn out to be a bad habit especially if you have big arms. How to fix it?? Look before you do.

[Manic]

Originally Posted by LeeMaster

I remember when I was 13 I was sitting on the passenger seat and my dad accidentally slapped me in the face for doing this technique. Could potentially turn out to be a bad habit especially if you have big arms. How to fix it?? Look before you do.

Haha, I just always move with my arm bent over the center console. My hand doesn't cross over to the passenger's side until it's behind the chair. I'm not a small guy either, about 6'. Just gotta have that spatial awareness.

[daiheadjai]

I think if you want to be smooth (at least for the 1-2 and 2-3 shifts), you will need to utilize some mild slip on the clutch... It takes practice but it is doable.