Theres not a whole lot of torque, so you have to give it more gas to get going. In my CL I practically let the clutch out half way before giving it gas and the car likes it. In the FR-S I need to rev up to ~1-1.2k rpms for a smooth engagement. My CL makes more then twice the torque of this car though.

Even though I've been told this isn't technically true, it seems to have worked for me since I have a 3rd vehicle approaching the 160000 mile mark with the original clutch...but here goes:

The less time your foot is on the clutch, the longer it will last.

I'd rather make a jerky 1st gear start instead of roasting the clutch too long and having a smooth start. That translates to less time "on the clutch" and has proven successful for nearly half a million miles of manual driving for me, almost all of it(95%+) in city traffic.

Also, you don't have to push the clutch pedal to the floor to shift, except for 1st and reverse, both of those gears require the clutch pedal being all the way down. On all my Hondas, the clutch engaged at the top 1/4 or 1/3 of the overall travel so when you're shifting into any gear other than 1st or reverse, you only had to press it a little. Every clutch is different I'm sure, your job is to find out where it engages and simply let it become a "muscle memory". You'll find yourself doing it automatically in no time...but if you ever get a little lazy doing it that way, you'll get some gear grind so be careful and pay attention.

For what it's worth, I've fallen into the lazy shifting hundreds of times in the 9.5 years on my current car/clutch/tranny with hundreds of little grinds here and there and it all still works just fine at 159000+ miles. It's those loooong drawn out griiiiiiind/zzzzzzztt you want to be afraid of.

When driving alone I always have jerky starts to save the clutch, but I find when driving with someone else in the car it seems a bit rude, so I make smooth starts.

E-brake technique
 

I would recommend using the ebrake. It might take some practice but anytime I worry about rolling back I engage the ebrake. Simple to do when the handle is at your hip. And I have not read all the posts so my apologizes if I am repeating something someone already mentioned

You guys really should learn heal-toeing for hills.

1. Sit in neutral with your foot on the brake
2. Clutch in and select first, foot still on the brake
3. Swivel your ankle and use the other half of your right foot to give the car a little gas while keeping pressure on the brake (right foot is now on two pedals)
4. Begin to lift your clutch foot while maintaining the little pressure on the gas and slowly removing pressure from the brake until the clutch is engaged.

Notes:
- if you have small feet, turn your whole leg and foot so the heel of your foot is operating the brake and your toes are operating the gas (hence the name).
- it's an art to master it.....you bought a manual sports car, learn it.
- creeping is creeping and there's nothing you can do to not ride the clutch.
- if you get good at it, if you're on a flat road and someone is being a d*ck behind you at a light, the hill technique above lets you drag your brakes enough to keep your brake lights on as you leave the light and pull away from the aforementioned d*ck (at whatever speed is appropriate lol)...they are left sitting there without the cue of your brake lights turning off.

Fixed...

But what if your toe is hurt?

:cry: What.........turf toe?