two questions
 

So today i was on the freeway today, i was going about 60 in 6th gear and had to slam my brakes because some asshole cut me off. was in such a panic i forgot to push in my clutch and ended up stalling out. once i started driving again i noticed my gear shifts were alot stiffer... my friend said it would most likely smooth out in like a day. sooo anyone know if it will?

oh question two. hit stop and go traffic on the 5 in cali. used mostly 1st and 2nd gear. i noticed that if your going 8+mph in 2nd gear its hard to move the gear to 1st.
pretty much what happens is while in second gear i push in the clutch. try to move the stick to 1st gear and halfway there it gets stuck and i hear like a grinding/rubbing sound. only way i need to apply a bit of force to get it in there.
shouldnt the transition be smooth since my clutch is push all the way in?

If you are moving, you shouldnt try to shift into first gear. I dont know if it is particularly set up that way, though i suspect there is something involved that is so that people dont damage the transmission by shifting down into it. But if you must (and sometimes you must) better to force it into gear quicker than to let it grind/rub for periods of time. Add a little force, get it in gear, and get moving again. Just try to avoid doing it often. It really wont hurt things, and is normally easier in stop and go traffic, to just do all of it in 2nd gear. Thats what I usually do.

First question, I..have no idea actually. I stalled out in 4th gear, just not paying attention because I was talking with my wife on the phone. It never gave me any problems at all. No stiffness or anything like that. Maybe someone else with more knowledge can comment on that.

Regarding the first question, I'd just get into the habit of remembering 'two feet in'... Meaning to clutch and brake at the same time (during emergency stops or upon losing control of the car), although I can understand that you were in 'panic mode'... So no worries, and I feel you didn't hurt the car... Like your friend advised, just give it some additional time to see if the shifting feel gets better.

Regarding the second question, 1st gear is always a sensitive gear from my experience with manual transmission vehicles, and I wouldn't use it to downshift into, although I admit my mistake of doing so at certain times. When I do, I make sure I'm well below 10 miles (maybe closer to 5 miles), and I blip the gas for a smoother transition.

I don't go into first until I'm stopped or almost at a stop. When I say almost at a stop I'm talking about speed that would resemble creepiing.

Never down shift to first unless stopped or going 2 mph or less,....treat it the same way you would use reverse gear.

I can easily shift to 1st gear from 2nd by rev matching. You can give this a try.

Dude don't listen to people when it comes to down shifting from 2nd to 1st unless they have driven southern California (stop and go) traffic. Down shifting into any gear will not damage a transmission as long as your RPM's are in a low safe place like 1900 to 2000 rpms. Iv you have to downshift into a lower gear just make sure you feather the clutch well disengaging and pressing the brakes at the same time. First off 8mph in 2nd is way too low of a speed in stop and go traffic to even be in 2nd gear. May want to stay in first and allow a larger gap and just move slower. Also the car sounds like it will be fine and you should not worry about it, things will adjust back to normal.

I don't need to downshift into 1st unless I am slower than 5mph. Any slower than that, 2nd gear bogs down the car and the whole car shudders.

So you could do one of two things:
1. Slow down to 5-7 mph or lower and downshift to 1 and creep.
2. At 8mph or higher, depress clutch, downshift from 2 to 1, give just a quick dab of gas to bring revs up to 2500 - 3000 rpm and declutch. That should give you a smoother shift.

I prefer 1.

When you force the stick into first you are putting a lot of load on the synchronisers. If you do this regularly you will shorten their life. However if you only plan to own the car 5 years or so i wouldn't worry too much.

If you double de-clutch you can get the stick smoothly into 1st at almost any speed that won't over rev the motor. Basically this is done by:

• pulling out of 2nd gear
• taking your foot off the clutch
• blipping the throttle to roughly the rpm you would be doing if you were in 1st gear at your current speed
• pushing the clutch back in
• pushing the stick into first

I do this in my 86 from time to time. Works beautifully.

I downshift to first going 10mph with no problem.

Having stalled the engine while it was in gear should not have affected the transmission. If it feels tight, then i might suggest that you look at the rubber mounts on the tranmission. With these cars being so new, I would find it tough to believe that you broke a bushing or ripped a mount so soon - but could happen.

On down shifting to first. I try to blip the throttle if I have to shift into first while moving, but if it wont go, I just put it back in second. Being heavy handed with the synchros now will mean you WILL need a heavy hand to chnage gears in the future.

I feel bad for the 2nd owner of your car in the future....

but all jokes aside - I've driven on the 605 and 405 constantly for work and I agree 8mph is too low for 2nd gear...just keep it in first gear esp. since these cars have no torque.

if you must go from 2nd to 1st, listen to all the advice listed...

Do not shift into first while moving all throughout traffic, you can feel the wearing yourself; wait to near stop.

Last I checked, stop and go traffic is stop and go traffic. Doesnt matter if it is in southern California, Chicago, Detroit, Boston, Orlando, New Orleans, New York, Norfolk, or Tokyo, all of which above places I've driven in stop and go traffic in various manual transmission cars. In any case, you should never downshift into first gear while moving at any speed unless you want to add wear to and shorten the life of your syncros/transmission. 2nd gear is easily capable of handling the work while in 3-10 mph speeds with a little clutch work.