General Shifting Q's

[Packofcrows]

Originally Posted by Lust

. When coasting in gear to come to a full stop, when clutching, do you guys release the clutch or keep the clutch in while stopped then put the shifter in first. Or do some people coast in gear, clutch in when getting close to the stop then putting it on neutral?

How I come to a full stop:

Downshift until I hit 2nd from high speed. Around 5mph and/or 1500 rpm's I hit clutch, shift from 2nd to neutral, brake to a full stop.

Holding clutch in while breaking is no good. Burn ya clutch 'mon. Let the transmission do the breaking for you if possible, or else use a mixture of brake pedal and gear.

How I take off from a full stop

I balance between my right and left foot. Left holding car with 3/4-1/2 of clutch pressed, rev slowly and softly enough to around .900-1300 rpm with my right foot, then allow the car to begin rolling as I softly balance my clutch and gas pedal. Finally, when my clutch is only pressed x<1/5 of the way and the car will not jerk, stall...etc I let go of clutch, and hit my vtec then drift down the Autobahn

No, in all seriousness then I just shift into whatever gear it is required at 2-2.5krpm to save gas or 3.5-5k to have some fun. This is just an approximation of my driving. It is about 90% exact.

In a red light:

If I'm waiting more than 10 seconds, I shift into neutral. Left foot under clutch pedal or on rest pedal, and right on brake until light turns green and I can go.

If I'm waiting less than 10 seconds, I leave transmission in 1st gear, right foot ready on gas pedal and left on clutch holding car from moving. Green light kicks in, I go.

The way I've learned is you actually try to use clutch as least as possible. This is my 4th? or 5th??? manual and fortunate enough, I've learned to take care of my clutch and not ride it coasting like I used to... oops

[akyp]

Your clutch will be fine as long as you aren't applying throttle too early. Try to listen to the engine during upshifts: if the rpm shoots up a lot after a shift, it's a bad one and you're wearing the clutch out.

Also try practice releasing the first 50% of clutch quickly, then the rest in a controlled manner.

Unless you're in a real hurry, be nice to the shifter, especially when the car's warming up. Shift with as little force as possible.

That's all I can think of for now. Hope you enjoy driving MT!