New Manual transmission drivers Q&A

[Nate219BRZ]

I have drove stick in the past. 10 years ago with an 80s style clutch on a econobox of a car. So this sportier clutch is throwing me off and as i age my cordination seems to be getting worse. Haha. I have less then 500 miles on the car, and am pretty much getting comfortable with this no feedback huge travel of a clutch. I may lower it so im way more comfortable with it. My father had his where almost as soon as you took your foot off the ground it would start to catch. So this travel is new to me with no feel. You almost have to listen for the catch.

[Sigh-on-Rice]

Originally Posted by Nate219BRZ

Even in first at low rpms it does it.

I think you and I are hearing the same noise. I hear it in the Parking lot going back and forth between 5 mph and 10 mph. And it's louder during deceleration. And 1500 RPM should not be too low of RPM as the gear shifting indicator of this car suggests to up shift when the RPM drops to 1500. I've been driving MT since 15 years ago and I've never experienced this noise.

[ahausheer]

Originally Posted by empower-auto

You're going to cut the clutch's life short revving to 2k+ and engaging.

Not to mention the rear brake pads and rotors.

[aznkukuboi]

Originally Posted by Nate219BRZ

Okay so i spent about a half hour driving around my neiborhood praticing the no gas clutch release. When the rpms are below , my guess, 1500. I get a weird card in spokes sound. As i accelerate over 2000 rpms. It goes away. But i do kind of hear it on some of my slow starts (drive threw at bk) just trying to creep. What is this sound. Also is this transmission soposed to be loud? Like hear shift clanks as i change gears? Or am i messing up my tranny. When i am actually driving and i start out in first. When i get into the very last part of letting out the clutch, its like the car rocks back and fourth. Why?? This dont happen all the time but am wondering what im doing wrong.

All right let me explain to you what I did when I was learning.

Push clutch and put it in first. SLOWLY release clutch to the catch point where the car will start to inch forward. Then press on the gas pedal and release clutch simultaneously. You should be doing this under 1k rpms. The amount you gas is actually not so much.

TBH most ppl can even move the car without even gassing. Heck I can even get into second gear without even using the gas pedal on my car (VW).

Also, the clanking you are hearing shouldn't be right. I think you have to time your clutch release better. I have a gut feeling you are releasing either too fast or too slow.

[Bonburner]

I feel weird using the hand brakes, using the foot brakes until the clutch hits the catch point and gassing is what I've done.
Just felt natural to me, but that means moot of course.

[Sleeperz]

If your shifting at 1500 rpm that sound your gettting is the synchros grinding because they are not synchronized. Unless the trans is well broken in I would not shift at that low of an RPM. The synchros require some RPM to create friction to be able to synchronize. Shift at least over 3000 RPM or at a high enough RPM that gives you a smooth shift.

Don't force the trans into gear if its grinding, let it go in on its own with a light pressure. If you force the trans into gear while its grinding your going to end up with bits of metal in the oil that will make shifting even harder. If it gets real bad shifting it maybe time to change the transmission oil to try and get the metal bits out. The transmission gears are always in mesh, it is the synchronizer collars? and whatever that lock the transmission into specific gears.

Let the clutch fully out before getting on the gas. The car rocking back and forth is the clutch springs or rubbers taking the shock of engagement or the clutch bouncing if your on the gas before the clutch is fully engaged/released.

Originally Posted by Nate219BRZ

Okay so i spent about a half hour driving around my neiborhood praticing the no gas clutch release. When the rpms are below , my guess, 1500. I get a weird card in spokes sound. As i accelerate over 2000 rpms. It goes away. But i do kind of hear it on some of my slow starts (drive threw at bk) just trying to creep. What is this sound. Also is this transmission soposed to be loud? Like hear shift clanks as i change gears? Or am i messing up my tranny. When i am actually driving and i start out in first. When i get into the very last part of letting out the clutch, its like the car rocks back and fourth. Why?? This dont happen all the time but am wondering what im doing wrong.

[Sleeperz]

Drag racing, dropping the clutch at high RPM many times will cause the clutch to blow up, break apart, disintegrate, etc. Maybe not right away but most likely eventually.

Originally Posted by cgrey

And don't worry about your clutch. Unless dealt some serious abuse modern clutches last a long time.

[Heero]

Question:

How do I smooth out my shifts from 1st to 2nd? I duno what it is about this car but I can't make the shift smoothly unless I let off the clutch very slowly.

2nd to 3rd sometimes also gives me this problem - all other gears seem fine.

[Bonburner]

Originally Posted by Heero

Question:

How do I smooth out my shifts from 1st to 2nd? I duno what it is about this car but I can't make the shift smoothly unless I let off the clutch very slowly.

2nd to 3rd sometimes also gives me this problem - all other gears seem fine.

I've got that problem too, still not perfect, hitting roughly 50:50.
I just pretend its just like 1st gear and slowly release the clutch

[ducks]

When I first started out, I would rush the 1-2 shift and it would be really jerky. What helped me was waiting a little longer for the RPMs to drop more. Think of it as rev-matching.

[garsh0p]

Originally Posted by ducks

When I first started out, I would rush the 1-2 shift and it would be really jerky. What helped me was waiting a little longer for the RPMs to drop more. Think of it as rev-matching.

I find it really hard to accelerate quickly if I wait a long time to shift to 2nd. About how high should I rev to 1st on this car?

[aznkukuboi]

Originally Posted by Heero

Question:

How do I smooth out my shifts from 1st to 2nd? I duno what it is about this car but I can't make the shift smoothly unless I let off the clutch very slowly.

2nd to 3rd sometimes also gives me this problem - all other gears seem fine.

Yea, 1st to 2nd gear is horrible on almost every car in the world. It's always knotchy and jerky. The revs will tend to drop more, so take this shift slower.

[ducks]

Originally Posted by garsh0p

I find it really hard to accelerate quickly if I wait a long time to shift to 2nd. About how high should I rev to 1st on this car?

i shift between 2.5-3k rpm. it felt like forever at first, but i've grown accustomed to it. granted, this is my first MT so i'm still learning everyday, but it works for me. if you want faster acceleration, i think you would have to sacrifice some smoothness. i like getting good gas mileage

[Sleeperz]

When your shifting gears your not actually going gear to gear like 1 to 2 , 2 to 3 etc. Your actually going 1 to neutral to 2, 2 to neutral to 3, etc.

You can try pausing briefly in neutral before shifting into 2. But usually the detents are so light you just go 1 to 2. For 2 to 3 you end up moving the shifter over so there is usually enough time in neutral.
With older truck manual transmissions you had to yank the shifter hard or hammer the shifter into neutral then into the next gear because the detents were so heavy.


The synchros have to do more work in the lower gears to match the shaft speeds. 3rd to 4th or 4 to 5th gear 1:1 are probably the easiest.

Don't let off the clutch slowly , just release it smoothly and fully then get on the gas.

Originally Posted by Heero

Question:

How do I smooth out my shifts from 1st to 2nd? I duno what it is about this car but I can't make the shift smoothly unless I let off the clutch very slowly.

2nd to 3rd sometimes also gives me this problem - all other gears seem fine.