alikhan2004

Ok first of all I just want everyone to know I just bought my first manual car and I have several questions. First question my clutch on my g37 is kinda stiff and it feels like there's a spring behind the clutch pedal that just wants to push my foot off is that normal? because I bought my G from a Subaru dealership and I sat in a WRX and the clutch was softer. Second question do you have to completely push the clutch in to switch gears and also when starting from first gear? Third question before I ask you guys the question I just want to let you know I never stalled but my question is getting of first gear I always jerk what could I do to stop that? I also kind of jerk while switching gears how could I stop that? at what RPM do you guys switch gears? Last question my friend wants to race his automatic 2010 TL-SHAWD how do I do a perfect launch from dead stop and do I do it with VDC off? I know you guys are gonna bash me but I'm just trying to learn and I hate to learn on my G but what could I do. Thanks in advance.

cruzmisl

First of all, tell your friend to hold off on the race challenge. Seriously, don't drag race your friend when you're just starting to learn how to drive your car. Learning to drive a manual transmission is not difficult, but going from learning to straight up drag racing is something I would not recommend. You'll probably end up eating half your clutch trying to launch it.

Besides, his lameass car is an autotragic (no offense intended for our autotragic drivers), and he'll definitely have an edge since all he needs to do is slam his foot to the gas.

- These cars do have a redundant spring that do as you describe. Many of us have replaced this spring with a much softer one so we can feel the clutch better. Removing this spring also works, but you'll get some play in the pedal.

- It really depends, but in normal driving I generally shift out of 1st gear around 2500-3000 RPM. When going to first to second, you might hear/feel a "CLUNK" sound, which is normal for the car. You'll soon learn how to shift without making the clunk, which usually involves shifting at RPM higher than 2500-3000 (in my experience) or pushing in the clutch at the right time.

- The clutch engagement point is pretty high, near the top. You don't need to push the clutch ALL the way down. If you want to see where the engagement point is, go to a parking lot or just a flat non-busy area and slowly bring the clutch up to see where it starts moving. It'll be up near the top. I found that my seat position really effects how smoothly I drive the car.

Again, from what you described in your post, going out and racing your friend right now would be stupid. Tell him to enjoy his autotragic, but you need some time to master your car.

Gio37

iTrader: (1)

+1 agree

great tips !

Fentress24

iTrader: (3)

Wait on the drag race buddy. For the record you should be able to beat a TL.

Smoothing out your shifting is just going to take some time and practice. Its a balance between gas and clutch. I have the release point figured out pretty well so when I am taking off Ill let it out to about there, release the break and tap the gas a few times for smooth engagement. When shifting from 1-2 its a tricky shift in this car and tough to get smooth but as you are letting off the gas, push the clutch in, shift, and slowly ease back on the gas as your are releasing the clutch. This should be smooth and you should not hear the engine reving then the clutch engaging. It is a balance you will have to find. As for shifting RPM band its kind of a feeling you will develop with the car. Depends on a number of factors.

Good luck.

JSolo

iTrader: (14)

My solution for smooth 1-2 is to ease off the throttle before pushing in the clutch/shifting. That is, as you're accelerating, decrease your rate of acceleration before shifting. This reduces the load on the gears inside and slows down the rpm of the trans input shaft. The tidbit above about giving it a little throttle as you're engaging the clutch also helps. I find the above is only necessary when shifting 1st-2nd, likely due to the large gear ratio difference between the two gears.

I normally shift 1-2 at around 2500 rpm (for mpg reasons). Also, if you're moving at least 5 mph, getting into 1st might be difficult without rev matching/double clutching, so just go into 2nd, you won't lug the engine.

With regard to other shifts, don't take too long in between. The engine tends to spin up and down very quickly. The time you spend taking your time may drop the rpms too low for the next gear.

You picked a challenging car to learn to drive a manual on, but with some practice eventually you'll figure it out. Inclines are fun!!

alikhan2004

Thanks cruzmisl you gave me really good tips and I am definitely going to wait for the race because I don't want to burn my clutch. Im gonna check out the engagement point tomorrow but I need some clarification, you don't want me to press that gas at all and just slowly release the clutch till the car moves? wont that make the car turn off? also I read about starting of on first gear without even pressing the gas but just slowly releasing that clutch how do I do that? I also usually shift between 3000-3500 RPM in all gear in normal city drivng is that fine? Also when do I down shift? For example if I'm at 4th gear and I'm approaching a intersection to turn do I downshift? BTW my buddy's TL is also sick only if it was manual that car could do serious damage.

I agree also Mike 24 and thanks again cruzmisl.

Thanks Fentress24 for the advice I'm gonna check out my engagement point tomorrow and see how it goes. I hope I can beat my buddy's TL cause that cars a beast also.

Thanks for the tips Jsolo but this is what I do switching for all gears when I hit 3000 or 3500 I let of the gas completely and press the clutch all the way in and switch the gear and slowly let my foot of the clutch and then press the gas but I still jerk a little in all the gears even high gears like 4-5-6. Am I doing something wrong? I want to switch around 2500 RPM also because I want good mpg also but its hard cause I always find my speed to slow for me to shift gears. Yea I know I picked a hard car to drive stick because I drove a buddy's manual civic and his clutch was like butter and really easy to drive and thank god I don't have to encounter any inclines and declines cause I will **** bricks but any tips for that I will appreciate.

alikhan2004

I have some more questions I hope you guys can help me with. Can you guys clarify whats double clutching is and when and how do I downshift?

cruzmisl

To clarify:

I don't always shift from 1-2 at 3300, but I found when I was learning that it would get me less clunkier shifts. Now I can pretty much shift whenever and not get the clunking or jerking. 2500 is not a problem when you get used to it.

As for the engagement test, it involves SLOWLY letting off the clutch to teach your memory where it engages. This lets you know when you should be applying gas. When you get used to timing this right, you're getting smooth shifts without jerking or burning the clutch. When you're not used to it, you're getting jerking or burning the clutch

GotAir523

iTrader: (2)

i'll go through this one at a time since there's a lot here to answer. to clarify the parking lot engagement question, the answer is yes, don't touch the gas. just very slowly let the clutch come up. when it begins to engage the car will begin to move forward. we're not saying fully let the clutch up but it'll give you a reference point as to where the engagement point begins. if you do it slowly and don't let the clutch all the way up only going until the car begins moving forward, it won't stall. also, it's fine to shift pretty much whenever you want, the point of having a manual is that you're the one in control. the fact you shift at 3/3,500 grand is fine, i usually shift 2,600-3,200 city driving. personally i think you should take it one step at a time, learn the clutch and normally driving first, then work on downshifting. but if you still want to try, as you approach the corner in 4th, shift to 3rd and while holding the clutch in blip the gas so the rpm is around where you would be if you were in 3rd, then release the clutch and slow down to turn.

as for your question for the other gears being jerky, when shifting into gears, you should slowly let off the clutch while giving some gas to put it at the rpm range the car would be in for that gear. pretty much youre doing the same thing you are for first gear, just not as much. this will soften the shifts and make the car not jerk. just becareful to not ride the clutch. you can shift the gears at 2,500rpm, you just won't be in the powerband of the car. you wont hurt the car by doing this, you just wont be able to move quickly if needed lol. hope this all helps

cruzmisl

You're getting a bit ahead of yourself here. Don't worry about down shifting too much right now. As you get used to driving the car, you will remember what rpms the car should be at any given speed in any given gear.

Blipping the gas to rev match is something I'd wait a little bit before trying.

One word of advice for shifting...the stick will auto center in neutral, so give it that split second to center itself and guide it to the right spot. This applies to both up and down shifting to make sure you don't miss a gear or put it in the wrong one. 5th to fourth that misses into second = possible money shift = new engine.

mykke101

G376MT will definitely beat a TL with equal driver skill.

On to some tips:

First to second I pause at the engagement point while putting a bit of extra gas then the other gears. Now when I say pause i'm talkin 0.3 seconds extra at the top of the engagement point and a slower release.

Start stop i release to engagement point blip the gas then follow through slowly adding gas as you release the clutch. You should feel it pull immediately and keep it smooth. When you are good it will talk no longer than 0.5 to be off the clutch and on the gas.

The proper clutch technique for hills and declines is to apply the park brake. Use the park brake in one hand and your feet on the clutch and gas as per usually. Match the normal clutch movement with a slow release of the hand brake. This is the reason that a manual car has a hand brake versus the AT foot brake.

Learn your clutch first BUT you should always be downshifting for a stop or if you need to stay in the proper powerband around a corner. Engine braking+normal braking is not only safer but will also save your brakes life. Also something that many new MT drivers seem to be unaware of is you should be braking while in gear, never brake in neutral or with the clutch engaged unless you are almost at a stop. When you are just starting a simple rev match and downshift will suffice. You need to have a good idea of where your next gear will put you RPM wise but from experience more gas is easier on a clutch than less when rev matching (talking SLIGHTLY more don't misinterpret this!!!).

!!!! Do not attempt either double clutching or heel toe braking UNTIL you have mastered regular stop and go manual driving !!!!

Once you have a good feel for rev match downshifting the next technique to learn is double clutching. Basically this takes rev matching to the next level in one smooth motion. Clutch in > move to neutral clutch out > rev match > clutch in > move to the lower gear > clutch out (watch videos on youtube for a visual guide). When you get the feel for this it should be one fluid quick motion that would be unnoticeable to someone riding in your car.

The final technique to learn for downshifting is heel toe braking. Basically you use your heel to rev match while you are braking and downshifting simultaneously. This takes a lot of practice. For our cars I use the side / toe of my foot since the brake and gas pedal are so close together. I would advise practicing this technique outside of traffic as it can be quite dangerous if you do not know what you are doing and mix up your pedals / the order.


I cannot stress this enough PRACTICE PRACTICE PRACTICE. Eventually you will never want to driver an AT again and will make fun of all your friends that drive AT (no offense!!!!!)

I would not advise launching your car until you can confidently drive MT

v.b

iTrader: (3)

clunky transmission will always be clunky

at least its pretty sweet when you're raping it!

cruzmisl

- If you're slowing down to 20-25ish for the turn, pop it up to 3rd. You won't accelerate too much out of the turn but shouldn't bog any. If you want to go into 2nd for more acceleration out of the turn, slow down a bit more to 10-15 and you won't need to blip the throttle.

- Downshift before the turn instead of during the turn.

- Never downshift into first unless the car is stopped.

- When coming to a red light / stop sign, no need to downshift. Just step on the brakes and keep it in gear until you're near the stop then take it out of gear. My friend puts the car in neutral and coasts all the way to a stop but you should not do that.

Trunks333

Not true, downshifting when coming to a stop causes unnecessary wear on the clutch/engine/transmission and causes you to waste gas when you blip the throttle to rev match. Better to put in neutral and coast to a stop using the brakes. Brakes are cheap to replace.

Also not true. Braking in neutral is fine. Cheaper to replace the brake pads than the clutch.

cruzmisl

I would not recommend coasting to a stop in neutral. Sure, you can coast for the last few feet when you're going a few MPH, but just keep it in gear and apply the brakes and then pop it into neutral before it goes too far below 1000 rpm so it doesn't stall. If the lights turn green, change it from current gear to the appropriate gear, but coasting in neutral wastes more gas compared to coming to a stop in gear.

I do agree that it's unnecessary and causes unnecessary wear on drivetrain components to downshift when coming to a stop. Brakes are cheaper than a new tranny/engine.

Just stay in gear, apply the brakes, and get it out of gear before it gets too low that it will stall.