(Rookie) How far should I press the clutch in?
 

Hello guys

I did some looking around and couldnt find the answer. I bought myself a stick shift beater car before I bought my Camaro SS to learn stick shift. I can drive it decently now, but I had a question. On my beater, I was usually able to press the clutch in about 1/3 ways down, shift, let clutch back up and drive smoothly.

I have a couple car fanatic friends who disagree with this: One says "Press that clutch all the way in or youll rip it apart quick!", while the other says "Is it smooth? Do you hear grinding? No? Then its fine..." On my Camaro, I drive it the same way I did the beater as far as pressing in the clutch goes....Is this bad?

Aside from basic knowledge of how the vehicles run, Im honestly not that great with understanding the fine details. I was unable to find anything specific to the Camaro online, so I thought Id ask here. Any feedback would be appreciated.

Thank you

the clutch could be grinding slightly but your just not hearing it, might as well press it all the way in and be safe :thumbsup:

press it in all the way... as the clutch wears and you get used to it you will feel where the car can engage....

from day one i of driving standard its always been told to me press it all the way in...

All the way to the floor. Your beater probably has a worn clutch so it disengages sooner. If you replaced it's clutch you would notice a huge difference.

push all the way down.

Ok, since Ive got you guys here then, It seems the consensus is to press all the way down. Would you be able to give me any tips on shifting the car smoother then without "bucking" when going from 1-2? I found by not pressing in all the way, it was much smoother, but if I do press it all the way it gets jerky. I know im doing something wrong, and its prob hard for people to say what over the internet...Can you tell me what you do thats right for smooth shifting?

an edmonton member said he can shift without even lifting off of the clutch, ill try to find out who that is and direct him here

Thanks, I appreciate your being helpful. I know these are very basic questions which probably dont peak your interest much :P

Assuming that Edmonton gent drives that way...According to what everyone here has said, isnt he going to wreck his machine pretty quickly?

If you can perfectly match engine speed to flywheel speed, you can shift without a clutch. I've got a buddy that does it to his civic all the time.

If you want smoother shifting figure out how much your RPMs drop when you shift gears and let the engine slow down before you bring up the clutch. Normally I let the engine drop 1k RPM between 1-2, 750~ for 2-3, and in higher gears you shouldn't have any jerking.

Like others have said press it down all the way.

But basically it comes down to just getting time driving a stick. Won't take long and it will feel natural man. :)

I would suggest that is you are getting a "bucking" that you let off the clutch a little slower or if you let the RPM drop a lot don't let them go as low, if you don't let them drop very much that could be your problem to. After a while you will find the "Sweet Spot" in shifting, it just might take a while.

Couldn't find the member right now, ill look for him again later after i take a much needed nap. had the conversation about this with him on one of the Alberta threads but cant remember which one. im sure you can find some youtube tutorials about it though :thumsbup:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W7bb2...eature=related
theres that, might be useful to check out

That was a good video. I watched some of his others and must say I learned quite a bit.