The "DO's and DONT's" of driving a clutch

[lets_go_bills]

Originally Posted by Hemlawk

I'm still fairly new to driving a clutch. Are there any rules I should follow strictly?

Things I've herd from friends (myths?). Sounds like BS to me....
-Dont skip gears
-Push the clutch all the way down when shifting
-DONT sit at a light with the clutch in while in gear, better to stay in neutral
-downshift to save your brakes

1. You can skip gears. Your car doesn't have a brain that can tell if you've skipped gears. As long as the speeds and RPMs match, you change to any gear you want.

2. Always push the clutch all the way in.

3. You can do this but I don't. I shift to N and just hold the brake.

4. Some do this but I don't. What costs more, brake pads or clutches and transmissions? Plus you want the dumbass behind you to know you're slowing by pressing your brakes so the brake light comes on.

[Hemlawk]

The rev-matching thing I dont really understand yet. Once I downshifted to accelerate and the tires screeched a bit, slowing down the car. I guess I should have rev matched then? I feel like I'm trashing my drive train because I wasnt never taught to drive stick (self taught).

[lets_go_bills]

Originally Posted by Hemlawk

The rev-matching thing I dont really understand yet. Once I downshifted to accelerate and the tires screeched a bit, slowing down the car. I guess I should have rev matched then? I feel like I'm trashing my drive train because I wasnt never taught to drive stick (self taught).

Let's say your happily cruising on the highway, doing 65mph in 6th at 2000rpm when you decide you want to pass someone quickly. You press the clutch in, and while holding in the clutch, hit the gas, bringing the revs up to 3500rpm, then quickly shift to 5th and let the clutch out. Then you can accelerate and take off.

Because you want to maintain the same speed, while going down a gear, you have to get the rpms up higher to match the gear/speed your doing. If you didn't rev match and downshift, you'd make your engine buck and overwork/hurt it.

Get it?

[Hemlawk]

Ya, I get it. I just have to remember to do that. Im tired of my car bucking and jerking all the time... lol

[lets_go_bills]

This is my first stick-shift and I'm self-taught too. I read a lot and watched some videos. It just takes time and practice. Practice, practice, practice. That's it!

[Russell James]

People that think brakes are cheaper than clutches - so they don't downshift, apparently don't know how to downshift. I'll downshift whenever I feel its appropriate. When cruising in 4th or 5th, and slowing down, I'll often downshift to 3rd while slowing. Then as the RPMS get real low, push the clutch in and coast the last little bit. Then grab 1st and wait until it is time to go - with the clutch in and in gear.

Been down shifting and sitting at lights in gears for decades. Never once burned up a clutch.

Clutches burn up from excessive slipping. Ride the clutch excessively taking off uphill, that's the type of use that burns the clutch up.

You don't have to chose between downshifting or braking, and calculate which is cheaper. You can also do both correctly, and you'll get normal service life out of both.

[Fuzzy Logic]

DON'T do what this guy does:

[LoneCynic]

To the OP: When I first joined this forum, my first post was a long one. It detailed my experience driving manual transmission vehicles most of my life. It was all directed at new Camaro owners who were driving a stick for the first time.

Decent read for first time Manual drivers

Read that thread for some solid tips. Many tried to argue the logic in my explanation about the "second balance". They obviously never drove on some of the mountains and towns in West Virginia, because it is a necessity at times! Just make sure you master everything I describe in that thread and you'll be off to a great start and prepared for almost anything. Good luck, and please feel free to PM me if you have any questions!

[DarkObsession]

Originally Posted by Russell James

People that think brakes are cheaper than clutches - so they don't downshift, apparently don't know how to downshift. I'll downshift whenever I feel its appropriate. When cruising in 4th or 5th, and slowing down, I'll often downshift to 3rd while slowing. Then as the RPMS get real low, push the clutch in and coast the last little bit. Then grab 1st and wait until it is time to go - with the clutch in and in gear.

Been down shifting and sitting at lights in gears for decades. Never once burned up a clutch.

Clutches burn up from excessive slipping. Ride the clutch excessively taking off uphill, that's the type of use that burns the clutch up.

You don't have to chose between downshifting or braking, and calculate which is cheaper. You can also do both correctly, and you'll get normal service life out of both.

This... it's entirely appropriate to downshift and in fact, is encouraged depending on the situation. Generally, I'll downshift into 3rd when I come up on a light because if the light suddenly changes to green, that means I'm in the appropriate gear to just get going again.

Basically, driving a manual means knowing when to downshift, when to engine brake and when not to. It's all practice, practice, practice like everyone else said.

[mhood]

Originally Posted by DarkObsession

Generally, I'll downshift into 3rd when I come up on a light

I do the same however I do it for the most exquisite sound in the universe as much as anything else. When you punch it up to match RPMs and let it rumble down in third, my permagrin is larger than life.

[Steve Dallas]

Originally Posted by Hemlawk

I'm still fairly new to driving a clutch. Are there any rules I should follow strictly?

Things I've herd from friends (myths?). Sounds like BS to me....
-Dont skip gears
-Push the clutch all the way down when shifting
-DONT sit at a light with the clutch in while in gear, better to stay in neutral
-downshift to save your brakes

Skipping gears doesn't matter at all, unless you start lugging the engine. I rarely do it though...why not row through all the gears. That's where the fun comes from.

You don't need to push the clutch all the way in when shifting, although if you aren't matching speeds, not pushing the clutch in all the way could cause grinding. Thus, pushing it in all the way is safest, but not strictly necessary. I find that many times I'm depressing the clutch just past the engage point for quick shifts.

see my other response below on sitting at light.

Downshifting does save your breaks. It doesn't tear up your clutch though either if you do it right. If you match gears and don't slip them, it won't really wear the clutch significantly. One the clutch is fully let out after a shift, there's no wear in engine breaking, and you ARE saving breaks if engine compression is doing it. The misconception comes from people that don't pre-rev the engine when downshifting to get the engine to match the revs of the tranny...thus slippage as you let of the clutch...THAT will wear the clutch, though it's not abnormal to do that either. Heck, every time you take off from a stop in 1st, you wear the clutch. You're gonna wear your clutch and your brakes. These parts are meant to be used.

Originally Posted by enyce0387

Holding in the clutch causes the throw out bearing to wear out faster, skipping gears = fine hence 1st to 4th skip from the factory, much easier and cheaper to change brakes then transmission parts, if ur new to a stick I would push the clutch all the way in during shifts until u learn the point on ur car where the clutch is completely disengaged.

Every time you push on the clutch pedal, you are causing the thowout bearing to "wear out". Keeping it pushed in at a stop just means you aren't doing it twice. I'd be more inclined to say that it'll wear out quicker the more times you depress the clutch pedal....

[DarkneSS]

The clutch does not need to be pushed in all the way. Just past the "grab" point is all you need.

And no you shouldnt downshift all the time but you should know how to downshift appropriately. There are many situations that require downshifting.

[oldfriend]

Originally Posted by Hemlawk

I'm still fairly new to driving a clutch. Are there any rules I should follow strictly?

Things I've herd from friends (myths?). Sounds like BS to me....
-Dont skip gears
-Push the clutch all the way down when shifting
-DONT sit at a light with the clutch in while in gear, better to stay in neutral
-downshift to save your brakes

LISTEN TO YOUR FRIENDS

[Camaro509]

The downshifting 'to save the brakes' is primarily for mountainous areas where you are
on a long decline. When your brakes get hot, they lose their braking effectiveness and
can go out on you. So to 'save your brakes' downshifting is recommended. Unless you live in mountain country, it really isn't required.