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If you are stalling while braking your gear is too high. You can flip it into neutral while braking if you don't want to hold in the clutch. On a stop at a hill you will need to learn how to feather the brake and clutch with one foot while hitting the gas with the other.
You have to be talking about Pre-1950 with that 20K figure.
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Originally Posted by brownbagg
no it doesnt, most cars today are running 150k on orignal clutch. Old days it was lucky get 20 k out of a clutch
You have to be talking about Pre-1950 with that 20K figure. It is all about how you drive. Had $1999 dollar 1972 VW bug bought new with well over 100,000 miles that never needed a clutch or a clutch adjustment in more then 10 years when I sold it.
Now on my 3rd corolla two of which did over 200,000 miles with no clutch adjustment and no clutch replacement. Actually wish I hadn't sold them.
The third of those Corolla's a 2004 now has 245,000 miles again same clutch no problems. There has been lot's of good advise given on using the brakes gas, and clutch in this thread.
For those who are learning reread the thread and know that focusing on nothing but driving while driving is primary. If you still don't feel confident about shifting get into your learning mode and use shifting films on youtube as a professional athlete would use game films.
Once you can drive a standard transmission it is a skill you will have for a lifetime. That skill will also make you a better driver besides benefiting from less costly car maintenance over a lifetime.
I know it's not what you want to hear, but it really is a 'practice makes perfect scenario'.
While you're accelerating make sure you make a mental note of at which speeds you're shifting into your next gear. When you're slowing down, you can use those same speeds to know about when to shift down. So, using my SRT8 as an example- when I shift into 3rd, that's at around 30-35 MPH. So, if I slow down to go through a round-about at about 30 MPH then I know I need to shift down to 3rd gear.
If you're at a complete stop and need to take off, well that just comes down to learning your car and how much gas to give it and how much to ease off the clutch at the same time. Too much gas and too quick to let off the clutch then you're going to bunny hop. Too fast off the clutch but not enough gas, then you're going to kill it. It's truly a balancing act. When I learned to drive back when I was 16 (20+ years ago) it was on a stick. While it made it harder to learn how to drive at the time, learning to drive a stick has been a great advantage through the years. I can drive any classic car, ha The best thing for me, since learning how to 'take off' was the hardest for me was just to take it to a parking lot a practice taking off from a cold stop like 100 times. Eventually you get the hang of it, and after that it's easy-breezy. The tricky part is all sticks have a different feel. So if I'd buy another stick after selling one, it was getting used to how it shifted all over again. I'd usually kill it the first day or so until I got used to it.
I think people are making to much of downshifting to slow down.
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Originally Posted by OutdoorLover
I completely agree re engine braking. It's not necessary for slowing the car, brakes can do that by themselves if needed, and it complicates things. Skip it at first and incorporate later if you want.
I’ve been driving a stick-shift for over 30 years, and the only time that I downshift is if I need more acceleration.
Opinions and best-practices will differ, of course. My opinion? Whenever you right-foot isn’t on the gas pedal, the car should be in neutral. Going downhill? Shift into neutral. Slowing down? Shift into neutral.
Whenever the brake pedal is pressed, the clutch should be engaged (clutch pedal to floor)… or ideally, you’d be in neutral. My instinctive reaction in a panic-stop is to first shoot my left foot into the clutch pedal, while the right foot goes into the brake pedal. This makes it difficult to drive American automatics, with their wide brake-pedal. My left leg “wants” to engage the clutch, and that results in unintentional panic stop, because the brake-pedal gets nudged.
So… when approaching a red-light, stop-light, roundabout etc., first fully press the clutch, and shift into neutral. Then decide what you want. Continue coasting in neutral, or apply the brake, or shift back into some gear – the latter if you overestimate the distance to the stop-sign, and need to accelerate again.
Summary: your left foot should have instinctive, immediate desire to mash the clutch. When in doubt, clutch pedal fully depressed!
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Originally Posted by pouringsunshine
Omg, the STRESS of having to shift through each gear before coming to a stop, I can’t believe that’s an official rule.
Rule? This is dangerous, stupid and wasteful. it prolongs the deceleration-process, increases wear in the engine and clutch, and wastes fuel.
Neutral is your friend! I probably spend 20%-30% of my urban/suburban miles in neutral. If you don't need power, shift into neutral, and stay there. Neutral is also very useful on the highway, or in your case, dual-carriageway (a much more sensible term, I think). Suppose that you're in the left lane (in your case, right lane) and someone's approaching from behind. Make way. Change lanes, shift into neutral, bide your time until an opening in the fast-lane returns, then shift into gear, accelerate and merge back into the fast lane.
[quote=ohio_peasant;57512543]I’ve been driving a stick-shift for over 30 years, and the only time that I downshift is if I need more acceleration.
Quote:
Opinions and best-practices will differ, of course. My opinion? Whenever you right-foot isn’t on the gas pedal, the car should be in neutral. Going downhill? Shift into neutral. Slowing down? Shift into neutral.
If you drive a heavy truck or just one that carries a load (as a tractor with trailer), and it has a manual transmission, then you are a very dangerous driver, because you should never rely on the brakes alone down a hill. If you then place the transmission in neutral and apply the brake to slow down, all you are doing is overheating the brake shoes or disks, which in turn reduces the shoes and pads breaking action. This is one of the first thing truck drivers learn.
However, you are correct about pressing the clutch pedal just ahead of the brake pedal to stop, but to slowdown or coast, what you do is to leave the transmission in the gear you were driving as let off the gas pedal, then as the engine RPM comes down to the right speed you shift down to the next low gear and coast down further, and further as needed... downshifting.
Quote:
Whenever the brake pedal is pressed, the clutch should be engaged (clutch pedal to floor)… or ideally, you’d be in neutral. My instinctive reaction in a panic-stop is to first shoot my left foot into the clutch pedal, while the right foot goes into the brake pedal. This makes it difficult to drive American automatics, with their wide brake-pedal. My left leg “wants” to engage the clutch, and that results in unintentional panic stop, because the brake-pedal gets nudged.
So… when approaching a red-light, stop-light, roundabout etc., first fully press the clutch, and shift into neutral. Then decide what you want. Continue coasting in neutral, or apply the brake, or shift back into some gear – the latter if you overestimate the distance to the stop-sign, and need to accelerate again.
Summary: your left foot should have instinctive, immediate desire to mash the clutch. When in doubt, clutch pedal fully depressed!
Rule? This is dangerous, stupid and wasteful. it prolongs the deceleration-process, increases wear in the engine and clutch, and wastes fuel.
Neutral is your friend! I probably spend 20%-30% of my urban/suburban miles in neutral. If you don't need power, shift into neutral, and stay there. Neutral is also very useful on the highway, or in your case, dual-carriageway (a much more sensible term, I think). Suppose that you're in the left lane (in your case, right lane) and someone's approaching from behind. Make way. Change lanes, shift into neutral, bide your time until an opening in the fast-lane returns, then shift into gear, accelerate and merge back into the fast lane.
There are numerous manual transmission driving training videos in "youtube.com." What some of those videos.
With all due respect, you are way overthinking it: just feel it. Your instructor sounds like a hack, ignore him/her. Driving stick is more about feel than any rules anyone can give you online. You have to develop that feel organically. I could be the most eloquent stick-driving writer in the world, but it would not help you develop the three-foot dance, the feel for when an engine wants a shift, or any appropriate move in any given situation.
If you drive a heavy truck or just one that carries a load (as a tractor with trailer), and it has a manual transmission, then you are a very dangerous driver, because you should never rely on the brakes alone down a hill. If you then place the transmission in neutral and apply the brake to slow down, all you are doing is overheating the brake shoes or disks, which in turn reduces the shoes and pads breaking action. This is one of the first thing truck drivers learn.
Why is it almost invariably the case, that any discussion on manual transmissions in this forum, eventually becomes something about heavy trucks? When somebody bemoans the decline of the manual transmission, the eventual response is, "but what about heavy trucks?" When the discussion is about driveline efficiency, it's not long before we hear, "but what about heavy trucks"?
I don't drive heavy trucks, and presumably neither does the OP. Truck driving is very different from passenger-car driving. I drive passenger-cars, and more specifically, sports cars. If the practices that are normal and reasonable in truck-driving, were to be applied to sports-cars, the result would be, shall we say, less than ideal. Can we agree on that? Let's therefore please leave the driving-practices of heavy trucks, in their own respective domain.
For a passenger car, or a sports car, the brakes have enormously more "power" than does the engine. A reasonable car in good mechanical condition can stop at a deceleration approaching 1g. To accelerate at that rate would result in a 0-60 time of around 2.7 seconds... and how many cars can achieve that?
Why is it almost invariably the case, that any discussion on manual transmissions in this forum, eventually becomes something about heavy trucks? When somebody bemoans the decline of the manual transmission, the eventual response is, "but what about heavy trucks?" When the discussion is about driveline efficiency, it's not long before we hear, "but what about heavy trucks"?
I don't drive heavy trucks, and presumably neither does the OP. Truck driving is very different from passenger-car driving. I drive passenger-cars, and more specifically, sports cars. If the practices that are normal and reasonable in truck-driving, were to be applied to sports-cars, the result would be, shall we say, less than ideal. Can we agree on that? Let's therefore please leave the driving-practices of heavy trucks, in their own respective domain.
For a passenger car, or a sports car, the brakes have enormously more "power" than does the engine. A reasonable car in good mechanical condition can stop at a deceleration approaching 1g. To accelerate at that rate would result in a 0-60 time of around 2.7 seconds... and how many cars can achieve that?
You’re not wrong. I drive trucks, and it’s nice to be at “our level”. But it’s basically feel, timing, and developing a way for your body and mind to get synced with what’s happening. I’ve never encountered a manual which was like the last one, car, truck, or otherwise. You have to rely on feel and instinct.
Let’s not do a braking comparison. Braking is a biiiiiiiiiiig deal for us, way more so than showy shifting abilities.
When in doubt, push the clutch. Clutch is your crutch. But do learn how to use it minimally.
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You have to be talking about Pre-1950 with that 20K figure.
The best thing for me, since learning how to 'take off' was the hardest for me was just to take it to a parking lot a practice taking off from a cold stop like 100 times. Eventually you get the hang of it, and after that it's easy-breezy. The tricky part is all sticks have a different feel. So if I'd buy another stick after selling one, it was getting used to how it shifted all over again. I'd usually kill it the first day or so until I got used to it.
