if you're worried about stalling while crawling, i would suggest learning
how fast the car can go without any throttle, and how slow the car
can go without hesitating.

it's not unusual for me to be crawling in a parking lot in 1st with
only my foot on the throttle or brake. i don't even cover the clutch
pedal with my left foot cause i know by feel how much i can brake
before the car beings to hesitate. it's almost like driving an AT car.

 

I try that last nite, my car will start hesitate at around 5 mph, if I just
tap the clutch a little bit, I can bring it up again. But I come to those
speed bump, I have to clutch in to avoid stalling.

BTW, why people suggest shifting from 1 to 2 at around 4000? I still dont understand why I cant do it at around 3 or below. I dont feel anything strange about the car?

 

I'VE BEEN DRIVING STICK SINCE 1971..(DOH!)...AND...I ADVISE...BE
EASY ON YOUR CLUTCH...SNATCHING THE PEDAL WILL ONLY RESULT IN
THAT 'JERKY' MOTION...AND LISTEN...TO THE SOUND OF THE ENGINE
AND WATCH YOUR TACH FOR RPM'S...THIS DOES WORK AND WILL HELP
IN MAINTAINING THE LIFE OF YOUR CLUTCH MECHANISM....DON'T TRY
ANY 'FANCY' CLUTCH TRICKS...YET..!!!

 

Thanks, pancakex for starting it!

I just ordered a manual MC and I too have little experience driving a manual. I've learned and know the basics, but just need the real world practice! Luckily my boyfriend has a manual pick-up that I'm going to try to get him to let me practice on while I'm waiting for my MINI (hopefully without damaging his clutch!). I am really enjoying hearing everyone's different tips and takes, and I know they are really going to come in handy once I really get to practicing.

 

I try to shift from 1 to 2 at 4000rpm or 3000rpm, but both give me the
same feel. I am still trying to figure out why it is not good to do it at
3000rpm, anyone has any idea?

 

Yeah, I usually shift around 4000 from 1 to 2 as well. Otherwise it's jerky, which I believe is bad for the transmission because you're not matching road speed and RPMs as well. Basically, smooth shifts = good.

 

That is correct but there is NOTHING wrong with upshifting at most any RPMs ... provided the next gear doesn't make the car "lug" ... too low rpms.

It just a matter of practice and it becomes second nature.

I will shift at whatever RPM I feel like, there is no valid reason for upshift at 4K from 1 to 2 unless you are purposely trying to accelerate quickly in which case you would want to keep in first to 6K or more.

 

Ok, so i'm new to driving stick .. and This is what I do as well! Especially for places I have to be really careful, like backing out of a parking space or going into a crowded garage. I know that this is bad for the clutch but i'm not doing to for toooo long. I can't understand how to go so slow without stalling!! Letting out the clutch while stepping on the gas will result in a speed that is too high for the activities that I described. Same with going in crawling traffic. Is it bad for the clutch even if I do it only for a little while? Can someone please explain? starting from going from a dead start ...

Another thing: I am also upshifting around 3k rpm and trying to keep my rpms at 2k rpms. Going below 2k means downshift for me. I know if i want to accelerate faster and shift faster I need to upshift more around 4k-5k but i'm still in the break-in period and I thought that I am suppose to avoid 4k rpms for now. Thats what my MA said anyway ..

 

No there is nothing wrong with shifting at 3000rpm. As long as you feel that the next gear doesn't make the engine "lug", as in you don't feel the engine revving really low but struggling to make the car move.

Crawling in first gear in traffic in 1st gear, my Cooper (non S) idles at just under 1000rpm, so that equals to about 7km/h (about 5-6mph). What I'll do in traffic is to leave myself enough of a gap so I can let the car roll forward at atleast that speed. If the traffic is moving just slightly slower than that speed, I'll leave a bit of a gap, then engage the clutch to roll forward at 7km/h, then when I get too close, disengage the clutch and perhaps brake a little.

I find that traffic in my city never really crawl that slow though, but I guess that really depends on where you live. Practice starting off without using the throttle, once you learn how to start off with just the clutch, crawling in traffic becomes a little easier. Remember that clutches wear out quickly when hot, so if you practice starting off without using the throttle, you're slipping the clutch as well but at a really low speed, so it's not as BAD. Still, if you could minimize the time slipping the clutch and maximize the time that you're either fully engaged or fully off, that would be ideal.

As for shifts between 1st and 2nd gear, I had a lot of problems with that in the MINI as well to begin with. In a 1-2 shift you'll need to slip it just a little bit to smooth things out, because there is such a big RPM drop due to the gear ratio difference. If you time it absolutely perfectly, you re-engage the clutch right when the RPM drops to match the speed in second gear, and you don't need to slip the clutch at all. So don't worry about slipping the clutch a little, just don't slip WHILE you're revving the engine up. Never have the engine rev up while you're still slipping the clutch except for starting off in 1st gear. You'll know what I'm talking about if you click on the link below and look at the video "Manual Transmission Upshifting"

M5 Driving school videos

These videos are quite informative, however the guy shifts extremely fast. You probably don't want to drive like that if you're new, and it's definitely not the smoothest way to shift. But I think overall you'll get a good idea on what is the best way to shift while perserving the clutch.

 

You can just let the clutch out in little bursts to keep you going slow. Cause if the clutch is all the way out the slowest you can go is 5mph. So if your going slower than that, you can just give a 3/4 clutch out burst to get you rolling then put the clutch back in and roll until you need another burst. Of course, burst still means a slow and smooth out and in. And yea, as far as 1-2 shifting goes, u can do it whenever u want, but just don't bog the engine down, and hit second after the rpms drop so its smooth.

 

Smooth is good. Less wear and tear on clutch, transmission, CV (Constant Velocity joints, necks of passengers, everything. That's why shifting at or about 4000 rpm is good until you get good at shifting a manual transmission. The rpms of the transmission and the time it takes to shift all sort of work together to make the shift smooth. Shifting at 2000 - 3500 rpm. you can notice that the gears don't shift as easily. That is because the synchronizers in the transmission are working to slow or speed up the transmission parts. That further slows the shift and means your clutch work is slower. It all goes more smoothly at a little higher rpm.

My car has the MTH patch so on my car the engine does not "hang up" and stay at high rpms for a while after letting off the gas. This is an emissions issue. So you might experience a little different shifting experience.

 

Yeah I guess that makes sense and in fact is what I do. I guess I only keep the clutch and gas in the middle when going up my short but steep driveway. Thanks for the info

 

everyone on this forum is so scared of the clutch gettin hurt or something

alot of people i know that drive stick, do tons of things everyone in here thinks are horrible for clutch life. riding clutch on hills, half clutch in for traffic, leaving it pressed in at a red light , etc.

i mean obviously these are things that CAN damage your clutch, but in 2006, I doubt they really will do much until the clutch is very old

 

ok, you try it everyday and let us know how long your clutch and OT bearing
lasts at your expense.

 

eh i mean i understand the right way and whatnot, but i think its kinda like the "dont swim for 30 mins after eating" rule.

is it better to wait 30 mins to swim? sure. is it gonna kill you if you dont? probably not

 

u wanna drop clutch life?

the other day I was driving with flip flops on and somehow the back kinda got stuck to the soft part on the floor mat under my gas pedal.

anyways, ending up launching at like 5000 rpms peeled out for like half a block, lol

 

When you become good at working the basics with the clutch, come back and ask us how to rev-match, heel-toe, and (just for kicks) double clutch.

-

 

I didn't read all of the replys.. but granted you shouldn't have the clutch in for long periods of time. but popping the clutch in any gear isnt good either. you can let the clutch out fast but before its fully out slow things down and try to get the right gear for the speed your traveling. your left and right foot work together.

 

and you would be suprised how fast a new clutch can burn out :impatient

 

Wow this is a great thread! Thanks to all of you who posted tips. I was looking for advice on this topic. I fear that I may have become a member of that burnout clutch club too by the sounds of what I read! I guess I have been used to driving really old cars with lots of issues and I got a habit of riding the clutch. Well I've only had my car two days so its not to late to change!

 

The first thing I was shown when I learned to drive 'stick', 'standard', or 'manual' as it's called down here, was to sit on a flat surface, with only your left foot on the clutch and slowly let it out until it engaged and the car started moving. I did it over and over again until it became intuitive as to when the car was fully engaged in the gear. Then I put the clutch in as the car started to labour.

Only then did I start playing with the accellerator. Once I had the transition smooth, I started the process again on an incline....

I showed another friend the same technique, and he told me that of all the people that had shown him how to drive manual, none of them had done that with the clutch, and it made things so much move obvious to him.

Ask a regular driver how to shift and they'll say something useless like 'you take the clutch out once you've put the gear in'....not very helpful really...

 

are you saying while the car is in nuetral just practicing? or actually letting the clutch out slow enough so the car moves. I dont think that works on the MC. but that is how I was taught in an old jeep as well =]

 

Not in neutral, put it in first. Then sloooooooowly let the clutch out until you start moving! I would assume it works in a cooper? You'll have to try and find out! It works in my S.

 

Originally Posted by tshizzle...
"everyone on this forum is so scared of the clutch gettin hurt or something... i mean obviously these are things that CAN damage your clutch, but in 2006, I doubt they really will do much until the clutch is very old..."

I've been driving for 20 years, so imagine the shock when I had to replace my clutch after 23,000 miles... now suffering clutch-phobia

 

the MC takes alittle more than the s to go I believe haha. You can get it to roll alittle by pumping it but I dont think you can go slow enough for that in the MC ^__^