Okay. Here goes. I figured I would just get used to this from my car, but it has been driving me crazy lately. The takeup of the clutch and the clunk going into 2nd gear.

I own an 05 MT. I have done all kinds of searching and found lots of threads talking about trans problems, specifically noises and 2nd gear clunks. But in all of those threads there are people with the problem, and people who call them idiots and say "learn to drive". I need to know if starting off in 1st, reving to about 3k and then shifting to 2nd gear should create a noticable sound from the transmission. It is not a grind but a very lound clunk (as if lots of mettle bars are impacting under the hood). Strangely enough when making a turn and shifting into 2nd mid turn, 2nd gear engagement is butter!

Also is there a solution for the abrupt takup of the clutch? The engagement is high, but it seems that the last few centimeters really cause the clutch to grab hold. This results, if your not super patient or feathering the clutch with alot of gas, in a small buck as the RPMs bottom out. I have always launched MTs around 1200 RPMs, and have never had a car be so difficult to launch smoothly. 10k miles on this car and it still makes me look like an newbie.

Perhaps this is just a vent, but I need someone to tell if I should be concerned about the trans (or not), and if there is a different clutch setup which, dare I say, is more forgiving.

Thanks for any advice. I love this forum.

 

It will clunk if it's not a smooth shift (revs matched)...I have often found that when I shift from 1st to 2nd too fast the engine does'nt have time to slow down to the rpm range it would be in while in second gear so ya get a little lurch.I find that this is less noticable as I drive harder and shift at 4k or better from 1to 2....Really...smooth gear changes are just practice like most of the folks ill say.
Now if you have some other noise you should have the stealership look at it..after all that's what the warranty is all about.

 

I just switched from a S2000 and clutch engagement is VERY high compared to the S. But, I've noticed that shifting at higher rpms (around 4500-5000) smooths out the shift significantly...maybe the way the synchros are set in this car.