Learn to use the hand brake as your third foot. On a hill come to a stop and set the hand brake. When you go, just ease off the hand brake as you let out the clutch. Easy.

 

Why is anyone learning to drive stick on a 30k+ car? gor ent a vdub or a honda and learn. those trannies can take a beating.

In regard to the handbrake trick. yes it very good but its not a means to an end. your need to learn how to equalize the car with gas and clutch. beaing able to sit on a hill and use both pedals to keep the car stopped. no brake.

hald clutch half throttle. although not the ebst for the clutch it teaches u the feel for the clutch and where and when it grabs. very important for having a "true feel" for the car.

Just my 2cents

 

The handbrake 'trick' is the proper technique for taking off on an incline.

 

I have never been told by anyone to use the handbrake "technique". thought that was just for smeone whos not confterable with clutch gas idling

 

The USA is really lax about driving. My understanding of getting a license in Japan includes the requirement to start from an incline in a MT car without rolling backwards at all. Thus, the e-brake technique. This is one of the reasons why MT cars from Japan ALL have hand brakes, while AT cars may have a hand brake OR foot brake.

At least, this is what my friend stationed over in Japan has told me.

 

mike, I did not know that. Thats very interisting. makes sense tho

 

truly wish that usa had stricter laws on driving. or atleast a over 60 retest kidna deal. i see people everyday that should not be allowed on the road. not just driving but even on a bicycle, should just stay on the grass kinda people

 

This is quite possably the WORST thing you can do to a clutch. You will wear it out WAY befor it's time. DON'T EVER DO THIS!!!!! The clutch was not made for "holding on a hill", it was made to slip ever so slightly when you start in first gear only. I have NEVER had to replace a clutch on ANY car I have ever had except a USED truck I bought one time. Many of those cars had well over 150K on them when sold.

This is coming from someone that had driven a stick in cars, pick-ups and big trucks for almost 35 years. I think mike at riverside will agree with me.

 

New to the boards, not to manual trannies:

One thing to keep in mind is that the whole system is wearable. Your techniques will either...

...minimize wear on the whole system (engine, tranny, brakes)
...minimize wear on 2-3 of the items listed above
...minimize wear on one of the items listed above or...
...focus wear on the cheapest part to replace

example:

DON'T use engine braking just to save your brakes from absorbing some wear, as they are relatively cheap vs other components.

DO use engine braking to keep your brakes from overheating on steep downhills (sometimes, signs will be posted warning of such long/steep hills)

Engine braking is neither right or wrong...it depends on the situation.

Like shifting into first..

Going down into first at 4 mph is neither right or wrong...it depends on the situation (for example, you have slowed to 4 mph and you usually just use/hold 2nd, but now you are doing 4 mph and it's a very sudden incline, like a steep garage entrance. You should have developed an instinct that makes you apply a little brake and down shift to 1st with barely any fwd movement, so that you and the 6MT can take the sharp hill nicely).

If it feels right and sounds right, it's probably right. It should smell right, too! You shouldn't see any smoke and it's up to you to try and taste it! But use your senses when driving a standard tranny.

 

in the 21st century i'm still surprised people don't know what rev-matching is..

 

as a general rule of thumb....you always go downhill in the same gear as you were in while going up....

 

I'm not surprised at all, because I can't believe that many people who drive manual trans don't even know the three or four even more basic things, such as not riding the clutch, or not using it to hold a hill, etc. I know people who downshift through every gear, every time. Believe me, if I explained rev matching, they'd go nuts. I'd first have to convince them they shouldn't even be rowing the shifter through ever gear as they decrease speed, and that 'true' downshifts -- the ones that are NEEDED -- should be used with rev matching.

The other thing that permeates many behaviors is that 'smooth is always good'. Well, even that depends. If smooth comes at the expense of riding the clutch, then it ain't good. On some hills, firm action is actually better. Much roughness can be masked by being slow on the clutch. Heck, being super slow can hide a lot of roughness. Wears the heck out of the clutch though.

 

i'm about to buy a 05-06 G35 Sedan 6MT. My friend took me for a week or two and taught me how to drive a stick. I did a lot of reading online manuals etc etc before i started so i caught on pretty quick. But let me ask you. Slowly using the engagin the clutch is bad? And basically if your saying yuo shouldn't feel the shift on normal acceleration when shifting properly? And if u do ur hurting ur clutch?

 

im a clutch rider =(

 

If I told you to accelerate slowly, because that is better for fuel efficiency, you could not assume the best way to drive would be to accelerate and drive as slowly as possible...like at a snails pace all the time -- that'd be taking it to an extreme.

Same thing with the clutch. You can't just pop it out hard/fast all the time, so when someone says take it slow and easy is always best, you have to consider that a guideline -- but like accelerating, it isn't always practical to do it at a snails pace.

Yeah, in normal driving, accelerate smoothly, be nice with the clutch by having a nice slow action, make your ride smooth and all that. But if you are accelerating briskly you can't just be slow and easy on the clutch because you've got all these engine revs, and if you are so slow on the clutch that the clutch is spending to much time engaging, you might get a butter smooth shift.....but the clutch gave itself up so that you could feel a butter smooth shift. Avoiding the shock/nudge of the shift came at the expense of clutch material disappearing.

In other words, SOMETHING has too absorb the energy/power from the engine. If you don't want a firm jolt or modest nudge forward, then be so slow on the clutch that the friction absorbed by the clutch masks that. It masks it by wearing down.

It should become obvious as you use your car different ways. If you are hitting a super short on-ramp, and the traffic on the highway is doing like 75, and you need to get moving NOW, you will punch it and when it comes time shift from say 2 to 3 then 3 to 4 you are going to instinctively do it hard/fast. What do you care about smooth for at this point for? You already lurched the car forward...jolting yourself backwards and you are accelerating like a banshee....are you really gonna take the clutch up like a turtle so you don't feel the shift from 3-4?