I have a 05' 6mt and I am pretty new to driving stick. The question I have: Is it ok to just push the clutch in jsut enough to engagment point (which is VERY high) ? Or should I have to push it all the way down, am I harming anything by only going slightly past engagment and coming back off ? I am new to driving stick-shift and also to the 6mt. I have been using the search function for a while to avoid starting a new thread now and can't get the answer I need. Any opinions and answers are appreciated. Thank you

 

Push the clutch all the way down!!! In the lower gears, mostly 1-3, is the only time you really need to feather the clutch out and come up slowly for a smooth shift. Once you get to the higher gears, you can basically let the clutch come up faster if not totally by itself (depending on driving conditions). Once the clutch engages on the way up, and you are back on the throttle (again for a smooth shift), you should be letting the clutch out fully. Tougher to explain then to show, but think of it as a see-saw. Push the clutch down, then throttle comes up and vice versa.

IMPORTANT: The clutch is not a foot rest. Do not get into the habit of keeping your foot even near it until you are going to shift. Do not "hover" your foot over the pedal either as in time you wil lget more relaxed and begin to rest ur foot on the clutch.

 

^^^what he said, also try to rev-match will down shifting and upshifting. although if you shift fairly quick, you dont have to rev match on upshifts, cause you can catch the right RPM on their way down

 

all the way down. you're going to prematurely wearout the syncros'.

 

Absolutely push the clutch all the way down. For some other great advice follow what diesel1 has to say.
After a month or so of driving it will all be second nature to you and you won't think about shifting or clutching at all.
Good luck.

 

Thanks so much for all your responses. When I first had the car in the first week I was pushing the clutch all the way down untill I got use to engagement point. The problem I felt was that if i took too long while going all the way down and back up, my rpms would drop. Is this because I'm taking too long ? not giving enoug gas ? both ?

 

Don't worry about the rev changes between gears. It's normal. Just be a little more gentle with fully releasing the pedal when the revs are not closely matched especially in the lower gears 1,2,3. With more time you'll probably learn to shift a bit more quickly minimizing the difference anyhow. You'll be doing it right when there is a minimum of jerkiness. When you have more experience you can also learn to rev match with a throttle blip particularly for downshifting which makes everything nice and smooth.

 

i just got my 03 g35 i got her on e-bay for 29000. Anyway i had a wrx b4 this. What a differance. But when i am driving i noticed that after 1st gear when driving the cluth engages with barly a push down. Should i be depressing it all the way down. Cause right now i barly have to push it down to shift. Please let me know i dont want to screw anything up in my new car.

all the way down. you're going to prematurely wearout the syncros'.

 

by the way this isent my first stick i know how to drive them its just the clutch in the g seems extreamly funky to me? please let me know asap

 

If you can put the shifter into gear without forcing it or even worse, hearing/feeling any grinding, that means you are past the point of contact between the pressure plate and the flywheel. i.e. there is a full separation of the two.

Anything before this point (you have to force it, or hear/feel grinding) ...you are causing damage.

 

yea i knwo that but in my g and maybe other how far down do u have to depress teh clutch mine is maybe 3 inches if that down and ur good to go other than in 1st gear. Should i be pushing it down all the way

 

when entering a gate, yes, you should depress all the way regardless of the gear.

when entering neutral, you don't need to depress the clutch if you don't feel
like it. you can just blip the throttle a little bit and the shifter will enter N
without much effort. you're not using any syncro when entering N so
there's nothing to wear other than the TO bearing if you do
step on the clutch to enter N.

 

Good Resource for me since I'm in the same boat brother.

http://www.standardshift.com/faq.html

My GCoupe/Skyline is the first Manual I have ever driven other than the cars I've test driven that were manuals.

It's rough on me getting used to it. I can drive the thing, but my shifting is slow and sometimes I get a "JERKY" shift.

Hope this helps!!

-Silver Bullet

 

THANX A BUNCH that did help :O)