Am I ruining my clutch?

also by "at the same time i dont mean the clutch should be fully engaged, you should have it just before the bite point when you begin to apply gas

2016 GTI.
I've done the same method in almost every manual I've owned.
Besides a miata with a practically dead clutch.

I also have a MS3.

The clutch is very tricky to get down. I've had mine for about 4 years and there are times when i'm not real smooth.

I'd recommend using the hand brake method for hills until you get the feel of it. Eventually you'll be driving in stop and go traffic on hills in no time.

>dfw always drive shitboxes that take 5 seconds of cranking + foot on gas to start
I never worked up the courage to do hill starts from clutch bite point, I always drift backwards several inches while shitting my pants

Yes

Same color gen2 as mine. yeh like I can do it fine on most hills but yeh the steep hills get me with traffic behind me. The manual car I drove first to learn the basics was so much easier I could drive effortlessly without gas to move off. In the MS3 I gotta use more gas I guess its a finesse thing and I gotta get that balance between the light and heavy part of the clutch. Bit of gas always prevents a stall but I'm afraid its gonna kill the clutch sooner. I just don't understand how anyone could move off with just the clutch without it being very slow.

Its all muscle memory. All you can do is practice and practice. Like I mentioned before, these cars have very tricky clutches. You'll get it eventually. I love in Pittsburgh with a lot of hills and I'm often stuck on very steep hills in bumper to bumper traffic. I don't even think about it anymore

Use the handbrake to hold you while you take off. I even do this with DCT cars.

do you put it in neutral too?

DCTs? No, they're still automatics. I can't even shift to neutral without applying brakes. Manual I would just to not keep the clutch in.