post questions related to driving a manual car here.
relatively new manual driver . what would one need to do to 'burn out the clutch'
and what constitutes as riding the clutch.?
when I'm at the front at a stop light I sit there with my foot pushing down the clutch pedal whilst being in first. some people say that's riding the clutch and some people say that's normal.
and how badly am I fucking shit up if my revs are at around 2k when taking off?
dont keep your foot on clutch at stoplight, you're gonna fuck up the bearings. leave it in neutral. only use clutch when shifting and thats it.
when I'm driving at a low speed, I can't downshift to 1st gear, it won't let me, I have to completely stop the car to shift to the 1st gear, this wasn't always this way, what did I break?
Have you tried letting the clutch out in neutral, then pushing the clutch in and trying to shift into 1st again? You haven't "broken" anything, the synchros have just worn down. It's typical and will happen to every manual gearbox given enough time. All you can do is work around it and make sure your driving habits aren't slowly killing the rest of the gears too.
yes I have, thanks for the answer.
what should I do to avoid wearing my synchros?
First gear is really only useful for getting started. Just downshift to second instead.
By shifting firmly but gently. The less force you use on the stick putting it in gear, the less contact and friction put onto the synchros. Start with fingertip-light pressure, then quickly but smoothly apply more and more pressure until the shifter pops into gear. Get used to the amount of force required at that last moment as it falls in, and make it a habit in daily driving to never shift harder than that.
What really kills a manual transmission's longevity of smooth shifting are dickheads slamming their shifter into gear without taking so much as a split second to feel what the gearbox itself wants to do. Synchros can't do their job when the driver is ripping it out of 1st and slamming it into 2nd. The long and short of it is to not shift like you are in a rush. Not that you should shift slow or anything, but you learn how slow you need to go to be smooth given enough time.
What do you drive, user?
I'm getting my focus fixed, so in the meantime I have to drive my old Diesel Palio, I remember drag racing all the time with it, probably killed my synchros there
This
Even if the car rumbles a little when you apply throttle, 2nd gear is your go-to gear for lower speeds.
First gear is only for getting the car moving.
You should practice not using full gas when in low revs in 2nd gear, just let it roll and gain speed gently until 1500-2000 RPM and then you can put your foot to the floor.
Same can be done in other gears. Let's say someone on a country road has to turn, and you have to brake down a bit because of incoming traffic. Instead of shifting gears because you are in the low end of the RPM, just apply a bit of throttle while in fifth gear until the car stops rumbling and then you can push down the pedal for quicker accelleration.
This also saves gas and wear on the gearbox.
Just don't put the pedal to the floor when you have low RPM, let it rise gradually
If you take care with your throttle, you can start from an intersection in 3rd or 4th gear, it will just go very very very slow to begin with.
What do you guys do when you see a turn you have to slow down for up ahead?
Do you downshift into 2nd or 3rd or do you just coast in neutral, turn, and then go back into gear?