Oh, Veeky Forums. What are some not so obvious do's and don't's about driving a manual to prolong the life of my car...

Oh, Veeky Forums. What are some not so obvious do's and don't's about driving a manual to prolong the life of my car. Only asking because I'm new to manuals, and clutch replacements are expensive. I was given this semi-old 90k mi/144k km manual to drive and the clutch is already slipping. That shit is expensive.

So I already know the obvious shit, like don't ride the clutch, at stoplights and shit. Don't rest your hand on the gear lever. Don't rest your foot on the clutch pedal. But what are some tiny tidbits no one will tell you? I know a lot of it is newer drivers wear the clutch more than experienced ones, but I just want to be safe with it.

don't try to stick it up your ass and act like a faggot

Revmatch when downshifting instead of spinning the engine up with the clutch. Use handbrake or heeltoe on hill starts.

>Revmatch when downshifting
Not OP, I think that people think I'm trying to tell them to hurry up when I rev match and someone is in front of me.

Nobody can hear you unless your exhaust is really loud.

Don't slip the clutch excessively.

Don't coast in neutral.

That's about it really.

Clutch replacement isn't a big of a deal as you're making out, only retards wear out a clutch prematurely.

>Don't coast in neutral
What's wrong with this? To clarify, you mean when you're coming up to a red light, taking it out of gear and releasing everything while you slow to a stop? If that's what you mean, then what should I do instead? Downshift my way down to first and then stop? I don't know honestly. What's wrong with that way?

>revmatch instead of spinning the engine
I don't think I understand. When I downshift, I get to low enough speed, clutch in, change gears, tap the gas till I'm about 1500-2000 revs, clutch off, and it feels smooth. Is that bad?

Thanks for putting up with me, btw

this. with the right tools and access, a clutch job is your saturday morning at best. cost wise, if you put 1/4 of a cent aside for every mile you drive, you'd be well covered by the time it needs replacement

Don't hold your hand on the stick while driving, you will wear out the synchros in your gear box.

>best

most*

or your foot on the pedal, that'll take out your throwout bearing too

>If that's what you mean, then what should I do instead? Downshift my way down to first and then stop? I don't know honestly. What's wrong with that way?
Coasting in neutral is a bad idea because if something happens where you suddenly need to move to avoid an accident, you're going to be there in panic mode fumbling to get in gear. Stay in gear, do not go into neutral until you're at a complete stop.

As for what you should do while coasting and coming up to a red light, leave the clutch alone. Don't touch it until you get to about 1000rpm. Once you're there, put the clutch pedal in and hold it there while you coast to a stop. If you think the traffic might start moving before you come to a stop, use your discretion and switch down to second or even first (you'll be going slow enough at this point that you won't have to revmatch).

>hold it there
that's not considered riding the clutch though? i dunno. thanks again

No. Riding the clutch is when you've got the pedal halfway. You've released it enough that it 'bites' but not enough that the clutch is making full contact. This results in the clutch burning.

If you're coasting in neutral it's classified as not being in control of the vehicle.

It makes sense, if you need to accelerate suddenly you have to put it into gear before you can move and if you get rear ended at low speed you'll fly into the intersection instead of having the car stall out.

It's just poor form desu, same as people refusing to use the handbrake on hill starts.

Don't ride the clutch
Don't crunch the gears
Change the clutch as soon as it gets a bit shitty
No burnouts
Anything other than this is meme tier advice. Rev matching is a joke desu.

How can I tell if my clutch it's going out? I have a ranger with a 4-spd w/ overdrive. Sometimes when I put it into 1st or reverse or downshifting from 5th to 4th it doesn't want to go into gear unless I wiggle it in gently. If I force it in it will usually make a grinding noise. But other than that the trans will shift smoothly. Is my clutch/trans going bad or is that somewhat normal?

if it starts slipping you know it's going bad

Doesn't seem to be slipping at all. I guess my truck is just old

rev-matching is a meme.

>Coasting in neutral

Try this on an empty road...
>Decelerate while in gear and do an emergency stop.

Then

>Decelerate while coasting and do an emergency stop.

You will then realize why I told you to do this on an empty road

How serious is resting hand on shifter and resting on clutch? I'm so serious, what is the amount of damage being done?

This is a stupid example because this example does not show how coasting in neutral is bad.

Your synchros are going, time to get that box re-stacked.

see
what you described is called rev-matching, yes

are syncros relatively easy to replace or should i say fuck that and let a mechanic do it?

over about 50,000km of doing it you can damage the synchro enough that it needs replacing, same with the clutch.

im with this guy, this is a bad example. if your coming up to a stop light and you put it in neutral 150 feet early your fine.

coasting through an intersection is not a good idea.