First manual car - have some questions

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conduit
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First manual car - have some questions

Post by conduit »

Hi,

I purchased my first manual car 3 days ago and I've been learning how to drive manual ever since. I do not have anyone to teach me so I rely mostly on the guides and YouTube videos I find online, so naturally, I have a few questions to make sure I am doing it right.

Right now, I do the following when starting off:
1. Push clutch in (disengage?) all the way to the floor.
2. Put the car in first
3. Let go off the clutch (engange?) until it hits the biting point then I give it gas while I slowly release the clutch.

Downshifting:
1. Let go of gas
2. Push clutch all the way in
3. Change to the next lowest gear
4. Slowly release the clutch

When I do this, the downshift feels very rough and sort of jerks me forward as the car slows down, so I do not know if this is the correct way, and if I might be doing damage to the clutch/transmission?

Driving:
To go from 1st to 2nd, 2nd to 3rd, etc... I do:
1. Let go of gas
2. Push the clutch all the way in
3. Change the gear
4. Let go of the clutch while giving it some gas

Would this be the correct way to change gears? I've read online to keep the foot on the gas while pressing down on the clutch to not let the RPMs drop and once the clutch is all the way down, let go of gas, change gear, and give it a bit a gas while letting go of the clutch. I am not sure whether this is the correct way or not?

In general, when upshifting, in order to not have any jerkiness, do you give gas while letting go of the clutch? Or is that bad?

When slowing down, should I downshift to the next lowest gear or only use my brakes to slow down and not downshift? I've heard that downshifting is not good for the clutch and transmission and to only downshift when I need to be in a lower gear to quickly accelerate?

When cruising say in 4th gear and you are approaching a red light, should you leave it in 4th gear and use the brakes to slow down and right before the car will stall, you put in neutral? Or should you slow down by downshifting and using the brakes?

Does it cause any damage to the clutch if you have the clutch pressed all the way down and leave the car in 1st gear at a stop light? I've read that you should leave the car in neutral and only change to first when you are ready to leave, otherwise it will cause wear and tear on your clutch to have it pressed all the way down, but I thought it is always best to have the car in gear in case you need to quickly move?

In bumper to bumper traffic, I sometimes ride the clutch I think but hope not. For example, in stop and go traffic that slowly creeps forward and comes to a stop every 5 feet or so, I have the car in 1st gear and I keep the clutch at the biting point and give it a bit of gas - around 1500RPM to slowly move forward a bit and once I have to stop I push the clutch all the way down and go on the brake, but I never get to fully release the clutch, I am always on it. I repeat this until we move fast enough to fully release the clutch. Is this the best way to drive in rush hour traffic or will this cause me to wear out my clutch very quickly?

How do I avoid causing damage to the clutch and transmission?

Thank you for all the help.
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Re: First manual car - have some questions

Post by tankinbeans »

First, welcome. You'll learn many things here from those with years of experience. There's a poster here, TheHolyCow; read his meta-sig. It's very helpful.

I will try to go through your questions and provide my ideas. There really are no "right" or "wrong" answers, but guidelines.
conduit wrote:Hi,

I purchased my first manual car 3 days ago and I've been learning how to drive manual ever since. I do not have anyone to teach me so I rely mostly on the guides and YouTube videos I find online, so naturally, I have a few questions to make sure I am doing it right.

Right now, I do the following when starting off:
1. Push clutch in (disengage?) all the way to the floor.
2. Put the car in first
3. Let go off the clutch (engange?) until it hits the biting point then I give it gas while I slowly release the clutch.
This is exactly what you want to be doing. Speed and quickness will come with time and practice. Don't worry about being first off the line just yet. You're doing the right thing.
conduit wrote:
Downshifting:
1. Let go of gas
2. Push clutch all the way in
3. Change to the next lowest gear
4. Slowly release the clutch

When I do this, the downshift feels very rough and sort of jerks me forward as the car slows down, so I do not know if this is the correct way, and if I might be doing damage to the clutch/transmission?
For now, practice this. You might need to be going a little longer on the clutch to get it more smooth right now. I'm trying to think about what is needing to slow down, the engine or transmission, but right now I'm drawing a complete blank and don't want to confuse you.

Eventually, you'll start learning how to rev-match; there are multiple methods to do this, but I won't go into them because you're just learning.

Don't worry too much about damaging the clutch or transmission just yet. They can take more abuse than you think. Obviously you're trying to learn how to do things correctly so you're not going to be causing undue stress for too long.

One tip: don't try to downshift into first unless you're practically crawling. It won't be pretty, ask me how I know.
conduit wrote: Driving:
To go from 1st to 2nd, 2nd to 3rd, etc... I do:
1. Let go of gas
2. Push the clutch all the way in
3. Change the gear
4. Let go of the clutch while giving it some gas

Would this be the correct way to change gears? I've read online to keep the foot on the gas while pressing down on the clutch to not let the RPMs drop and once the clutch is all the way down, let go of gas, change gear, and give it a bit a gas while letting go of the clutch. I am not sure whether this is the correct way or not?

In general, when upshifting, in order to not have any jerkiness, do you give gas while letting go of the clutch? Or is that bad?
This is really up to you. Upshifting is usually the easiest thing to do. It all depends upon your goal. If you're okay with a little bit of a jerk you can jab and release. If you want it smooth, you'll add a little gas and release the clutch more slowly. There's really no "right" answer.

Somebody here is wont to say something about 3 metrics: smooth, fast, minimal clutch wear (pick two). As I can't remember the rest, I won't try.
conduit wrote:
When slowing down, should I downshift to the next lowest gear or only use my brakes to slow down and not downshift? I've heard that downshifting is not good for the clutch and transmission and to only downshift when I need to be in a lower gear to quickly accelerate?

When cruising say in 4th gear and you are approaching a red light, should you leave it in 4th gear and use the brakes to slow down and right before the car will stall, you put in neutral? Or should you slow down by downshifting and using the brakes?

Does it cause any damage to the clutch if you have the clutch pressed all the way down and leave the car in 1st gear at a stop light? I've read that you should leave the car in neutral and only change to first when you are ready to leave, otherwise it will cause wear and tear on your clutch to have it pressed all the way down, but I thought it is always best to have the car in gear in case you need to quickly move?
Unless you're moving into a turn there's no reason to go sequentially downward through the gears. I leave my car in 6th and ride it down until it starts protesting and then I pop it in neutral. If you're turning that's a different story. Generally you want to be in 3rd on the high end or even 2nd if you're going more slowly. This way you'll have some power out of the turn. For now you can practice the slow and steady clutch release.

Downshifting is only "not good" for the clutch if you're trying to scrub off too much speed, via engine-braking, too quickly. Going down in the gears is just as important as going up through the gears. Your engine and transmission need to be able to operate under all different kinds of circumstances. Don't be afraid to downshift if you have to.

Stop lights...it's really your call. I used to sit at lights in gear and on the clutch. Now I do whatever I feel like at any given moment. If I suspect the light will change soon I'll stay in gear, but if I'm going to be sitting there awhile I'll give my leg a rest. Ultimately, each way of doing it will create a small amount of additional wear. It's unavoidable. There's minor wear on the release bearing if you keep the clutch disengaged (pedal down) and there is minor wear on other parts as you clutch in and clutch out. Some here will debate the merits and demerits of both.
conduit wrote: In bumper to bumper traffic, I sometimes ride the clutch I think but hope not. For example, in stop and go traffic that slowly creeps forward and comes to a stop every 5 feet or so, I have the car in 1st gear and I keep the clutch at the biting point and give it a bit of gas - around 1500RPM to slowly move forward a bit and once I have to stop I push the clutch all the way down and go on the brake, but I never get to fully release the clutch, I am always on it. I repeat this until we move fast enough to fully release the clutch. Is this the best way to drive in rush hour traffic or will this cause me to wear out my clutch very quickly?

How do I avoid causing damage to the clutch and transmission?

Thank you for all the help.
Stop and go traffic is annoying all around and there are certain things that you can't really avoid. You'll by necessity have to ride your clutch periodically because you generally won't be able to go very fast at times. One thing you can do is to try and leave a little bit of a buffer, other traffic permitting, wherein you can fully let go and creep up in traffic so you're not constantly on and off, but that's dependent upon the cars around you. Eventually you'll figure out what you can get away with and will start to have more fun.

For now, don't worry too much and focus on getting used to your car. You'll learn good habits in time.
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Re: First manual car - have some questions

Post by Rope-Pusher »

I wold add that as you improve, your time to shift gears will decrease and this may smooth your upshifts - if your shifts take so long that the rpms drop all the way to idle before you are ready to engage the clutch again the engine will be turning too slow to drive the car in the next gear and you will need to feed in some throttle before you engage the clutch. As you learn to shift faster, the engine rpms drop less during your shift and they may be right about where they need to be for when you engage the next gear.
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potownrob
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Re: First manual car - have some questions

Post by potownrob »

conduit wrote:Hi,

I purchased my first manual car 3 days ago and I've been learning how to drive manual ever since. I do not have anyone to teach me so I rely mostly on the guides and YouTube videos I find online, so naturally, I have a few questions to make sure I am doing it right.
bring it!! :o :D :twisted:
Right now, I do the following when starting off:
1. Push clutch in (disengage?) all the way to the floor.
2. Put the car in first
3. Let go off the clutch (engange?) until it hits the biting point then I give it gas while I slowly release the clutch.
sounds good. keep in mind always that there are more than two ways to skin a cat, in case you find another way to launch. i'd also like to point out that it's not always easy to tell where the "biting point" is or will be, so i usually recommend letting out the clutch, slowly til you get used to it, and adding gas once you start to either feel the car want to move or the rpms go down from idle. this is more of a beginner's starting point than how an experienced shifter would launch. as others have mentioned, you'll get smoother and quicker in time.
Downshifting:
1. Let go of gas
2. Push clutch all the way in
3. Change to the next lowest gear
4. Slowly release the clutch

When I do this, the downshift feels very rough and sort of jerks me forward as the car slows down, so I do not know if this is the correct way, and if I might be doing damage to the clutch/transmission?
in your early learning, try not to focus on what damage you may be doing. the two exceptions to this would have to be revving way too high on launches, and using the clutch as a brake, which is what you are essentially doing when you let out the clutch slowly on downshifts. if you let off the clutch quickly, you'd be doing damage to the rest of the drivetrain instead of the clutch, which can be even worse (the clutch is designed to be the weakest link in the drivetrain and is much cheaper to replace than the transmission or other major parts that could be damaged by trying to save wear to the clutch). once you get decently smooth at launches and upshifts, i would try to focus on learning how to properly downshift, which usually involves adding gas. this is referred to as rev-matching, and it will save you a lot of grief and add enjoyment to your driving, once you get good at it.
Driving:
To go from 1st to 2nd, 2nd to 3rd, etc... I do:
1. Let go of gas
2. Push the clutch all the way in
3. Change the gear
4. Let go of the clutch while giving it some gas

Would this be the correct way to change gears? I've read online to keep the foot on the gas while pressing down on the clutch to not let the RPMs drop and once the clutch is all the way down, let go of gas, change gear, and give it a bit a gas while letting go of the clutch. I am not sure whether this is the correct way or not?
ok, it can be hard to explain to a beginner how they should be doing things. i would scrap what you read about keeping the gas on. in reality, you may end up keeping your foot on the gas, but this is a bad way to learn when you aren't good at shifting yet. what i would recommend doing for upshifts is to let off the gas as you push in the clutch (all the way), then move the stick to the next gear, then ease off the clutch (don't just let go of it - approaching it like this will lead to rough and abrupt shifts) and get back on the gas when you start feeling the clutch re-engage (if you can feel that yet) as you still ease out the clutch. you can think of upshifting as launching, if that helps you. it is easier than launching for most since you are already moving, so you should be able to do it more quickly than a launch even now as a beginner. that doesn't mean you have to do it quickly though; it's probably better to get it down good then get quicker, than to try doing it quickly before you have the coordination of pedals and shifter down.
In general, when upshifting, in order to not have any jerkiness, do you give gas while letting go of the clutch? Or is that bad?
i see this question as more of an indication than a question. yes you give gas, but the question is when you give gas, and also how and how quickly do you "let go of" the clutch. again, don't let go of the clutch; maintain control of the clutch release until the car is rolling smoothly in the next gear. also, for a beginner at least, i wouldn't recommend adding gas until you get to the "biting point" (which is not a single point on most clutches).
When slowing down, should I downshift to the next lowest gear or only use my brakes to slow down and not downshift? I've heard that downshifting is not good for the clutch and transmission and to only downshift when I need to be in a lower gear to quickly accelerate?
if you are going to ease out the clutch on downshifts, you definitely want to keep them to a minimum; once you learn rev-matched downshifts, you can do them as much as you want. while it's true they can cause wear to the clutch and the rest of the driveline, the wear is minimum, similar to when you upshift. for now, i would slow down with the brakes and only downshift when you need a lower gear to accelerate. also, for now at least, don't use the transmission to slow down the car.
When cruising say in 4th gear and you are approaching a red light, should you leave it in 4th gear and use the brakes to slow down and right before the car will stall, you put in neutral? Or should you slow down by downshifting and using the brakes?
for a beginner, definitely use the brakes to slow down in this situation. even as an experienced shifter, i usually just slow down then push in the clutch when i come close to the light. i may (rev-match) downshift a gear at one point for the hell of it, but it's usually not at all necessary.
Does it cause any damage to the clutch if you have the clutch pressed all the way down and leave the car in 1st gear at a stop light? I've read that you should leave the car in neutral and only change to first when you are ready to leave, otherwise it will cause wear and tear on your clutch to have it pressed all the way down, but I thought it is always best to have the car in gear in case you need to quickly move?
i think the concensus is that it doesn't do any real damage and the clutch will wear out before the throw-out bearing anyway. not sure how true that is, and it depends on how you use the clutch in other situations, but you can keep the clutch in at lights if you want. that said, i personally shift into neutral and let the clutch out if i'm going to be sitting still for more than a few seconds.
In bumper to bumper traffic, I sometimes ride the clutch I think but hope not. For example, in stop and go traffic that slowly creeps forward and comes to a stop every 5 feet or so, I have the car in 1st gear and I keep the clutch at the biting point and give it a bit of gas - around 1500RPM to slowly move forward a bit and once I have to stop I push the clutch all the way down and go on the brake, but I never get to fully release the clutch, I am always on it. I repeat this until we move fast enough to fully release the clutch. Is this the best way to drive in rush hour traffic or will this cause me to wear out my clutch very quickly?
this is essentially what you have to do in this situation. your only possible choices could be stop and go in 1st or 2nd if the traffic is moving quicker. you could try to make more of a gap in front of you to help you to be able to move continually (or whatever the word is for that - without stopping), but that's often easier said than done in real traffic and the way people drive, at least around here. also, remember that it is hard to do any real damage to the clutch or drivetrain when you are not adding a lot of gas (this excludes your clutch-riding downshift), so no or low gas launches and keeping the clutch in are not going to do much if any harm even if they aren't smooth.
How do I avoid causing damage to the clutch and transmission?
i would focus on not launching above 1500 rpms (not adding more than 1500 rpms of gas on launches) and not downshifting with the clutch (avoid downshifting til you are ready to learn to do rev-matched downshifts).
Thank you for all the help.
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Re: First manual car - have some questions

Post by theholycow »

You've gotten some good responses, and I'll throw a few opinions your way too...
conduit wrote:Right now, I do the following when starting off:
1. Push clutch in (disengage?) all the way to the floor.
2. Put the car in first
3. Let go off the clutch (engange?) until it hits the biting point then I give it gas while I slowly release the clutch.
That sounds about right to me. Does it feel ok?

Your use of 'engage' and 'disengage' terminology is correct.
Downshifting:
1. Let go of gas
2. Push clutch all the way in
3. Change to the next lowest gear
4. Slowly release the clutch

When I do this, the downshift feels very rough and sort of jerks me forward as the car slows down, so I do not know if this is the correct way, and if I might be doing damage to the clutch/transmission?
Feed it a little bit of accelerator pedal during step 4. Exact amount and timing will come with practice. The goal is smooth clutch engagement without any drama or silly unnecessary "vroom" noises.
Driving:
To go from 1st to 2nd, 2nd to 3rd, etc... I do:
1. Let go of gas
2. Push the clutch all the way in
3. Change the gear
4. Let go of the clutch while giving it some gas

Would this be the correct way to change gears? I've read online to keep the foot on the gas while pressing down on the clutch to not let the RPMs drop and once the clutch is all the way down, let go of gas, change gear, and give it a bit a gas while letting go of the clutch. I am not sure whether this is the correct way or not?

In general, when upshifting, in order to not have any jerkiness, do you give gas while letting go of the clutch? Or is that bad?
If giving it a little gas smooths it in that situation then that is exactly the right action. Whether or not it's necessary depends on the car and the driver.

The idea is to have the engine RPM match the transmission RPM so that the engine RPM stays the same during your clutch engagement activity. So, engine at 2000RPM with clutch pedal floored, you let clutch pedal up and take your foot off the clutch pedal and at that moment engine is still at 2000RPM, you've done it perfectly. This concept applies to every type of shift; the action necessary to accomplish it can vary depending on what type of shift you're doing. Perfection is unnecessary. You can tell if you did it well by whether the car jerks (and in which direction), and/or by watching the tachometer (some folks prefer to remain blind to information that is available but I find that to be unnecessary).

Sometimes it's impossible to get it right. I had a 2008 VW that kept its throttle open even after I took my foot off the accelerator pedal, holding RPM high even after I've shifted to the next gear. If engine speed was too low I could feed it some gas, but if it's too high, well there's nothing I can do about that. I could just ease off the clutch pedal to let the clutch absorb it as extra wear and resume accelerating, or I could wait, sometimes a few long seconds, sometimes a whole lot of long seconds...but ain't nobody got time fo' dat! I'm trying to go and it's the car's job to do that, I'm not waiting around for some dumb machine, I've got a life to live.
When slowing down, should I downshift to the next lowest gear or only use my brakes to slow down and not downshift? I've heard that downshifting is not good for the clutch and transmission and to only downshift when I need to be in a lower gear to quickly accelerate?
Here's the thing about brakes: They're excellent at braking. They're made specifically for that job and no other job. They work great in cars with automatics and the manufacturer doesn't replace them with lame less-effective brakes in cars with manuals...they work great in cars with manuals too. When you need braking, use brakes. Brake pads are cheaper than anything relating to the transmission or clutch, after all.

That's not to say that engine-braking is bad or that it's never useful; just that you have brakes and you should use them the same as always. Then, in the same situations where you would downshift an automatic (descending Mt. Washington; or going from cruising to a burst of acceleration, when an automatic would downshift itself) you downshift a manual.

Downshifting is not bad for the clutch and transmission, any more than anything else is. Downshifting is no worse for a manual than an automatic. Everything you do puts wear on every part of your car, including transmissions whether they're automatic or manual. You don't spend a lot of time worrying about wearing out an automatic, so don't spend a lot of time worrying about a manual. They're both made to do their job, and downshifting is a major part of that job.

A crappy, sloppy downshift can put on more wear than a well-executed one, of course. You can abuse any transmission with crappy driving. Once you have practice, though, the wear issue is meaningless. Until then it doesn't matter because the only way to get practice is to practice! It will survive.
When cruising say in 4th gear and you are approaching a red light, should you leave it in 4th gear and use the brakes to slow down and right before the car will stall, you put in neutral? Or should you slow down by downshifting and using the brakes?
Depending on vehicle, situation, and my own mood, I might:
- Leave it in gear until it's down to idle, then shift to neutral.
- Shift to neutral immediately.
- Downshift.

Honestly though, what I do most of all is try to avoid stopping, regardless of automatic or manual. I'd rather slow down and cruise through a green light at 20mph than rush up to a red light at 50mph only to have to stop...I have more patience for going slow than for sitting there at a dead stop, and it's more efficient.
Does it cause any damage to the clutch if you have the clutch pressed all the way down and leave the car in 1st gear at a stop light? I've read that you should leave the car in neutral and only change to first when you are ready to leave, otherwise it will cause wear and tear on your clutch to have it pressed all the way down, but I thought it is always best to have the car in gear in case you need to quickly move?
There are few, rare situations in which quickly moving matters (like pulling over to allow an emergency vehicle to pass), and if you are in them constantly then you should drive an automatic. Use the right tool for the job.

The concern for wear while waiting with the clutch pedal floored is severely overstated. You shouldn't sit outside Walmart waiting for your friend to do 15 minutes of grocery shopping with your foot flooring the clutch pedal and the engine idling. That's unnecessary, excessive, but likely harmless wear on the clutch release bearing (aka throwout bearing), which is an inexpensive part that requires a decent amount of expensive labor to replace. It's also going to make your leg tired.

If your leg isn't getting annoyingly tired then you're doing fine. Listen to your leg and your car will agree.

When it's all said and done, I wait at red lights with the shifter in first and the clutch pedal floored. I watch the cross-traffic's light if I can see it and begin letting up the clutch pedal when their light is yellow, about to turn red. I don't like to hold up traffic when the light turns green; as I said, I dislike being at a dead stop. Since you're new to this I bet you already hold traffic up enough; there's no need to make people wait even longer than necessary.
Is this the best way to drive in rush hour traffic or will this cause me to wear out my clutch very quickly?
Stop-and-go traffic is abusive for automatics just as it is for manuals. If possible, leave a lot of space in front of you and try to idle in first gear while everybody else does the "Gas brake honk, gas brake honk, honk honk punch, gas gas gas" thing, whether driving manual or automatic. It's better for the car and your personal stress level. Otherwise, do what you have to do. The car exists for you to use up, not the other way around.
How do I avoid causing damage to the clutch and transmission?
For the most part if things seem smooth and drama-free then you're probably doing fine, and if they don't then you're probably still ok.

If you spend a whole lot of time with the clutch pedal halfway up then you probably need to improve.

If you're unintentionally going "VROOM!" a lot then you could stand to improve a little.

If you're getting severe whiplash from jerking your head around then you'll want to improve. If you're getting moderate jerks then you're probably fine; if you wanted to be as smooth as an automatic then you could just drive an automatic! One fun thing about manuals is choosing just how strongly you'd like to feel each shift, but no matter what you're always going to have more perceptible interruptions in acceleration than with an automatic which basically begins engaging the next gear before the previous gear is fully disengaged (there are many clutches in an automatic).

If you're stalling then you'll want to improve because, let's face it, that's embarrassing and no fun.

If you get lots of grinding then you need to do something a lot better immediately.

If you do stuff with the gas pedal that makes shifts smoother then you're probably doing a good thing.
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Re: First manual car - have some questions

Post by Rope-Pusher »

Let's say that you are driving on the freeway.
"You're driving on the freeway"
And you are approaching your exit
"And you are approaching your exit"
I DIDN"T SAY "SAY YOU ARE APPROACHING YOUR EXIT"!
So at 70 mph you signal to exit the freeway, let off the accelerator pedal, push in the clutch, steer onto the exit lane, and shove the shifter into the 1st gear position, because that's the gear you plan to use after you stop at the bottom of the exit ramp.

"DANGER WILL ROBINSON!"

Actually, the Robot was too late in warning you...if you did what I wrote, you have already exploded your clutch friction disk due to over-revving.

The clutch disk on the input shaft of the transmission will spin at the rpm that corresponds with the vehicle speed and the gear range that is engaged (clutch need NOT be engaged).

So if your car can drive 35 mph in 1st gear with the engine at its redline rpm, then at 70 mph, your transmission engaged in 1st gear will spin the clutch disk up to 2xengine redline speed, which is probably faster than it was ever meant to spin without self-destructing. The friction material fractures and comes loose from the rivets holding it in place and bits-n-pieces of it that resemble steel wool and fireplace ashes will be thrown around the transmission bellhousing and possible take out the clutch release bearing and/or jam the starter drive gear.

Disengaging the clutch from the engine CANNOT save your clutch disk from this terrible fate - it may save your engine from over-revving damage, but if you get the trans shifted into 1st at this speed, the damage to the clutch disk is already done.

Sure, some transmissions are impossible to allow you to force such a downshift, but many new-age transmissions have double or triple-cone synchronizers and every day they not only reward you with long synchronizer durability and light shift efforts, but some poor schmuck gets rewarded with an exploded clutch disk.

Moral of the story, don't shift into a gear range when your vehicle is rolling faster than you could drive in that gear range.
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conduit
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Re: First manual car - have some questions

Post by conduit »

Sorry for the late reply! I got busy at work and in my limited free time, I was enjoying driving :)

Thank you for all the feedback and comments and I will put them to good use. I am getting much better at shifting and feel comfortable. I will need to practice my hill start soon and make good use of the hand brake.

I do have a little problem where shifting into 2n and 3rd makes a clunking noise, doesn't sound like a gear grinding noise, more like a clunk/slight grind noise. I researched online and it seems it might be the synchros so I took it to a mechanic who said to start by changing the transmission oil and see if it improves the situation. When I checked the Audi forums (it is an 07 A4 Quattro), it seems that this is a very common issue and some fresh transmission oil usually resolved the issue for most.

I will keep on reading all the threads on this forum to continue learning in order to truly enjoy driving a manual :D

Again, thanks for all the wonderful answers and help!

P.S Hope I don't need a transmission rebuild :shock:
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