Stiiiick Shift
#1
01-06-2007, 10:43 PM
Stiiiick Shift
Well,I got my 99 EX Honda Civic running, but its a stick, and I'm just hardly getting used to it.
Problem, since I'm a noob at stick-shift, I can't seem to get a good start. It either stalls, or JUMPS.
But jumps I mean, its not a smooth start. It jumps and i'm good.
Also, the gas is SOOO sensitive, it seems as if I were to hardly gas it, it jumps at 4000 rpm.
Any suggestions on how to improve this? I know theirs guides and tutorials, and I've see them, but its not good enough information provided.
Problem, since I'm a noob at stick-shift, I can't seem to get a good start. It either stalls, or JUMPS.
But jumps I mean, its not a smooth start. It jumps and i'm good.
Also, the gas is SOOO sensitive, it seems as if I were to hardly gas it, it jumps at 4000 rpm.
Any suggestions on how to improve this? I know theirs guides and tutorials, and I've see them, but its not good enough information provided.
#2
01-06-2007, 10:47 PM
RE: Stiiiick Shift
When it stalls, ur not giving it enough gas. When it jumps, you let the clutch out too fast. Practice makes perfect, go to an empty parking lot and practice.
#3
01-06-2007, 10:50 PM
RE: Stiiiick Shift
well 1st gear is the hardest one to get used to....basically start off doing everything SLOWLY, when i say slowly like overemphasize the slowness...regardless of how much gas you give it as long as you slowly release the clutch it neither will stall or buck around like a horny bronco. The best way to learn is to find someone who can physically help you out a little, learning stick is a hands-on teaching experience, it is really hard to describe with words.....
#5
01-06-2007, 11:16 PM
RE: Stiiiick Shift
The commonmistake people do while learning how to start is to keep releasing clutch slowly from the very beginning. By the time clutch actually starts engagingleg muscles arealready tired and don't operate smoothly. I just copy/paste here the article on stick shift driving from my site:
And practice, practice, and practice....
It does not take the whole travel of your clutch pedal to engage/disengage your clutch. The engagement process itself usually occupies less than a third of its travel. All the rest is just a kind of a cushion zone. So, the first thing you do – you divide the whole travel of your clutch pedal into three zones. First being “still fully disengaged”, last being “already fully engaged”, and the middle one being just that - “engaging”.
Why would you want this? Because what really matters for how smooth you are able to start your car is how you operate clutch and gas pedals when you are in “engaging” zone.
Your next task is to get a feel for where engaging zone begins. You can find it really easy – when you slowly release your clutch pedal, you reach the point were engine sound starts to change a bit and, if you have tachometer, you see a slight drop in engine rpms.
Well, telling where engaging zone ends is not that easy. You can’t really do this when you are just starting to learn, but don’t worry, this will definitely come just a bit later.
So, now we are ready to start. After all this preliminary explanation the actual process of starting sounds really simple:
- depress the clutch pedal
- shift into 1st
- quickly release clutch pedal to the beginning of engaging zone
- while in engaging zone, simultaneously release clutch pedal and depress gas pedal, trying to keep engine rpms slightly higher than idle
- as soon as you reach the end of engaging zone, drop release the clutch pedal – you don’t need to smooth it anymore
- operate gas pedal to accelerate.
That’s it! You are up and running!
Why would you want this? Because what really matters for how smooth you are able to start your car is how you operate clutch and gas pedals when you are in “engaging” zone.
Your next task is to get a feel for where engaging zone begins. You can find it really easy – when you slowly release your clutch pedal, you reach the point were engine sound starts to change a bit and, if you have tachometer, you see a slight drop in engine rpms.
Well, telling where engaging zone ends is not that easy. You can’t really do this when you are just starting to learn, but don’t worry, this will definitely come just a bit later.
So, now we are ready to start. After all this preliminary explanation the actual process of starting sounds really simple:
- depress the clutch pedal
- shift into 1st
- quickly release clutch pedal to the beginning of engaging zone
- while in engaging zone, simultaneously release clutch pedal and depress gas pedal, trying to keep engine rpms slightly higher than idle
- as soon as you reach the end of engaging zone, drop release the clutch pedal – you don’t need to smooth it anymore
- operate gas pedal to accelerate.
That’s it! You are up and running!
#6
01-06-2007, 11:22 PM
RE: Stiiiick Shift
yeah, you dont have to push the clutch pedal down all the way to shift.....i have really noticed this on my 1994 ford ranger with 164,000 on the original clutch. all i have to do is push it down slightly and shift.
same thing on my 00 ex coupe.
same thing on my 00 ex coupe.
#8
01-07-2007, 12:38 PM
RE: Stiiiick Shift
^ That makes sense in racing when you want to squeeze every extra millisecond, but does not make any sense in daily driving, cause if you push it just a tad less than needed, you’ll get nasty grinding and extra wear for your tranny. Not worth it IMO.
