sounds like you start riding it too high if you smell it burning. Piggybacking aka jerking is typical for newbs so its ok. Just go easy on the feet with a 2k release.

'It's ok' as in...'the clutch will last a while before u burn it out.'
or
'It's ok' as in...'you'll only have to replace the entire transmission. Hope u have deep pockets'

*edit* I am terrified of traffic tommorow morning. I'm also thinking about taking the day off, although i shouldnt.

Is this your daily?

Yes it's my daily; and is there anyway i can chat with you directly? I'm spamming the refresh button lol

hit me up on AIM.....its the same name as I got here

I'm installing AIM right now. dont go to sleep plz!

Oh Ill be up

Amagad Blue! my internet died last night, I'll spam ya next time i see u on. My wireless is always giving me headache. I did manage to get to work ok; i only stalled out twice...fortunately no one was behind me. :ugh2:

I agree, normal acceleration and let it brake in before you launch it.

I meant to clarify what i meant by 'launching' the car. I am only concerned with normal take off. I don't imply launching hard and speeding off lol. I need to work on my manual transmission lingo. :driving:

I did manage to get to work today with only two stalls. With more practice its becoming easier.

Learn to get the car moving without hitting the gas in a parking lot to get a feel for the clutch and where the contact point / progression is.

Then, continue practicing, but give it a bit of gas to take off faster.


Wait until you have to use your clutch to "hold" the vehicle on a hill, or, until you have to go from stopped to moving in rush hour traffic while the car needs to uphill...


Also, if you have bery low miles, the clutch may be "grabby" early on. I know my motorcycle's clutch was like that for the first 100 miles...

If you're stalling it, you're letting off the clutch too quickly. Once you learn where the clutch starts engauging, pay attention to your RPM - if they drop, push the clutch in a bit and let the engine "catch up" - then bring the clutch back out to get the car moving again.

The big thing is to listen and feel the car moving.

Now, this car has over 300hp, and a great flat torque curve to it - you shouldn't be stalling it...but sports cars are known for having "quick" clutches. See if you can find someone who's got a manual that you can learn with first.

Stalling out your (new) car can potentially damage things - u-joints namely (hard torque back and forth) - anyhow, enjoy your car. You'll get it.

Burning the clutch is OK when it's new - helps it "break in" faster and get smoother on grab...

But, I wouldn't recommend it much outside of the occasional "oopsie" :)

I bought my truck with 50K on it, and I burned the **** out of the clutch one night by taking off in 5th gear and flooring it, more or less just to see if it would do it. (barely!) - it burned the clutch HORRIBLY - I mean to the point where it wouldn't grab at all...lol.

140K on it now, and the clutch is still ok. It's showing it's age now...


The truck just won't die. Gotta give it to Ford, they make the ranger damn near bullet proof.

What helped me out with my first stick was taking the car somewhere without traffic (get a friend or parent who knows how to drive a stick to get it there with you).

Setup away from traffic/people/anything that will make you nervous or less focused on what you're trying to do, from there it gets pretty easy actually.

Let the clutch out slowly, while giving the car a little gas. You can start off at higher RPM if you want, but if your sitting in heavy traffic and try to dump the clutch at 2k rpm you're likely to rear end the poor bastard in front of you. Try to keep the RPM at or below 1k, the real trick here is just doing it over and over, pay close attention and see at what point the clutch actually starts to engage, once the car starts to roll it's easy sailing from there, continue to let the clutch out slowly and just keep rolling (dont worry about giving it more gas yet, this is just to learn the feeling of the clutch. Once you're rolling put the clutch to the floor, take it out of gear, come to a stop and start over.

You will probably stall the car quiet a few times. Once you have the hang of that, next part would be to follow the exact same steps.. Clutch out slowly around the 1k rpm mark, this time when the clutch is almost fully engaged (your foot off the pedal) start giving it more gas. Then go ahead and drive around a bit, shift to second, and move the car to the starting point and do it again. If you can get the car out of first, the rest of it is nothing =)

With about 30 min of sitting on an empty street or parking lot you'll be driving it like it was an automatic not even thinking about it anymore. You'll love the car so make sure you take your time and enjoy it.

-William

I must say you guyz are providing excellent information. I had no idea id be able to get the car to move without hitting the gas and simply being cautious of the clutch take up point. I am definately going to try this before i leave the parking lot to head home. I'll keep ya posted on how things go.