Just an update, took it out today with friend, figured out what I was doing wrong. Moved the seat forward a bit so my leg is less stretched and I was driving it around town up to 5th gear. Take offs are still rough but not stalling. Even took off from a hill one and didn't stall but jerked and applied too much gas to over compensate and spun the tires a bit.

I am still horrible at reverse. I can let the clutch out slowly enough to get it into first without using the gas, but in reverse it seems more touchy. I find I NEED to apply gas but I cant find a good enough equilibrium (since my first gear take offs are still jumpy themselves) to back out safely.

But this is only after about 2 hours of practice all together today. In all, I only have about 3 hours under my belt. I fel a lot more confident and hearing the engine when to shift between gears is already starting to become instinctual. Even with down shifting.

SUPERXCAT: I hear ya, take it from me, I was in your exact position yesterday. Seemed a little hopeless but if you get a decent teacher, it comes together amazingly. For me, it was the fact that as soon as the car moved and I applied gas, I would then release the clutch too quickly because I figured it was already engaged fully since the car was starting to move. It needs to be the same slow release from start to finish. from when it catches to when the pedal is FULLY out. Slow consistent release with steady gas.

 

what im doing is i step on both clutch and break. release the clutch about half and step on a little bit of gas and i slowing releasing the clutch. but it takes few second to reach the hanging point of the clutch . its okay to do it at flat because it is just noisy but if im at a hill , it's really scary because it is not just noisy , its rolling back quickly. my fd told me to use the hand break but it wouldn't work because i can't get 3 things done at one time now

 

I had the same question when I got my 03. I had been driving a manual corolla and it was smooth and when I got into the Z the clutch felt VERY stiff... 2-3 days of driving I tripled the muscle in my leg lol and now it feels very smooth.

So keep driving and you should be fine. And if you get stuck in big traffic by the time you get used to it, than god be with you lol!

 

yes. my 350z was my first manual. This made a HUGE difference.

 

these clutches stock are some-what stiff, and you must take your time the entire way through, even the last bit of the clutch will make your car jerk a bit when relasing, i suggest saying" eff everyone behind me ima take my time" "slow is smooth, smooth is fast"

 

Squat thrust and calf raises. 10 reps 3 sets every Monday, Thursday, Saturday should do the trick.

 

@bmcmvox

For reverse are you letting out your clutch completely? Try keeping it on the engagement point while in reverse.

First gear is jerking because you're letting off the clutch too fasts. Keep it at the engagement point then when you know for sure your car isn't going to stall let it off slowly.

 

Yeah, I am letting it out all the way. Only let it out a little? Won't that eventually destroy it?

 

Sometimes you don't have a choice. I find it to be overkill when I let it out all the way. Plus when you're trying to maneuver into spots you got to keep engaging and disengaging the clutch anyways. Its not like you're riding the clutch 100 feet in reverse or high speeds.

 

You have to use the handbrake for hill starts, that's what's needed in a manual. If you're quick you might be able to sort of get away with what you've described but it's not really correct.

 

You don't "need" a handbrake for hill starts at all... I was taught how to do it without even needing to be quick.

Assuming car's in neutral;

1) Brake in
2) Clutch in
3) Put in 1st gear
4) Release clutch until it barely starts to grab
5) Release brake (properly done, car should not roll backwards)
6) Apply gas and release clutch rest of way.

 

This thread is embarrassing...

 

Yeah, it's possible to do it that way (I think that's pretty much what he was trying to describe) but it's not really the right way (or let's say "best way") to do a hill start. It gives the driver less control over the car and puts unnecessary extra wear on the clutch. How noticeable those are I can't say, I'm sure it's small and I'm sure lots of people do it, too. I'm not sure how well it would work on steeper hills as a lot of cars would stall if you tried to keep it going on just the clutch, with a steep hill.

 

I've been doing it that way forever. I don't ride the clutch and I'm not in a rush. It's a nice smooth transition from brake to gas. I'm on the clutch maybe a quarter of a second and it's plenty smooth. My '97 honda with 170k+ miles on it never had a problem and it was still on its original clutch. The key is to not ride the clutch. I've been on some serious hills and I've never used an e-brake to hill-start.

 

You don't "need" to use the handbrake when starting on a hill. The only time I've ever needed to do that is if I someone pulled insanely close behind me.

Just start clutching before you come off of the brake and you'll be fine. If you aren't comfortable with it yet, then go ahead and use the hand brake.

And for you beginners, just go to an empty parking lot and give yourselves time to get used to the motions. At first you'll be thinking of each foot's actions independently, but you'll eventually get them working in coordination. Also, feather the gas pedal, you don't need to pin it at an exact RPM.

 

After all the tough talk from the manual drivers in the past...
so this is how they were made...LOL

 

I'm not bashing you if you want to do it - although I don't agree it's "correct"

It's certainly possible, and the wear/loss of control will be minimal at worst - I'm just pointing out that there would be an ever-so-slight extra bit of wear, and more importantly control reduction. But it's minor, yes. To give some perspective to my view on it, I am more concerned when people choose to sit on the footbrake at lights/stopped instead of using the handbrake (probably due to the lights burning my retinas out ).

Small proviso: I am from the UK and US habits/teachings may differ

 

Haha I do that too. I use my handbrake at lights. I hate sitting on the brake. I just don't use it to start.

 

Good man it's definitely of much more use there.

Do you have IAM/Rospa equivalents here in the US (if you know what those are)? Advanced driving stuff (not about driving fast per se, more like driving safely...the techniques do lead to being able to go faster though) - courses/qualifications and whatnot...

 

We do but it's not mandatory. I use autocross as a car control clinic for the most part. It allows me to learn the car in a safe environment - I always try to focus on learning the car more than being the fastest there. Then once I get comfortable, I push it as far as I can.