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WOOT! just bought my Z Base+Sports in Black. THE CAR ROCKS...but i keep stalling out. wut RPM should i launch the car at to drive normally? Any tips? its my first stick

:worthless:

Heh...beat ya too it :icon18:

Where in VA do you live?

Break the car in first before you worry about launching the thing... have fun and don't kill yourself.

Im in Manassas VA. PLEASE if u can show me more about drivin stick. dont go to bed yet i need info!

you dont launch a car to start out normally

Maybe i should be more clear...i'm easing off the clutch and onto the gas. i start off at about 2k rpms and hold the car at around 2500rpm as im easing off the clutch when it moves forward a bit. Is this correct?

That's too much.

I take it this is your first manual transmission car, correct?

You should be able to get going really without much throttle at all. Out of habit I usually am at around 1,000 rpm off the line and don't "slip" the clutch for too long. It's a fairly quick engagement and the car has enough low-end torque to get going without much gas.

Really, just spend some time practicing... you'll get better as you spend more time with it. Try to do it with as little throttle as possible... 2,000-2,500 is too much and you'll wear out your clutch pretty quickly making a habit out of that.

Also, just a guess, but you seem pretty young... and maybe this is your first powerful car.... hate to sound like a parent but I've been there before having a pretty powerful car at 17... BE CAREFUL. If you don't know what you're doing you can lose the back end in a flash with this car. It's not very progressive at the limit... too much yaw and it's game over.

Don't take it the wrong way!

2k isnt too much. I do that on my Z and it has 111k and the clutch is perfect.

Additionally, check out this thread over in the Mid-Atlantic forum: http://www.the370z.com/mid-atlantic-...annapolis.html

We're having a Mid-Atlantic Z meet at Gordon Biersch in Annapolis on the 19th of this month. There are a bunch of us in the area, so check it out.

It's on the high side, methinks. If the clutch can take it, though, I suppose it's not a big deal. But generally if you can take off fine at 1k that's probably better than taking off at 2k.

practice taking off smoothly,dont dump the clutch /or ride the clutch.

Great info. I just came back from practicing and read all these posts.... im gonna give it another go and try to launch it as u explained. and really? u can get it to move at 1k rpm? cuz i seem to stall if i keep it much lower than 2k. It feels like the clutch engages so fast. the clutch peddle is really springy ya know?

It definitely takes some practice since only the very top 25% of the pedal travel actually has any control over the clutch. It's all very quick. You'll get the hang of it with more practice.

U described exactly what I was trying to explain. The very top of the clutch actually engages...but it happens quite quickly. i LUV this car i really wanna make this work.

Takes practice. Just dont get frustrated and you will be ok. I was able to hop right into a car and drive manual because of my experience on bikes and 4wheelers. But damn my first 4wheeler it was a PAIN to learn to start off on blacktop!

Ok back again from yet another pratice run. :shakes head:

I tried launching it lower but to me it seems to bog. At what RPM are u completely off the clutch? i when i get it off the line it jerks back and forth really bad. Plz explain. :ughdance:

*Edit* Is that clutch burn i smell? how much is this gonna cost me if i keep practicing lol?

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.

when it comes to learning to drive stick, this is key:

U DRIVE & U LEARN ;)

you'll get the hang & "feel" of it..

enjoy the ride and welcome to the z34 fam!

Good luck with it, I've never tried moving with no gas at all I will have to give that a shot.

-William

2K isn't a bad RPM to start off with - don't over-rev the car...1K is hardly do-able (that's roughly idle!). The goal isn't nessicarily to keep it at 2K. Rev it up to around 2 - 3K depending on how hard/fast you want to take off. Now if you floor it as you drop the clutch to keep it at 2-3K, then yeah, you're going to cause the car to launch forward. The idea is to give the engine a bit of intertia to drop into the drivetrain to get the car from that inital standstill=>movement effort - much like you don't touch first unless you're stopped or are on the way to 2nd gear.

What I do with my truck is I feather the gas (on/a bit off/ a bit on/a bit off) and use that along with the clutch to get it rolling.

But, it's also a vastly underpowered vehicle for it's weight and the torque is crappy (pinto engine FTL!)

The point about rolling the car without touching gas is NOT for you to rely on - it's to break the habit of mashing the gas and potentially stalling the car by letting the clutch out too fast, and/or barking the tires, etc. Once you've mastered the gas-less roll, you've learned the progression of your clutch and have established some "muscle memory"

Adding the gas pedal to the mix after that is pretty easy.

The next thing to learn once you've done that, is to learn shifts without having the engine wind up or jerk the car forward.

I was able to get the car rolloing without using the gas. However, my results are inconsistent. Sometimes it will do it...sometimes i cant quite get it to work without damn near stallin out. I'm doing much better with the car than before. I need to try to get my left leg to 'remember' where the clutch starts to grab lol.

Ooh! I've one more question! How do i deal with stop and go traffic? Ya know, like when i have to move forward like 10ft and stop. and repeat.

Do i just roll the clutch in and out the whole time? For example, ease off the clutch to get the car to roll forward a bit and then disengage the clutch again?

If it is very slow stop&go with only few dozens of feet between stops, I suggest to get it rolling and then immediately depress the clutch again.
Let it roll with idle throttle and floored clutch and focus on braking towards your next stop with the right foot.
Driving very slowly with fully connected 1st gear might get it to stutter or even stall.
You can practice this as well on a parking lot.
Try to find out what the lowest speed/rpms are to drive safely with fully connected 1st and 2nd gear.
Below those you just give short torque impulses and leave the clutch depressed in between during rolls.
Going like this for extended periods of time can exhaust your left foot which has to depress the clutch most of the time.
In this case it is also possible to put the stick in neutral during roll phases to get the left foot some rest off the clutch.

Another skill worth practicing for new stickheads is to start rolling uphill.
You will need this at your first traffic light when going up a road with slope or someones driveway.
Try to hold your car still with clutch and throttle alone and then try to launch slowly from there without rolling backwards.
Increase the slope once you get a hang of it. At some point of steepness you will have to use the parking brake as well to prevent backward movement during the time from when your right foot leaves the brake until your clutch/torque combo can hold the car in place again or get it moving forward.

Remember if you see a cop, floor it!
:tup:

In this situation I was taught to release the clutch half way to get the car moving and then push it back in.

One thing I do with stop & go traffic (depending on how fast/slow it is moving) is I will give myself some room between me and the next guy and get going, then put the car in neutral and roll. I can sometimes go for a bit without having to do anything and most likely the person in front is going to stop, my car will slowly decrease speed, and I am just rolling to a stop.

Thanks for the info. I tried letting half the clutch in to get it to roll then disengaging the clutch fully. Works quite well; I think i'll be able to get to work on Tuesday lol. It's day 3 now and im still a lil slow gettin off the clutch and gettin it moving. Training my left leg after driving automatics all these years sure is alot more work than i thought.