Holding the clutch down at lights is find while in gear is fine and you rarely see the throwout bearing go out before the clutch under normal conditions. I wouldn't hold it down long while your moving however. The basic principle is to let the clutch engage and disengage with the shortest amount of "pedal" movement time as possible while keeping the shifts smooth. Sometime this cant be helped like in stop and go freeway traffic, so you just have to practice a bit more.

Nope I think that the clutch is not under warranty. :shakes head:

yah, on these organ pedal cars i use the side of my right foot while pressing the brake pedal. on traditional pedals i use both technies...side of my foot for light braking and blip and my actual heel on the thottle for heavy braking and blip.

imho unless you can do these acrobatics you should just stick to AT. :tup: i use it not just for turns but using engine braking assist while braking straight. it's second nature once you get the hang of it.

actually i (and im sure many others) use heel and toe while going up a hill from a standstill as well.

anyway, gl with the new car. :tup:

Why do you need to use the brake if your engine braking in a straight line? Isn't the point of engine braking to brake with the engine instead of the brakes?

I thought heel & toe was used so you are in the correct gear coming out of a turn. In which case, you don't want engine braking because it will upset the balance of the car.

You can just blip the throttle for engine braking without using brake altogether. You don't need to heel toe to enjoy a manual. It's just one of those things that separates a skilled driver from a normal daily driver.

The main thing is just to rev match downshifts and both of you guys are right. Sometimes engine braking won't be enough so you need to brake while downshifting while other times the engine braking is sufficient so all you need to do is downshift while matching the revs.

The best advice I could offer would be to get the car out on some very infrequently traveled road, or an open parking lot, and practice the clutch from stop to start and between 1 and 2. These two will provide the greatest headaches for someone who is relatively inexperienced with MT's . Most of us will tell you that the 1 to 2 shifts in the Z are a PITA even for experienced MT drivers. Everyone is different. I usually bump the shifter into neutral and coast when coming up on the car ahead in stop and go traffic. I do not keep the clutch engaged the entire time. I am paranoid about this. You are going to get queasy every time you take off from a stop in traffic until you get used to the MT. You will likely even stall it out a time or too, when you get jumpy. Just practice, and try to relax. There is no set rule for everyone. This is really just a comfort level. Forget any heel/toe stuff. Most experienced MT drivers do not master this.

Another question:

In the even the clutch pedal drops to the floor what do I do? I ask because this was common on 07-08 Zs where it would just happen randomly (no hard driving) until a slave cylinder recall happened. When the clutch drops like that, is it fully disengaged allowing me to throw it into neutral and carefully coast off the road?

I've been told you'll have to get off the road, shut off the car, lift the clutch back up and let the car cool off?

Luckily, I have a nicely paved and empty alleyway behind my house where we park our cars. Even nicer is that one side of it has a pretty steep hill where I'll be practicing my hill starts! Hahaha.

very good advice. i came over from a 350 6mt. but when i test drove the 370 6mt the 1 to 2 shift was a pita and thats why i bought the 7AT....Sorry went to the dark side

Sorry noob question, I'll be getting my Z in the coming year, what's so bad about the 1st to 2nd shift that's such a pita? I've driven other MT vehicles, Scion, Civic, even a Korean Bongo, never really had problems shifting from 1st to 2nd, mine was always dead stop to 1st without stalling a couple times. (This has recently been learned and I don't stall out nearly as much as I used to, hardly at all now, but I haven't driven the Z yet.)

It's a little "notchy" shifting from 1st to 2nd in the Z and takes some practice to do it smoothly without snapping your head back. It's hard to describe and just something you have to experience first hand.

Oh ok, when I get back from Iraq next year I'll be able to see how it feels. Getting excited thinking about getting behind the wheel and feeling the increase in performance over my 2003 Hyundai Accent GT. >_< (hangs head and waits for pointing and laughing to commence.)

I got a question for the M/T vets, so I figured I'd bump this old thread, instead of starting a new one.

A few years back, a friend of mine taught me how the drive a M/T car (civic, don't know the year, but it was older). I never ventured out of the deserted parking lot, though. I've also been riding street bikes for almost a decade. Okay, enough background, here is the question.

On a bike, when you're in the friction zone, the bike will move forward (on level ground) without opening the throttle. Is the same true for a car? Does it put unnecessary strain on the car?

From the thread, I get that you can feel the engine slow down and you can feel it "grab", but will it go with no gas? When it's time to drive off the lot, I hope nobody is looking and I don't over think it, LOL. I might let the wife do the honors since she has more xp.

Lightly releasing the clutch will let you roll a bit, if its brand new then its likely you wont be able to do this. Also, a Z isn't like a civic so its line driving a new mt car again. You'll stall.