Bad Driving Habits (M/T)

Originally Posted by Augustus

Resurrecting an old thread but I thought that'd be better than starting another one. Curious on how you guys do a normal, flat-surface start in 1st. More vs. Less slip.

Had my Z for a month. My 2nd manual but the first one (WRX) I only had for a couple of years (bought new) to about 25k miles, so not long enough to understand long-term effects. Had a few bikes too, so clutches there but only about 10k total miles on them, not enough to know long-term.

Buddy at work has a daily-driver Cobalt but also a nice Mustang GT/CS that he drives on nice days. Both are manuals. I notice that when he drives, he uses a lot more revs & slip than I do to get going. Not a lot, perhaps 1,400-1,600 RPM for the 'stang, perhaps 2000-2200 for the Cobalt. Then clutch out smooth, but somewhat slowly -perhaps 2 or 3 seconds of slip - and go. Makes for a very smooth takeoff. A fast launch is more revs, but more or less the same amount of slippage. AFAIK, he's never had any clutch problems and he's had manuals for several years now.

I've got it in my head that I want the least RPM and least slippage I can get away with. So when I take off, I'm basically starting at idle (unless it's on a hill, then there's got to be gas). Just at the friction point I'm feathering the gas and coming off the clutch smoothly but quickly, perhaps 1-1.5 seconds for a normal, flat take-off. So by 1k RPM, I'm off the clutch and I'm applying gas to move. But in doing this sometimes I do get a bit of clutch chatter or rattle/clunk from the transmission when I let the RPM's fall too close to stalling. Though I have never stalled my Z. A fast launch would involve 2000-2500 RPM's and a very fast clutch release.

So, who's doing it right?

My buddy's method does result in smoother takeoffs, so I'm thinking his technique is superior. But I've got it in my head that slipping like that is a bad thing for the clutch. While I won't likely have this car past 50-60k miles, I would rather not wear out the clutch (or transmission) prematurely.

Do I need to chill out on 'saving' the clutch and purposefully get the revs up a bit more for the sake of smoothness? Or is the no-slip method better, but I just need to work on more finesse with the clutch/throttle to avoid chattering/clunking?