Bad Driving Habits (M/T)
 

I've had this car for almost two weeks now. It's the first M/T I've owned. I learned to drive a stick a few years ago from a good friend so I'm sure there are some things I still need to know.

Surprisingly, I've only stalled a hand full of times while getting used to it. What are some bad habits that you should try to avoid or break when driving a stick? I tried searching but didn't have any luck. Hopefully me and others on the forum can learn and have our cars last a little longer, lol.

One habit I don't do myself but I see my other friends do is put the car in neutral and coast at a somewhat good clip like ~20mph especially when they are going downhill. Better to just leave it in gear and not touch the gas.

Please xcuse my low knowledge on this but why is this a bad habit?

Oil starvation maybe?

I believe lack of lubrication to the internal transmission components. It's also illegal in some states to coast in neutral.

Well the way I was taught - if you are going at a speed like that it's always safer to be in gear so you are ready to move and react if something should arise.

Also, coasting at speed in neutral - oil starvation + waste of gas. Leaving it in gear while coasting wastes no gas and your car is read to move if needed.

Neutral has throttle body on idle speed = fuel being used
In gear while coasting = throttle body shut so no gas being wasted on idle

Cool. What about while waiting at a red light, feathering the clutch; you know the light is about to turn green so you let out the clutch almost to the friction point in preparation for the green light.

Keep it in neutral until you know the light will change. Holding down clutch wears the throwout bearing.

IMO the only really bad habit with a m/t is to ride the clutch. Don't do it. It may be harder on your neck, but it's better for the clutch (and your wallet). The only exception to this may be while on a hill and you're worried you're going to roll back into the person behind you.

Re: coasting downhill in neutral
I only do it when I'm approching a red light or a corner where I know I'm going to be braking.
I'm not sure I agree with the wasting gas thing, but it's no biggee.

file this one under "taking it too far" :p

Holding down clutch is a bad habit of many people on M/T when stop, or coming to a stop with the brake and cluth pedal down at the same time.

Also keeping your foot on top of the clutch pedal while you drive.

I'm guilty of the above, often I find myself doing this more so when in small neighbourhoods and might be shifting between 2nd and having to come to a stop quickly....its like i hate the brake or something lol

learned this the hard way on my previous car. laziness is expensive!

370Z was my first M/T I owned also. Worst habit I learned to break: don't freak out if someone is behind you and you think you're going to roll back and hit them. They're farther away than you think. Maybe as you get used to the friction point and how much gas to apply, you can learn to do a hillstart in the meantime.

--Come to a stop. set the handbrake, go in neutral, relax...you can take your foot off the brake and the handbrake will hold you.
--Light turns green, put it in 1st, start to give gas + slip clutch. When the car feels like it wants to move forward, let the handbrake off and go. No rolling back.

So...what I'm trying to say is don't freak out (you're going to) it will just make you burn the clutch with your reactions hehe. Try not to look in the rearview when you're at a red light.

Good info D, also just wanted to make note that something i noticed when test driving a Z back in October, the clutch tends to engage a little on the high side when letting go of the pedal so might want to keep that in mind when driving the MT Z...of course this is from someone who is used to the clutch on an older 96 civic so your experiences may differ lol

Another bad habit is keeping your hand on the shifter when not shifting, thus holding the steering wheel with one hand. Keeping both hands on the steering wheel (3:00 and 9:00) ensures it won't slip out of your hand and you're ready to make an emergency move should the need arises. :tup:

:iagree: Find a comfortable spot on the floor to plant your clutch foot's heel. I think I started off hovering my foot because I wasn't used to how strong it was pushing back - but that made me do crazy things when the car mvoed forward and my foot came off the clutch fast.

Also make sure the clutch is ALL the way in before you shift.

The Z is my first car with a manual transmission and even though I had driven MTs before, the Z is not the easiest car to start out with due to the high clutch engagement and pretty short window from where it starts grabbing to full engagement. The biggest factor in perfecting your shifting is just to keep driving, granted you need to follow the basics that others have mentioned.

Now that is funny as heck cause i kept mentioning to the sales guy i was riding with that i wasnt used to how much the clutch was pushing my foot back, i never let my foot slip but i did stall the car once just before taking off at a red light, but other than that at highway speeds the Z's clutch felt amazing!

Wow, Thanks guys. My technique was a little more off than I though. I'm guilty of holding the clutch down at red lights, even though I know the cycle and when the light will turn green. If anyone else has more to add please feel free. This will help me and maybe other keep our Zs healthy lol.

i had no idea that u wasnt supposed to keep the clutch pushed in when u was at a red light haha. ive never rode with anyone that put it in neutral at a red light. and im a little skeptical that its hard on the throwout bearing and that it wastes fuel. my car has 23.2 avg mpg. ive always owned m/t's and the only clutch ive ever had to replace was with my first car when i was fifteen because i would ride the clutch so much. i agree that the Z is not a good choice to learn to drive m/t on.

I'm with him. I'm usually always clutched in and in gear at a red light just in case I have to move fast in an emergency.

This is also my fifth M/T vehicle and I've never had to replace a throw out bearing (just jinxed myself). Only clutch I replaced was due to going bigger snail.

Not sayin whats right or wrong, just my technique.

I'm clutched in too unless I'm at the bank or Starbuck's drive-thru.

If it's a long light I am in neutral. If I think it is about to change I have the clutch in and car in gear.

Re: coasting downhill: I keep it in gear and use the gas pedal more than the brakes.

Ah yes, in that case +1

i didnt think of this before but i would imagine that most people do put it in neutral at long longs such as if u were city driving. i rarely do that so i always leave it in gear.

My bad habit is that from a dead stop, I throw in first gear, rev up slightly and disengage the clutch when the rev is on the way DOWN. Kind of weird I know, but this habit was formed when I was DD'ing on carbon clutches before. Easier to engage and not jump forward with those on/off switches we call carbon clutches.

Haha....aftermarket clutches can be a pain after a while, especially unsprung types. I have only had 2 upgraded clutches on previous cars. Both of them on S13 Fastbacks. One was OS GIken and the other was a Euro brand sprung 6-puck (on the car when I got it). Both on CA18DETs.

But back on topic, I always coast in gear so that I am not on the clutch and not using the brake. When I learned to drive, it was on a MT and the guy told me to get on the clutch....put it in gear....and get off the clutch. So basically, to stay off the pedal as much as possible.

Its not

Good tip, I think I still have anxiety on really steep hills...even though I've been driving stick for 4 yrs or so. I should really just take my Z out one of these late nights and practice that....

I've never tried the handbrake technique. The backwards roll on hill starts always seems to be a lot, but really, most of the time you've likely rolled less than 6-12 inches.

:iagree: -- and for getting out of parallel-parked spots (someone at a meter parked right behind you) practicing a hill-start beforehand is definitely a good confidence booster.

I don't mind wasting the gas to coast in neutral. I do it all the time, but generally when I do, I'm ready to react, foot hovering on clutch and brake.

In no way, shape or form is putting the car in neutral wasting gas. Infact, if you're cruising at a "higher speed" (IE 80mph) and go into neutral, the car reads you're getting a higher MPG simply because the engine is not cranking/producing RPM's.

coasting in neutral fuel is sent to the engine to keep it running.

coasting in gear while the engine is mechanically turned by the drivetrain, fuel is cut.

therefore you save fuel if you DONT put into neutral while coasting...

Makes sense to me, although I don't coast long enough for that fuel loss to matter. Maybe 50-100 ft at most.

+1... I try to stay off the clutch as much as possible too. Only use it to shift it into gear or to pop the stick back into neutral.

Dumb question, while in gear, is it bad if you dont clutch in to pop the stick back into neutral?

Source?

ive always wanted to try this...my friends who drive M/T's say its possible and shouldnt harm your car, but you know everyone thinks they know everything about cars :confused:

From the Car Talk guys about holding the clutch in while stopped:

"Dear Tom and Ray:

A friend of mine at work and I have a disagreement regarding using the clutch on a standard-shift car. He says that keeping the clutch pressed in will wear out the throw-out bearing, and I say it won't. For example, he says that when on a hill, the smart driver will put the car in neutral and let the clutch out, keeping one foot on the brake, to save wear and tear on the throw-out bearing. I say keeping the clutch depressed won't cause wear and tear. Who's right? -- Red

RAY: He is.
...

TOM: The second most common type of clutch failure is when the throw-out bearing (also called the release bearing) fails. That's the bearing that pushes the clutch plates apart when you push in the clutch pedal to change gears.

RAY: Used correctly, the throw-out bearing will last much longer than the clutch disc. But if you sit at red lights with your foot on the clutch pedal all the time, you can wear out the throw-out bearing before you wear out your clutch disc. And because that's an entirely preventable condition, we call that clutch murder in the second degree.

TOM: The problem is, if either the disc OR the bearing fails, you then have to replace the whole clutch. To reach either of those parts, you have to remove the entire transmission. And once you've paid for all that labor, you'd be crazy to do half the clutch. On most cars these days, a clutch job is at least a thousand bucks.
"

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