Advice on driving the Type R

[Gansan]

No, its not "riding" the clutch if the clutch is "fully" depressed. At this point, the clutch is disengaged. However, if you only depress the clutch lightly so its still partial engaged, then you're "riding" the clutch and that will give you a smell like burning brakes. You don't want that. Think of motorcycles. They always have their hand on the clutch lever. It's how you drive a manual. In stop and go, my feet are hovering over the brake, gas and clutch the whole time ready to mange all three while I am in stop and go or slow moving traffic. It's a dance. The only time your foot is not hovering the clutch pedal is if your cruising along. Otherwise, before a turn, in a turn, slow moving traffic your foot shoot hover the clutch pedal. You may need to engage it if conditions change or if you need to "feather" it due changes in speed under slow down or exiting a moving traffic. It's not always press clutch, shift and forget. Your always staying close to the clutch pedal in traffic.

You're right about the definition of riding the clutch, but he's talking about the throwout bearing, which is in between the clutch fork and the diaphragm. If you sit for minutes every day with the clutch pedal depressed waiting for a light, for instance, you are going to wear out your throwout bearing quite a bit faster. It's a dry bearing with only limited lubrication. It's a good reason to sit in neutral at the light or waiting for someone in the parking lot.

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[Bandit_TypeR]

You're right about the definition of riding the clutch, but he's talking about the throwout bearing, which is in between the clutch fork and the diaphragm. If you sit for minutes every day with the clutch pedal depressed waiting for a light, for instance, you are going to wear out your throwout bearing quite a bit faster. It's a dry bearing with only limited lubrication. It's a good reason to sit in neutral at the light or waiting for someone in the parking lot.

Fair point. I don't stay on the clutch at light or if traffic has stopped as I mentioned. I will put in neutral. But, my left foot is almost always hovering over the clutch ready to depress it depending on driving conditions.

 

[Bandit_TypeR]

Fair point. I don't stay on the clutch at light or if traffic has stopped as I mentioned. I will put in neutral. But, my left foot is almost always hovering over the clutch ready to depress it depending on driving conditions.

I have driven manual since I was 17. I am 57 now. Never burned out a clutch or bearing. Clutches last a long time if you're driving correctly. My last car was a 6-spd manual '04 330i. I didn't replace the clutch until I cleared 100k miles.

 

[Gansan]

I have driven manual since I was 17. I am 57 now. Never burned out a clutch or bearing. Clutches last a long time if you're driving correctly. My last car was a 6-spd manual '04 330i. I didn't replace the clutch until I cleared 100k miles.

Totally agree. I've also been driving manual since 16, and I'm 54. We old timers and new drivers alike need to keep the manuals alive!

 

[menikmati]

I have driven manual since I was 17. I am 57 now. Never burned out a clutch or bearing. Clutches last a long time if you're driving correctly. My last car was a 6-spd manual '04 330i. I didn't replace the clutch until I cleared 100k miles.

I have no clue how my STI is at 170k miles (and ticking) with the stock engine and clutch.

 

[Bandit_TypeR]

I have no clue how my STI is at 170k miles (and ticking) with the stock engine and clutch.

Cause you drive it properly! These cars can be driven hard. They're made to be driven hard. You just need to drive them properly. If you rocking the clutch to stay in place on a hill, that's not good. If you dump the clutch on take off, that's not good. There's almost no clutch wear shifting while moving. Cars last a long time under good drivers. I sold that ZHP 330i on an auction site at 135k miles on it and it drove like the day I bought it. Dead straight, rev'd to redline like a sewing machine, no shakes at high speed. I hope my CTR lasts a long time because soon there will be no manual options, especially in a performance car.

 

[Cueyo]

Turned off my biggest set of training wheels today, the auto rev match. I can't help but feel (and see) that I've gone back a whole 4 days in skill. Rev matching on downshifts takes 90% of my brain power haha. I find myself drifting out of my lane as I try to do it. I've only actually done it for like an hour now, but I can at least see improvement

Any tips on getting my rpm right the first time on a downshift? Also my upshifts initially seemed a little more difficult, does auto rev march help with that too, or am I just getting placebo'd?

 

[Rhorn]

Id honestly just leave it on and just work on one thing at a time so you don't overwhelm yourself.

Rev match downshifting is pretty easy and so is heel toe (provided if the pedals are spaced out) but you need to know your fundamentals first.

For what its worth I still use auto rev match.

 

[Amm5890]

Yeah auto rev match holds the rpm a little bit on upshifts too. You still gotta wait for the rpm’s to drop a bit to match the upshift but it lets you take your time with the shift.

 

[Cueyo]

Yeah auto rev match holds the rpm a little bit on upshifts too. You still gotta wait for the rpm’s to drop a bit to match the upshift but it lets you take your time with the shift.

That makes sense, I've been driving a bit more and have gotten better, but 2-3-4-5-6 is way harder

 

[Clark_Kent]

Turned off my biggest set of training wheels today, the auto rev match. I can't help but feel (and see) that I've gone back a whole 4 days in skill. Rev matching on downshifts takes 90% of my brain power haha. I find myself drifting out of my lane as I try to do it. I've only actually done it for like an hour now, but I can at least see improvement

Any tips on getting my rpm right the first time on a downshift? Also my upshifts initially seemed a little more difficult, does auto rev march help with that too, or am I just getting placebo'd?

Auto rev match isn't a training aid, it's a performance feature. I have the feature on two cars and it's always enabled and I'm not interested in disabling it. I appreciate the novelty of heel toe, but it's not something my size 14 feet miss.

 

[Cueyo]

Auto rev match isn't a training aid, it's a performance feature. I have the feature on two cars and it's always enabled and I'm not interested in disabling it. I appreciate the novelty of heel toe, but it's not something my size 14 feet miss.

It's definitely nice, but in my case I feel like I should learn how to rev march myself before relying on it. Definitely overwhelming for me now, couldn't imagine it with size 14 feet

 

[lilDumpsterRat]

if youre not gonna use revmatch you need to remember roughly what rpm the car likes at what mph in 2nd, 3rd and fourth mainly. but it doesnt need to be spot on if you slightly slow down letting off the clutch on a downshift
that said, itd be better to muscle memory how much throttle youre giving for each downshift and listen to the rpms of the engine. Once you master it youre not going to be looking at the rpms that much.

 

[Fl5#727]

work on getting the car to move woth no gas pedal, i mean in gear let off the clutch you will feel
it grab and let go it will roll foward and strat driving. Mine can get up the drivrway with no gas,.

that is how I learned in 1998, bought a 98 civic ex, my mom drove it home from the dealer for me haha. i just drove a lot at night, no reason for a panic attack when you are the idiot that stalla out 12x lol , it happened to me, i jumped out and threw my shoulder into the door frame and pushed myself out of traffic haha

this is good advice. i never knew a manual would take off in first with just slowly releasing the clutch with no gas. if i ever teach someone that’s exactly how i will probably teach them to start. that’s the hardest part is just getting moving lol

 

[Fl5#727]

the fl5 likes being shifted into second at 3k and under rpm’s. you do that and you can be slow and it will be smooth all the time. anything over 3k you just gotta hold that clutch pedal down and wait for the revs to drop some. the fl5 does not like to be shifted quickly into second. if you rev it out in first like leaving a stop light messing around and aren’t necessarily trying to keep ripping into second, holding that clutch pedal till the revs drops will be your best bet.

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