HWK11

iTrader: (2)

yup thats the the clutch burning.
and youll get used to the hill soon, and dont get scared if your car rolls back little.

Twiztog43

iTrader: (15)

hmm my question is, how can i tell where the catch is? i mean its really difficult to find where it is, and when i think i have it it stalls on me

HWK11

iTrader: (2)

just slowly let go of the clutch and you can feel the car vibrating more, thats when the clutch is in. and give a little gas and you wont stall.

i think...

Twiztog43

iTrader: (15)

ok, but lets say your going to make a left turn on a big street, how would you do that?
i mean sometimes i get it and i have to depress the clutch even more to prevent stalling, but then when everyone starts moving again because they are free to make a left i stall because i lost it

HWK11

iTrader: (2)

if you are rolling under like 8 mph just put in 1st and depress the clutch...

and if your rpm is around 1000 or even 1500 just press the clutch all the way in.

Myriad

iTrader: (2)

Yup, NEVER leave it partly in. Either all the way in, or all the way out. It's better to stall than to burn through a 600 dollar clutch cause you were embarassed. Give it a week, you'll be LOADS better by next Sunday.

Kevo

very nice...congratulations and welcome!

Twiztog43

iTrader: (15)

i have a question on the life of the clutch though...
wel i have gotten better in the past couple days but, while i was exiting the freeway, there was an on-ramp to exit, and lets say it caught me off guard and i panic and on top of that there was a guy behind me really close to me, so i gunned it as a result, and the smell lingered for a while, and you could even see a bit of smoke coming out, but i was able to get home though, and now everything is fine. but i was wondering how long does it usually last? and is there a way i can tell? you know just in case. but at least i havent stalled once today,

i mean, im not a fan of burning my clutch either, but what usually happens is that i stall AND burn the clutch multiple times a day, now it has just come to one thing.

so my problems i need to work on are basically hills. i mean i can work with down-hills but uphills scare the living jesus out of me

i also need to work on downshifting. something i havent really asked about, untill i actually needed to do it, (today on the freeway) how exacltly do i do it?
on the way home i was downshifting from 3rd to 2nd, and i heard the tires squeak and the car jerked a bit, but its okay now. but how exaclty would you do that??

Violet

Take your car to a flat parking lot. Park and put it into first. Take your foot off the brake and SLOWLY take your foot off the clutch (without giving it any gas). The car will start creeping forward.

Thats how I learned to drive stick, really helped me to get a feel for my tranny.

Twiztog43

iTrader: (15)

interesting, thats how my cousin taught me, but for me it seems much harder if you throw in the a steep hill. i know your supposed to be calm but i was really afraid i was going to roll back and hit that guy. i mean he was close. i probably rolled back 6-7 inches

RIWWP

iTrader: (2)

Gratz on the purchase, welcome to the addiction

My dad taught me in 1 day by bringing me to a steep hill in a park near the house, which was down to the lake so a dead end, but it had 7 speed bumps. He had me going up hill, stopping right before each speed bump with the front tires touching it. I learned hella fast.

The tip of putting it in neutral in a flat parkinglot and slowly letting out the clutch is good, teaches you the engage point. But if the hills scare you, find a place you can do over and over and over. Another trick on hills, if needed, is use the ebrake (not crank it up, but keep the button in so you can move it up or down under full control), to keep you from rolling as you patiently get the clutch to engage correctly.

The BIGGEST problem most drivers have in 1st gear is with being able to keep their ankle/foot/heel/leg/whatever 'locked'. Seriously, practice moving the gas pedal millimeters at a time, not inches. Don't let the bucking of the car decide what your foot is doing. YOU make that decision and the car will behave. Studder and stall or burn the clutch, yes, but it won't start bucking around.

Downshifting is something you should leave off for now. Learn the gears, engagement point on the clutch, what RPM is right for each gear at whatever MPH you are going at. Once you are comfortable with that, practice downshifting to 3rd and 4th, not to 1st and 2nd. From what you descibe, I am guessing that you let the RPMs drop to idle during the downshift, and then let the clutch engage. At that point your clutch is a big brake pad against the drive shaft. The correct way is to rev-match, blipping the gas pedal up to put the RPMs where they would be if you were engaged in the gear you are going to for your speed. Hold the RPM there, and let out the clutch. If you are perfectly on, you shouldn't notice a thing. THEN you can let off the gas and let the car slow. Over time, you can do it fast and smoothly, but don't start trying to do it fast. Do it slow to learn.

Don't worry, you will get it. Just start putting aside money now for the clutch you will need in ~20,000 miles. As long as the 8 is warm, better to stall than to burn, but if someone else is involved, better to burn than slide into someone.

Feel free to PM me any time you want advice/tips on shifting.

endowdly

iTrader: (2)

I'm a great driver and I'd like to think I'm an excellent operator. But I don't think I can really help you out unless I can get in your navigators chair and direct you a little bit.

The best advice has already been said. The one thing I'll add is don't be afraid to go a little aggressive on the gas as long as you smoothly come off the clutch. You don't want any tire ripping, tranny rocking clutch dumps, but it's generally more forgiving if you give it a little more accelerator than you think you should.

Good luck bud.

TheBurkeMan

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t85kD...eature=channel

very good videos watch all of them...
the only thing i dont like is how he rolls off the clutch with his foot

shazy

Hey congrats on the car! One thing you should never do when you downshift... OVERREV.

I admit, I did a major fail... I was going about 120km/h (75mph) and wanted to drop into 3rd... but then wanted to drop it into 4th gear, next thing I know I see the tech go all the way to 10k and realized immediately that the gear was in second! I quickly went into neutral and slowed down. I made sure everything was working too.Man, bad **** could've happened man, scared the living crap out of me... I really hope nothing is going to happen to the car either and it was like 5am, after a long ride from a friends house which made me incredibly tired.


Anyway congrats on the car and here are the 2 main things you should get or do for your car:

Clear Corners
Premix

If you need any info on premix ask me

Kevo

Hills are a great place to work on a heel/toe...or more like a rolling of the foot. Half your foot on the brake and the other half on the throttle. Roll your foot from the brake to the throttle while letting out the clutch. Very useful.

Practice your downshifting using a heel/toe as well (or at least rev-matching)...it will come in really handy if you ever do any tracking/autox/spirited drives.

endowdly

iTrader: (2)

It's hard to do if you have small feet! Trust me! I have the damndest time heel toeing.

Twiztog43

iTrader: (15)

ive seen that video before...
trust me the week before i got the 8, i have been watching youtube and hunting these videos like crazy.

Kevo

I know what you mean...the pedal configuration makes a difference too. My feet are a little big given how close my pedals are...that causes some issues as well.

You most likely already know this, but if your throttle is anchored at the floor rather than hanging from above you can try to actually use your heel to apply throttle by rotating your whole foot around. But you need to have really small feet to do this. If your throttle hangs short from above and they are too far apart for your foot size it can be really tough.

If its not absolutely critical to do both shifting and braking at the same time you can sequence your zones in a way that can still get it done...you just gotta be really quick...sometimes you can't get around it though.

Edit: Once you get used to hills its not a big deal...just like anything there is a learning curve, but you soon can do it in your sleep. It took time getting used to the coupe's hill assist feature where the brake is automatically applied on inclines for a few seconds or until you put it in gear and operate the gas/clutch...then the brakes let off. Really cool.

Myriad

iTrader: (2)

+1,000,000

Great post.

Twiztog43

iTrader: (15)

so its been a week later, and i thought i had the hang of this, and i do...

but earlier today, about an hour ago, i was on the freeway and there was a decent amount of traffic, also i was on an incline. the fastest i was able to reach was about 6 MPH
but i have a question, i could not help but burn the clutch a bit in 2nd gear reving to about 4,000

what am i doing wrong? too much gas? or what? also am i supposed to be in second or 1st? because sometimes we go fast enough to be in second but then a couple seconds later to a dead stop.

but in side streets, i think ive got it down, as long as hills are not present

endowdly

iTrader: (2)

seems like too much clutch and gas. you're not smooth enough of the gas and you're giving too much clutch. try letting the clutch out a little sooner and apply a little less gas until you find the balance point.

Twiztog43

iTrader: (15)

thanks, but i have one more thing to add,
since im on a freeway, and on an incline, should i be in first or second gear when im in traffic?

endowdly

iTrader: (2)

Depends on your speed... always.
Under 15... I'd go with first.

Twiztog43

iTrader: (15)

thanks, that's the kind of answer i have been looking for
unlike the vague answers i usually get

endowdly

iTrader: (2)

Yeah but only in that situation.

I don't drop into first unless I'm under 8 usually. Once you get more practice and feel out the powerband and clutch gas balance you'll be able to pick out your own points.