This is my first stick shift car and im getting the hang of it. I do have a small question.
Do I HAVE to push the clutch all the way to the floor to put it into gear?
My husband says no, but.. eh i dont trust him.

you see the clutch petal is set to the height of a 5'9 person, and I'm 5'3. i literally have to scoot the seat ALLL the way up till my knees hit the dash just so i can push the petal in.

My husband refuses to change the height of the petal for me because he likes to "steal' my car in the mornings and take it to work. (he totally needs to trade in his suv and get his own rx8)

 

Basically........"No", you don't have to push it all the way in.
You will learn with time where that engagement point is........and each car is different.
It will also vary with time on a given car, and may actually have to be adjusted over time.

 

When pushing in the clutch, I think it's a good idea to always push it down to the floor. It's just a good habit to get into. Read more here…

http://www.10w40.com/individual/100186.asp
"Without fully pushing in the clutch on most cars, you can neither pull the shifter out of gear nor put it into a new one (and it will grind as you try)."

Or here…
http://www.wikihow.com/Drive-Smoothl...l-Transmission
"Depress the clutch fully."

 

Meh................power shifting and what she(or at least me) is talking about are two different things IMO.
I've driven standards all my life, never had a tranny go out, or a clutch..................and with the possible execption of 1st gear from a stop, I don't think the clutch pedal is ever in a full 100%.
Remember, all I'm saying is that 80%, 90%, or even 95% in is not 100% all the way in.
Of course I press it in further than the engagment point, but I'm preety sure I take it to the max each and every time I shift...............that's all.

 

On my 8, the clutch is disengaged after the first maybe 1.5". The extra 3" of travel does nothing. Basically, pushing to the floor makes the clutch assembly pull the farthest off the flywheel. Disengaged is disengaged.

Powershifting, generally, is only pulling the pressure plate up enough that you can muscle the car into another gear. The flywheel is still rubbing against the clutch and transmitting some torque through the trans. As you drop the clutch, your engine and trans must resynch. The extra enertia of the engine is transmitted through the trans as basically just shock pressure.

Over time, the engagement point of the clutch can wander with wear. I pump my clutch to the floor, but I have big feet and it's just a rock of my foot. Also, it establishes a shift speed that isn't too rough on the drive train.

So I think the answer to this is you should get taller or you should cut 6" out of your husband's shins.

 

kick his butt and get your pedal set the way you want.

 

i always do

 

i know right!! hes taking over my car!!!

 

my engaging point is about 2 inch off the floor.

 

hmm sounds to me like you need to tell your hubby that u found a guy on this forum that can do it and then see if he does it lol

 

so basically i can press till it engages and im fine as long as its not making weird noises (it doesnt)
just making sure my husband wasnt filling me full of lies! sure is gona make going from stop to 1st easier lol

 

Others will disagree obviously, but as long as you aren't grinding(or other weird noises), then you are technically past the engagement point. This should be both coming out of a gear and into the next.
All I was trying to get across was that it doesn't have to be pushed to the max travel each and every time. I'll bet 100% of the people don't come near 100% clutch travel anywhere near 100% of the time. It's all a timing thing that just comes from doing it over and over again, many, many times.
When I left work yesterday, I actually really thought about it as I was driving(and shifting), and I broke it down into very, very small steps. It was kinda interesting because after x number of years(a lot of years ) it's so second nature that one doesn't think about it. Went so far as to say........okay, when does my arm/hand begin to move towards the shifter in relationship to what my foot/feet movement are doing.......etc..............all the way until my arm/hand returns to the position it was before I started the shift sequence. In other words...........you caused me to really think about it.

 

Think of it this way...
Next time you're driving and at a stop, with the clutch pedal down and in gear, slowly lift up on the pedal.
When it gets to the point where the engine sounds like its bogging down and the car will start to creep forward, that is basically your engagement point.
So anywhere between that point and the floor is "safe" to shift.

 

^^ Its kinda hard to do so , when you break down the process. Usually when you shift, its second nature. You dont stop to think about it, jsut clutch in, shift, and rev match. When you stop and think about it, itll cause you to put the clutch in either less or more. Basically it wont be as accurate as when you do it naturally, if that makes sense LOL.


But to answer your question, as long as you pass the engagement point (something you have to figure out and get used to). You should be fine.

My post was to mazurfers **

 

yeah the engagement point is about 3" from the floor.
thanks you guys!

 

Whoah, wait a second, back up. You can adjust the pedals? How?! Is there a button, or do you have to unscrew something and do it manually? I need to lower mine a little bit.

Anyway, RX8Lovah, I'm pretty new to sticks myself. It might even be safe to say that you and I have been driving stick for the same amount of time (I'm at about a month and half now) and I'm still not very smooth with it. I was taught that you should always have the clutch fully depressed when changing gears, so that's what I'd recommend to you. It may seem like a hassle that you feel may not be necessary, but I would imagine that having it pushed all the way down to the floor is just better overall for your transmission. Eventually it'll become second nature.

 

Yup.

 

There are two adjustments... pedal stroke and play.
Its recommended that you don't mess with this unless you know what you're doing or really need to.

There is a hard stop at the top of the pedal assembly to adjust the stroke distance.
The clutch and brake pedal should be even with each other.

Then there is a push-rod that does into the master cylinder.
This is for your pedal free-play, or the distance before the rod hits the master cylinder.
This should be 1/4" - 1/2"

PLEASE KEEP IN MIND that adjusting these can cause issues if not done correcting.
Adjusting the pedal stroke will guarantee that the pedal play will also need to be adjusted.

And there is nothing wrong with that for everyday driving.
More experienced drivers and people who race their cars take advantage of not having to fully depress the pedal for quicker shifts.
Once the clutch disc is separated from the flywheel, it doesn't matter how much more you push it away.