What's the best way to "save" the clutch. Like when you shift do you try to be a smooth as possible engaging clutch and pressing gas at the same time or just letting go of the clutch completly before pressing the gas? I've been driving manual for maybe 5 months now so just trying to improve thanks fellas!

 

u need to shift smoothly, doin burnouts and stuff like that is a no no, i just luv how our clutch got that hydraulic system... it goes from smooth to stiff as hell when u need it

 

Here's a link you might find helpful. I've written a ton of stuff about this very topic on this forum. Search for words like "downshift" and "synchronizer" for a start. As for the link below, go to post #34 and start from there. Let me know if you have questions.. I'd be happy to help out.

https://acurazine.com/forums/car-talk-5/need-help-stick-shift-358711/

 

As a quick answer to your immediate question, you want to try to make your shifts and clutch release smooth. And yes, you do add throttle while engaging the clutch, but since it is done pretty quickly (once you get in down pat), there should be no slippage induced by you. You do not want to linger with the clutch partially engaged while bringing up engine speed. Nor do you want to make the upshift then let the clutch out without adding throttle - this will result in a jerky ride and is not good for the components.

I would highly recommend this. If you have limited, or no, knowledge of how a clutch works and how a manual transmission works, you should spend a little time researching this on the web. You certainly do not need to know how to tear the things down and rebuild them, but a basic understanding of how they operate and the terms used will prove most helpful to you.

 

Thanks for the tips!! Oh and I never ever burn out or do anything stupid...i baby this car! But yeah the clutch is awesome, takes some time to get used to but it's really smooth

 

The TL has a relatively short clutch pedal travel with an even shorter take-up. Add to this two other factors. The point at which initial engagement occurs to that where there is enough pressure exerted by the pressure plate to start moving the car is quite short. And then there is the point of initial engagement itself.. it tends to occur close to the stop pad on the firewall. What this all means is that there is a learning curve involved when first operating a manual TL that is different from other cars. But I really do like the setup and find it fits my wants and needs very nicely.

In a nutshell, what you want to do with this, or any, car's clutch is to reduce as much as possible all unnecessary slipping. This includes starting off, upshifting, and downshifting.

 

I'm reading your write up from before at work right now...definetly alot of help there! It's gonna save me my clutch