First off, please move this if it belongs somewhere else.
Second, yes, I have searched/ The search of this website is not very optimized, so it is better to google what you want, which doesn't always turn something up.

Car setup:
EVO IX MR.
Stock clutch at 80,***miles
Tune
No other mods

Here are my questions.
First off, this is not my first annual car, but my first turbo and first high HP car.
I am still adjusting after owning it for about 3 weeks.

1.)I want to prolong the life of my car, but am not sure if I am missing anything here.
When I am DAILY DRIVING....how quickly should i be realeasing the clutch? It seems to have a pretty high bite point.

2.) When spirited driving, how quickly should the clutch be release? Is this the correct sequence (Off gas, clutch in, shift, clutch out, THEN on gas)?
I ask, as silly as this is, because when driving aggressively, when I push the clutch in when I hit, say 6800K, it makes a weird sound....You don't hear the car go vroooOOOOOM.....vroooooOOOOM.....its more.......vrooooMMMMMMVVVrooooMMMMVroommmm. (ALMOST sounds like bumping or grinding gears, but not as scary lol)
(Terrible example I know - will try to capture it in video)

3.) I do NOT have the "death whine" but; how normal is tranny whine, especially when cold starting the car, in the lower gears? 1-2-3. Seems to be kinda noticeable (could just be b/c my exhaust is so damn quiet)

4) While I know this will vary, is it best to shift out off 1st ASAP? (Not launching) Seems like I hear more whine when I stay in 1 past 3000RPM.


Anything else I need to know as a new owner of a IX? I love the car, but am still adjusting to it, and any and all tips would help.
Thanks

 

Congrats on the purchase and welcome. So to start off, the drivetrain does make some noise, I usually advise people with a new to you car that you should change all the drivetrain fluids. That is unless they where literally just changed before you bought the car. The clutch engagement point shouldn't be that high. That could be a sign that either the clutch pedal needs adjusting or perhaps that its at the end of its life.

The shifting takes practice, once the muscle memory is developed you will find that you are giving gas while letting the clutch out between shifts. There are even mods you can do that include a "No lift to shift" feature where you can basically keep the gas pedal pegged between upshifts.

There is a massive amount of information about all things evo in these forums. Start with the stickies and don't hesitate to ask questions, but it would be helpful for you to do a search of the forum to see if its already been answered. Also its better to start new threads then bump 10 year old ones.

 

Excellent thanks much. I am searching through the threads; unfortunately I am finding a lot of "pro race drivers" aka "kids who have NO IDEA what they are talking about" on the forums. There is a LOT of GREAT info, but you do have to sort through it.

Now, the car has been meticulously maintained, and drivetrain fluids were serviced at 75,000 Miles, so I think I will just leave them until I hit 90,000 or so

Thanks for the tips, will continue to read on

 

also you can let the clutch out as fast as you want/are able to make it work, just don't side step it cause that is a little too rough. Side stepping is basically sliding your foot to the left off the pedal instead of actually letting it out.

 

Follow up to this; should the clutch pedal be FULLY to the floor? I've found that the shifts are almost "harder" or not as smooth when I fully depress (which is what I would think you SHOULD do)/ so that has me thinking about what you said with adjusting the clutch pedal, etc.

Im SURE it is partially driver error, but I am just making sure its nothing that needs to be addressed soon.
Not really looking forward to the inevitable clutch replacement, with 80,000+ miles on the stocker....it's only a matter of time lol

 

thats really good mileage for the stock clutch, but yah you should be able to put the pedal all the way to the floor without a problem. You may find you don't need to go all the way to the floor to fully disengage the clutch. Its pretty dependent on how the clutch pedal was adjusted and how much life is left on the clutch. You can do the "clutch reality check" from this link http://www.teamrip.com/clutch_pedal_...ment_info.html to really see whats going on. Also alot of good drivetrain info on that site as well.

 

My bite point is fairly high as well. My Clutch is ACT HDSS. On my previous clutch(ACT 6 puck) I got about 65kish miles out of it and the bite point always seemed pretty high. When I got my new clutch installed, the bite point was around the middle and periodically made its way back to the top over time.

I usually have the rpms around 1.5-2k and then I release the clutch for it to start grabbing. Once it starts grabbing/moving slowly I take the clutch off fast enough so I don't keep it in the friction zone for to long but not fast enough where it will bog down. For me it's like a 1-2(at most) second process from rolling from a stop.

After a while you will get use to it. When I first started I would push the clutch in, bring rpms up and then slow but swiftly release clutch. Now I release clutch, while I'm releasing the clutch, it isn't grabbing yet(it's still in that zone where the clutch hasn't made contact to the flywheel yet) but it gets right to the point where it initially grabs I then hit the accelerator(just a little so it blips 1-2k rpms while the clutch is grabbing) and then the rest is pretty much the same as norm.

So over time I went from clutch in, rpms up, and clutch off to roll from a start to clutch in, bring clutch up, accel right as the clutch grabs and then roll off. For me it's a quicker transition and can actually roll me off a start faster than norm.

I'm sure everyone does it very very slightly different but overall just try to get out of that friction zone without bogging down fast enough without being at a high rpm if you want your clutch to last.

I didn't intend this to be a wall of text....

 

No it's all good man. Very descriptive. That's pretty much what I was looking for. I've been trying to do the second method more recently, it's definitely smoother and a faster start

 

Welcome bro. I was like you last july when i first got my evo 9 after waiting for 10 years lol. My exception is that this was my first ever manual car and performance car. I never knew how to drive a stick and just learned on the evo. Had my fun moments but picked it up in 3 weeks. The way i first to get off first was like the other person said. Clutch all the way in, then high rpm around 2-2.5k then slowly let out the clutch. But then i watched a tutorial from Europe (i trust them, cuz all they drive over there are manual cars lol) how they taught their people to drive manual is clutch in. Shift in 1st, then APPLY GAS (as you would in a auto) and as you are applying gas slowly let go of clutch. I stalled alot so i i researched as to what i was doing wrong. i tried the method of the other person that said slowly let go of clutch and apply gas right before it bites. I always stalled!! lol. But now, i am interested of learning how to do that and compare with the way i do it now and see if it makes anything faster.

As to noise, yes i hear alot of it too. And my car was previously owned by an old guy (55) and has very low mileage. I just hit 35k and i have the MR SE package. When it is cold, i hear a "whining" noise especially when i am reversing out of the driveway. When i kept my clutch at the friction point, the noise got louder and sounded like metals grinding with one another. When i shift in first and when the car hits 2.5 rpm close to 3k it starts jerking forward and making noises ( probably because i ave 6 gears and gear ratios from 1 to 2 are very close that i can just take off at 2nd gear at 3k rpm). When i slow down at intersection i apply brake and then clutch i hear my gear box loud as well. I too have stock exhaust.

Sorry it is long but i just wanted to share the details with you and everyone. Hears hoping my clutch is still good after learning on this beast. I am loving the car!!!