what I teach everyone when driving stick is to start by feeling where the clutch grabs. Just let off the clutch SUPER SLOW and feel where it bites. Once you figure out where that is remember it's all a matter of feeding the right amount of throttle. If it helps bump the revs a little and when the engine revs start to drop start slipping the clutch and feed in the throttle. makes it a little bit harder to stall because your flywheel has a bit of momentum going.

I find that to be of help with new stick drivers.

 

I recently learned how to drive stick in my new Evo X that I got a month ago. I had very similar issues when I started driving on the road. Find an empty flat parking lot. Then put the car in 1st and slowly let out the clutch until you start moving enough that you can release the clutch pedal without stalling. After I was moving without stalling, I would put the clutch back in then press the brakes to a complete stop and repeat. I did that over and over. It's good practice to help learn the clutch and where it grabs.

When you get good at that, you should have a much better understanding of the clutch. Now do the same "exercise" but this time add some gas to the mix once the clutch grabs and your car starts moving. I had a bad habit of letting go of the clutch a lot quicker when I did this and ended up stalling. Just slow things down.

I've probably driven abut 650 miles on my car and I know I'm still learning. Probably half, if not more, of my starts aren't as smooth as I'd like. You'll get the hang of it, just takes practice.

This video helped me a lot and probably explains things better than me:

 

Sorry for stealing some question space but this thread is right up with what i'm dealing with also.

I just got my 05 ralli two weeks ago and finally am getting around with less and less jerking. but i want to make sure i'm not screwing up my gears or anything by my shifting method. Sorry for getting up on this thread but there is a ton of people on it and i think this question will help everyone else out learning manual.

1. when i'm shifting from any gear when i'm about half way letting off the clutch i'll give it some gas, more or less depending if i'm going from neutral to say 2nd or 4th. or just 1st to 2nd to 3rd and so forth.

my question is when i'm releasing the clutch and giving it some gas before it fully shifts, is that going to ruin or wear or my gears? i'm getting a much smoother ride but don't want to shift like this if it's bad for my car. I saw on threads people are saying there is no reason to give gas while shifting which is the complete opposite of how i'm doing it. because every time i shift without giving it any gas my car seams to really lose a grip of power and slow down. and gets that jerking feelings.

Are all you manual pros giving any gas while you shift or what??

 

haha yeh i used to sit way far back from driving auto my whole life and now i'm pretty close... still in a decent chill position though

 

I was taught that you didn't have to press it to the floor. A little research and you find two sides. One say press it to the floor every time, and the other says to the point of engagement. I was pressing it to the floor (it actually made me drive worse cause of all the space before it grabs). I press it about half way in, maybe a little more. I found this old thread.

https://www.evolutionm.net/forums/ev...h-all-way.html

 

what you are doing is slipping the clutch and while it def wears it out its not
"bad" per say...over time you will do this less and less without even thinking about it...you will automatically keep your foot closer and closer to the release point without even thinking about it...unless you smell clutch afterwords..then that means you are doing it too much

 

You are just wearing down the clutch. Shouldn't be doing any kind of wear to the gears.

I give it gas in first of course. I sometimes have to give it a little gas when I switch to second. Almost all the other gears won't require any gas. Just depends on the rpms

 

Rule of thumb: extend your arm out so that the wrist touches the top of the wheel.

 

my evo is my first manual car.... the only thing that i can think of is familiarize your self with ur car engavement point -

how long have u owned ur car -- if still months it'l take time to get used to ur car.

 

ive never been a fan of the ebrake method. like someone said, it just adds on to the things you already have to do.. the way ive been doing it since i started driving stick a couple years ago is just to rev it up and simultaneously let off the clutch.. just have a good idea of where the clutch starts to grab and you should catch as the rpms are going down.. on inclines, just give it a little more gas, but overall same method... just keep practicing as it will all become second nature over time.

 

Cool Thanks

 

I was a novice stick driver when I got my Evo last August. Now I feel like the stig lol

The more you drive it the better you'll get. I was terrified of hills now they don't bother me at all

 

It just takes time, like with anything else the more you practice the better you get

 

Cool, I'll try that.

 

good to know