Help Me Drive A Stick

Defrost

Moderator - CPSTI Emeritus
So... I'm terribly embarrassed to admit this, but I'm having trouble driving my car. It's a stick. I learned how to drive on a stick, and both my first vehicles (trucks) were sticks, and I prefer to drive a stick.

However, I've never in my life driven a "new" stick. When I got the car and the clutch felt "tight," I figured I'd just get used to it.

Well, I haven't. I can't seem to figure the stupid thing out. And I drive a LOT (40K miles in 20 months :whistle: ), so it must be something I've just never considered - clearly, I'm missing something.

Here's the problem - when I shift and don't rattle the entire car (keep moving smoothly), I'm "leaning" on the clutch. This is mostly a problem when shifting from 1st to 2nd. It sometimes makes a whining protest when I do this, so I know it's not good.

But when I try to avoid the whining protest, I either peel out or rattle my brains. I can't seem to find the "sweet spot," yk?

Help?
 
ADS

Defrost

Moderator - CPSTI Emeritus
No one else drives it. I don't even know anyone who knows how - oh, except my parents, I guess. I'm just embarrassed to ask my dad. :eek:

Hm. I suppose it's possible there's nothing wrong with my driving, but when it started with the whine I just immediately jumped to the conclusion "OMG I broke it!" :D

I guess I'll work up the nerve to ask my Dad.
 

Guest

New member
Well, I've driven new sticks before and the car just sounds weird based on your descriptions. Of course, user error is always a possibility but you said you learned on sticks so since you know the theory, the weirdness of the "symptoms" suggests something was always wrong with the car (seen it once in person and been told a few stories of it happening to others). Sometimes, a car is a lemon. Even if new. At this point, I'm inclined to think there's something wrong with the tranny and that you were never the problem (or at worst, never the main problem).
 

Defrost

Moderator - CPSTI Emeritus
Could it be that it's a car and I'm used to driving trucks? It's a Mazda, after all - "zoom zoom" and all that. ;) It did get better when I got better tires (much less peeling out.)
 

Defrost

Moderator - CPSTI Emeritus
Huh.

Well then, I'll just call my Daddy and tell him my car is making a whiney protest when I shift, and leave out my own insecurities about my driving! :D
 

Morganthe

New member
What happens if you let the clutch out slowly on a flat surface in 2nd gear? How easy is it to start moving?

It could be that your 1st gear is extremely low & short, so it affects everything into the next gear. DH tended to drive his rabbit from 2nd gear+ unless he was on an incline. He found it too lurchy & instead of shifting 20 feet from where he started off, it was easier to just be in second.
 

Defrost

Moderator - CPSTI Emeritus
What happens if you let the clutch out slowly on a flat surface in 2nd gear? How easy is it to start moving?

It could be that your 1st gear is extremely low & short, so it affects everything into the next gear. DH tended to drive his rabbit from 2nd gear+ unless he was on an incline. Then again, no matter what he drives, I'm nauseated by his style of lurch & jerk. :eek:

That makes sense, but when I try shifting to second sooner, it just struggles really hard. :(
 

Guest

New member
I doubt there's enough power in the Mazda5 to really use 2nd to start as an option. Not without some massive shuddering or peeling out.

I've driven stick trucks. Older ones. A little different, but IMO, not relevant in your problem. Being forced to lean on the clutch is the main reason I think something is wrong with the car.
 

Guest

New member
That makes sense, but when I try shifting to second sooner, it just struggles really hard. :(

That's not normal, and really suggests (to me) that there's something wrong with the car and not you. I've seen that a decent amount among the racers who blew out a clutch somehow. Having to "lean" on the clutch all the time can cause premature wear, but you shouldn't have had to lean on it in the first place.

What it could be I have no idea. Worn clutch, bad synchro. I'm not enough of a gearhead to be able to diagnose.
 

lovinwaves

New member
Now you can be their designated safety know-it-all, like Darren is on the Odyclub.com forum :p

Beware though...the doods on those forums are vicious regarding CPS. Heck, some of the women are too. :eek: I wish you the best of luck LOL.
 

Morganthe

New member
Really? What would be the objection to CPS?

They take the attitude that if you're suggesting safer options such as harnessing a 2 year old instead of booster or nothing, you're condemning, classifying, & criticizing people as "Bad Parents." Somehow child safety practices in vehicles has become as touchy as topics such as faith & political opinions. (sigh)
 

Wineaux

New member
The best way I have ever found to learn how best to correctly shift a car is to find about a 20-30 degree incline, put yourself in the middle of it, and then use the clutch and the gas pedal to learn to keep from either going backwards down the incline, or forwards up the incline. Learn to keep the car perfectly stationary. You'll really learn the "feel" of your particular clutch that way. That's how I taught myself to drive my first stick shift smoothly and it's worked like a charm ever since.
 

southpawboston

New member
i think what defrost might be experiencing is something that is fairly typical for japanese cars with manual transmissions. i like to call it the "rubber band" effect. the japanese simply haven't perfected engineering in the right "feel" to a clutch. i have been driving stick since i was 13 (i'm 39 now) and have owned close to a dozen manual tranny cars. still to this day, neither i nor my DW can drive a japanese manual tranny entirely smoothly without the car having a little "back and forth" bucking. your mazda5 has the same engine and tranny as my mazda3, so i can sort of understand where you're coming from. i *never* experienced this in german cars. they have perfected the driving experience, and the japanese simply have not been able to replicate that feeling of "one-ness" between driver and ca.

that said, you shouldn't be rattling your car when you shift, and you shouldn't be "leaning" on the clutch to smooth it out-- that will cause premature wear to your clutch disc, as this is essentially "riding the clutch" (allowing it to slip slightly).

i'm wondering if you're shifting too early in the engine's power range. if you upshift (shifting to a higher gear) at too low RPMs, the engine/tranny will "buck" and "kick", and you will feel like you are rattling the car. i'm guessing you feel this more when upshifting to 2nd and 3rd than you do with higher gears like 4th and 5th, right? you shouldn't really upshift before your RPMs reach about 2.5k minimum, and the higher you let them go, the smoother the shifts will be. this engine is also designed to rev high and the car "feels" better when you shift at higher RPMs, about 3-4k. also, when you are slowing down and need to downshift, you should do it before your RPMs drop below about 2.5k. i routinely upshift at about 4k RPM (unless i *really* need to drive like i stole the car, then i upshift at 5-6k RPM). this sounds high, but this engine actually performs best at these RPMs, at the price of reduced fuel economy.
 

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