Well, I'll keep trying with my girl and if all else fails, I'll buy some POS and work that.

Thanks. A 911 has been my dream car, so there is no way in hell I'm giving up.

 

At the end of the day, just do what you are comfortable with to be able to drive stick. A chip is going to run you about $1000 give or take a few bucks alone. A real nice exhaust is gonna be more than that sorry. The worst part is that you USUALLY, but not always, need to go to those expensive shops because I can't really trust anybody with my cars so I end up paying the premium. I have a set of Mille Miglia mufflers that give a pretty decent sound but they are heavy (don't know how concerned you are with saving weight right now) but I was planning on asking $1000 for just them.

Oh and what are possible names for the car you've been thinking of?

 

Whoa, so we're looking at about $2,500 out the gate for chip, exhaust, and intake mods? How much extra HP and torque is that going to give me and is it worth the money? I'd like to take muffler you have off your hands, but an extra grand is more than I can afford now and I am starting to look at weight ratios of the car and would like to keep it light and fast.

Names, hmmm.... most people call her GO KART. I've thought about Lady Blue or Speed Demon. Any ideas?

 

that would be me....cmonnnnnn how many guys could have taste that good in cars lol

 

i go to all the meets i hear about lol... if you hear about one let me know you can always pm me... tonight is a meet by best buy near ssp on sunrise highway and grand ave in baldwin... if the weather holds..

 

hi, first congrats on your new car!

i dont think anyone mentioned this, but make sure your seat is positioned correctly. you've mentioned that the clutch is too hard, might be that you're sitting too far back. the seat position on a manual is usually different from an auto, it shouldn't be, but it is. getting closer usually does the trick, just make sure you're at a safe distance from the airbag.

also, i'm sure someone the chime in, but there should be a good rpm entering 1-2gear. try to maintain your rpm in that gear and slowly release the clutch. just make sure you have plenty of room and no cars around. you dont want to be looking at your tach with oncoming traffic

as mentioned, practice. man, i miss my manual...

 

Thank you so much for the warm welcome.

As for the seating position, I'm short and with short legs, so I'm literally sitting on top of the dash just so I can engage the clutch. I am trying to play around with seat positioning.

Once I get the car moving (like a normal person), I don't have an issue with gearing from 1st to 2nd and so on. My sticking point is having enough control to slowly release the clutch and start the car rolling in first. After that, I can shift gears. It's like there is this VERY fine line where I release the clutch and give it gas and either I stall out or I'm bucking and off to the races. Should I be looking at my tach as I release the clutch? I'm trying to do a lot of this by feel, but maybe that's a poor approach.

 

good point on seat position!! ..... im betting when u feel the car start to move you are letting go of the clutch way too fast.. you have to play with the clutch very very slow while starting from a stop with little or no throttle at all... till you get used to it...when u let it out fast it will launch hard or buck or stall depending on throttle

 

GT2, you hit the nail on the head. I miss the sweet spot by a hair and then I've stalled or bucked. It's very hard to realize that I'm letting go of the clutch all the way when it doesn't feel like it. The seat is positioned pretty much so that I'm on top of the dash.

So, now that we all know what I'm doing wrong. How the heck to I "play" with the clutch to move the car without any throttle? And will playing with the clutch cause any damage?

 

no damage at all and u can do it in front of your house ... provided its not on a mountain lol.... flat road car in first gear clutch down and car running and very very very slowly let the clutch out without ever touching the gas pedal..you will get used to how it grabs this way and will damage anything and when u can let it out slow enough to not stall and get moving without gas then you have done it right ... go try and get back to us have fun!!! = )

 

What part of Colorado do you live in? I used to be a driving instructor for a prominent school here. I would be happy to help you with this, if you are not too far away from the Longmont, Boulder area.

I figure if I can teach 15 year old girls in 30 minutes, it should be easy teaching you.

Let me know if you want to get together some weekend, and happy to help.

Erik Johnson
GBox Performance Transaxles
(303) 440-8899 work
(303) 895-4828 cell

 

Almost forgot, Welcome to the family. You are going to love it here.

 

radgirl,

sorry, i wasnt clear. the 1-2 gear shift rpm practice is the same for the n-1 shift. it's a practice for you to get a sense of when the clutch "grips" and how much "torque" you need for it to go smoothly. for example, try to keep your rpm at 1000 and slowly release the clutch. you will find that as the clutch "grips" you will need to add gas. try to do this a little, not too much as you will burn your clutch. maybe at 1k it's not that bad, but this is only for you to get a sense/feel of the clutch engagement.

i agree that the clutch w/o gas trick really gives you the definite point where the clutch engages. but this takes time and a lot of practice. most instances, when you first start driving, you wont have the time to engage on the clutch w/o gas when starting from a red light. there are other cars around and the pressure is on. so adding a little bit of gas i think might help. maybe after a few days with gas, you can slowly move on to the no gas engagement. as other mentioned, that's the best way to get the feel.

btw, you dont want to be staring at the tach when you drive. initially you want to check when you engage the gear, but later, you will be able to "tell" by the engine sound and speed of your car how to engage the gear. every car is different, but once you get the sense, you'll pick it up really fast. have fun~

 

Welcome to the family!!!!!

I spent some time teaching my wife to drive stick(prior to this repair)...If she can drive it i can buy it...so it works in both or favor....

One thing i might suggest depending on the how heavy your clutch pedal is, there is a spring on the pedal and i just changed mine out..turns out is was collapsed but still partally working...what a difference...check the clutch spring under the dash...

 

Asia, please explain this clutch spring. Where under the dash do I look and should I be doing this or the dealer? I'm telling you, that clutch takes all my might to push to the floor. How long did it take your wife to learn? I really think the clutch is my issue. If I can find the engage point of the clutch, then I can get moving.