Been trying to heel & toe downshift the last 3-4 months & noticed I had a slight clutch burning smell when ever I arrived at my destination. The last couple of days I didn't rev the engine if I needed to downshift &just used the clutch to make it a smooth transition. No smell.
Wondering if I m doing something wrong revving the engine before downshifting?
I have only had my corvette 6 months & I am getting frustrated with my lack of manual transmission skills.I just got back in to a stick after 10 years, but figured it would easy to get back into the swing of things. It hasn't. I am very sloppy even with upshifting. .Car jerks alot starting from first gear.
Maybe I am the cause of the clutch smell? Wondering if I ruined the clutch. I know there was no smell the first few months after I purchased the corvette.

Sometimes I think I should trade it for a automatic.

 

Me too, I suck in manual in the beginning. Like you, I haven't driven a manual in a while (since high school), and I'm in my 30's. I adjusted my seat so I have perfect posture, move the seat so you can step on the clutch firmly, and hold first gear till she's around 2k rpm. But I will slip up no and then. The MN6 isn't the easist trans to conquer, she has attitude, but in time you'll get comfortable.

 

Try rev matching with out heel toe shifting for a while first. Sounds like you are riding the clutch a little still. Is the car engine braking or surging forward when you let the clutch out?

 

Do you have the stock shifter? It is quite lazy compared to a Hurst or something similar. It is notchy but it certainly makes the shifts more precise. Have you tried starting in second gear?

 

I probably should try to move the seat closer. I have it very far back so it is easy to get in & out. I am probably letting it out too early if I should hold it till 2000 rpms.


I read some articles about rev matching, but don't know how to rev match. Is it a sound that I am listening or a certain known rpm? I came across double clutching & it sounds like you put it in neutral, foot off the clutch & rev the engine & then push the clutch in & stick in gear. What I am unsure about is when the revs match.

Boy I feel like such a "noob" :

 

I just switched to a MGW & had hopes it would get better, but I still suck.
I haven't tried starting from second. I always thought it would wear down the clutch if you drove in too high of a gear?

 

Like my old football coach always said, besides looking at mother, "Practice! Practice! Practice!" You'll get it in time. Most of my shifting woos happen when I don't press down on the clutch all the way. Plus, you need to go down all the way or your cruise control will have problems later.

 

It sounds like you are trying to make it too sophisticated and complicated!! Don't worry about heel/toe and such. Just use normal shifting methods. In 1st just raise the idle a bit and ease the clutch out and as it starts to grab a bit let it out and feed the gas! Once your going just a quick stab of the clutch should be sufficient for the next shifts. Don't over think it!!! After a bit it'll be second nature. Rev matching is just a tiny throttle blip to raise the revs when you are downshifting. As you come out of the higher gear a small tap of the gas to raise the revs a couple hundred as you hit the lower gear helps keep from lurching forward when you let the clutch back out. Hope this helps!! Do about 45-50 in 5th and hit the gas if the clutch doesn't slip you should be in good shape clutch wise,,they are pretty sturdy parts!!

 

Rev matching or double clutching....neither one uses the heel for anything.

Or are you braking?

 

I don't have a vette yet but I plan on getting a MN6 this december or janurary so I've been asking and reading about sticks.

I found this guy giving good tips for people who are not skilled at driving manuals.

I'll type out a few things in case you don't like to read and scroll through the long article, but if you don't mind, you can ignore the rest of this post.

When you learn how to downshfit properly, do it without braking or making a turn. He has an example. Get up to 5th gear at a steady speed (50 mph or something) then downshift to 4th smoothly. Then upshift to 5th again. Your goal is to be able to drive steadily and smoothly without any movement or jerkiness. the only thing that should change is the engine sound (since it's a higher RPM at lower gear).

The way I understand downshifting is that, you have to know your car's gears/RPM. So if you're going 30 MPH in 3rd gear, and you want to downshift to 2nd, you need to know the right RPM to get the engine to. I've JUST began practicing manual so I'm no expert at all, but I did try to learn to downshift smoothly a few times and I did get one sucessful downshift where there was no jerkiness at all. But I'm not sure if I'm doing it properly (I could be messing up the clutch). I haven't tried double clutching as I don't feel that I shift fast enough. To double clutch, you can shift into neutral slowly but once you get the engine RPM to right number, you have to downshift quick or else your RPM will drop and your effort is wasted.

He also has some good pointers on shifting in general in the article. For example, if you're going to a stop sign, you may shift into neutral or keep it in a gear when you're slowing down. I think some people try to force the shifter into 1st before they are stopped. And apparently that's wrong. I've tried this and it's true. If you give the shifter light pressure as you're nearly stopped. There will be a moment where the shifter SLIDES into 1st gear. He mentioned something about that's the "perfect" shift. You should not have to force the shifter into gears. He said the same goes for downshifting.

There are 3 things to look at for a "good" shift: How smooth was the whole shifting process? How fast was the shift? and how easy was it to shift? (effort).

the following is the link for the article. I apologize for the long post and if anything is wrong (i'm newb too) feel free to correct me. :o Just trying to help. Thanks.

http://www.waycoolinc.com/z3/essenti...e/shifting.htm

 

 

Just how slowly are you letting the clutch out to cause a smell?

I'd think your car needs a tune up if it's jerking in 1st gear. Mine is smooth even dropping the rpm's right down to an idle and then going back on the gas no matter what gear it is in. The engine never jerks or misses or stutters.

Hell/toe or rev matching is easier with higher revs - at least to me anyways. You don't rev the engine up and then slowly release the clutch. You clutch in and as you're moving the shifter into the lower gear you just "blip" the throttle with your foot right before you release the clutch. It should all be done really quickly.

Peter

 

I agree that a big part of it is knowing what gears can handle what speeds. Most gears will handle most speeds, so you have to know speed/rpm for each. For instance, you can actually start out in 3rd gear if you want and take it all the way up to 100 MPH. But for "normal" city driving 3rd gear is best for around 25 to 35 MPH. If you up shift to 3rd at higher speeds it may be jerky when you let off the clutch unless you have some gas into it.

Just drive it around in each gear to see the comfortable shift points. The car is very versatile. Sometimes when I'm driving and I don't want to shift a lot I purely use 2nd and 5th gear and nothing else. Even using just those two gears, it pulls harder than most cars out there.

John

 

Yes I am braking as well. Using it going around turns & the offramp.

Thanks for the link


Yes, I was letting out the clutch slow. Maybe I was slipping b/c I was holding the clutch in after I blipped the gas?
Before I bought it, the engine was tuned & the clutch was replaced around a year ago.
I will have to try it again tomorrow but letting the clutch out immediately instead. Hopefully I won't get that clutch burning smell any longer. Hopefully not much damage has been done with me riding the clutch

Thanks for the info

 

You should practice heel & toe shifting while parked; mentally divide the brake pedal into 4 quadrants, then use the upper right quadrant for the toe. The foot should be slightly elevated from the floor so you can easily press the accelerator while braking. You want the rpms high, between 3500 to 5000 which does not hurt anything and then make a smooth downshift. This does save the clutch and tranny in the long run. If your rpms are low on the first try, don't shift just rev up the engine again and then shift. You'll get the hang of it, but you have to practice. I still practice when I am driving.