Need Help on Driving 06 Si

[Kenbeal]

Hello everyone, I just bought myself a Fiji blue si with nav. However, up until til I bought my car, I've never driven a manual transmission before!! The first two days were horrible, I would stall like 50 times a day!!! But now I've seem to get the flow. I would like to ask a few questions as well as any inputs on how to drive to protect the car while driving manual.

Question:

1. Is it ok to release the clutch extremly slowly to get a smooth ride? I find that the only way for me to get a butter smooth shift is for me to let out the clutch slowly, (through all gears) otherwise it will jerk. I mean, is releasing the clutch slowly considered riding the clutch? (also, is that little jerk when shifting normal ride for you guys? or do you guys ride smooth?)

2. I want to be able to acclerate real fast after a stop, (to speed up with traffic) but finding myself lagging behind other cars. I start moving by very slowly releasing the clutch until I feel the contact point, then I slowly press the gas, then I slowly shift to 2nd at about 10 miles per hour!! Damn doing this takes too much time. How do i accerlertate faster?

3. Is your ride smooth ? Or is it normal for you guys to jerk a little bit from 1st to 2nd and 2nd to third?

4. My car moves by itself if I really slowly release the clutch in first gear WITHOUT pressing the gas. Does your car do this? And is it ok if I continue to start motion with this? Or will it wear out the clutch?

5. Do you guys press on the gas as you relesae clutch? or do you release release the clutch all the way first before pressing the clutch? Thanks.

Any input is greatly appreciate.

[Yodums]

1) You're just starting out, so it's fine. Go ahead and release it as slow as you want. The slip is pretty insignificant at slow speeds, but you'll quickly be able to find the friction point faster with time. I remember my first week driving stick - getting beat off the line by a Geo Metro or Suzuki Swift was not cool.

2) Take it easy for now. Read my first answer. You'll slowly be able to get used to it with time and get good at modulating the clutch and accelerator. Once you've got that down, then you can start advancing your skills.

3) It depends on the mood, but yes, I drive it without any problems. I drive more leniently with people in the car, but I don't really care if I jerk on my 1-2 shift everytime it happens.

All I can say is give it some time and you'll be comfortable. It takes about a week or two to get things going and from there, things just pick up really fast. Just be patient. Starting from a stop and the 1 to 2 shift are probably the two hardest aspects of a manual transmission.

[ayenoc]

Kenbeal.. your one heck of a guy.. Great choice buying a stick. You'll learn and I do hope you get better at it.. Some people out there wouldn't even bother to get a stick because of lack of experience... +100 OP.. Si stalling and driving 10 mph..; hilarious y0.. good luck

[thinkinblue613]

Dude, your not the only one who's getting the SI as their first manual car...

I have a little experience with it but not a pro at it yet... I've been driving around with my bro's Prelude but I still stall it every once in a while. It's fun to drive manual and I hope you enjoy it bro. I'm still trying to get an SI.

[crazyj]

I had pratice with my 03 civic ex manual.... Then I tradeding it in after 3 years for my Fiji Blue Si with Navi.... You will get the hang of it. The Si is probably one of the easist manual tranny cars I have ever driven!
+1 for Civic Si.

[TreeFrog]

1) letting the clutch out slowy is like a noob way of getting the shift smooth. you should shift at 17 mph to second gear by the manual. if you find the right rpms you can shift fast and smooth. it is considered riding the clutch, especialy if you are accerating while letting the clutch out. my ride is as smooth as i want it to be. i find my self shifting to 3rd RIGHT after 2nd a lot of the time.

2) while you're still learning, don't accerate fast. you will kill your clutch if you are screwing up. but... want to accelerate real fast? let clutch out fast and floor it. going fast and jerky shift kinda go hand and hand.

3) my ride is not smooth, i'm still doubing the speed limit where ever i go. i'm a vtec addict, hell i'm a 8,300 rpm addict. if you don't WANT to jerk from 1st to second then there should be NONE. if there is and you don't want to you just messed up.

4) never tried it, don't do it. stop riding the clutch.

---------------------------------------------

i have to agree with crazyj. the civic si is the easyest manual i have ever driven. my eclipse was very very hard. in fact experienced manual trany drivers would stall it all the time.

some advice you have to JAM into 3rd when its cold. cause it likes to bounce out. keep your rpms between 3 and 4k rpms for normal driving. stop riding the clutch you will brake it. take it EASY until you learn how to drive. once you learn how to drive a manual you will never go back. when you are not shifting put your foot on the dead pedal, not on the clutch. oh and stop riding the clutch.

[Kenbeal]

Thanks guys for the inputs. But one last questions, do you guys press on the gas as you relesae clutch? or do you release release the clutch all the way first before pressing the clutch? Thanks.

[sheek360]

time and practice is all you need dude. you should be a pro by the time you hit 3k miles on the car. The SI is a forgiving car, shifts very smooth too. Your lucky you arent learning in an old corolla RWD ae86

[Fixer]

Kenbeal: Someone else posted recently about driving a standard/manual transmission and clutch release points, throttle input, etc. Everyone developes their own driving technique but in the end you'll have to learn to 'dance'. Meaning your left and right feet will have to work in coordination to get the results you want. In the winter and in heavy rain, you'll have to ease/slip the clutch more than on a perfectly dry sunny day. You'll have to drop the clutch faster when going from a stand still pulling out into fast heavy traffic. It depends on circumstances. As one poster mentioned. DO NOT ride the clutch. Once you release the clutch, get your foot off. Even the slightest pressure on the clutch pedal while driving can cause your throw out bearing to give way prematurely. Some people press on the clutch pedal while stopped at a light, others perfer to shift into neutral and release the clutch pedal. My method is the former unless I'm in a traffic jam. And that is the ONLY time I would prefer an auto tranny. Fortunately the Si clutch is pretty light compared to other cars. I learned to drive manual on an old Ford pickup. Literally needed both feet to press in the clutch. And it was a 3 speed on the steering column. Fun, fun. As for jerking, that is generally a sign that the clutch was released without enough throttle input. Sort of like the transmission bogging down the engine slightly. The trick with driing a manual is to figure shift points depending on condition and mood. Again, you'll shift early in bad weather to avoid wheel spin. Shift late on nice days to enjoy the power and sound of your VTEC. And early again if you want to save on some gas money. I generally find myself shifting as necessary to keep the engine in the 3000 to 4500 RPM in normal driving. Good luck on getting a handle on your shifting technique.

[tim711]

As far as using the clutch to move the car without gas... not good on the car, but it is a good way for a person new to manual to get a feel for the friction point in the clutch (when to apply little gas). When you get the hang of the clutch+gas you can get fast of the line by letting the clutch out quick to that friction point and than add a little gas and smooth the jerk out by playing with the gas and clutch as you come out of 1st. Good Luck

[HAQER]

As far as the jerky shifts, if you let off the gas just a split second before hitting the clutch, it won't be as jerky. It seems like you are accelerating and then hitting the clutch, which will cause it to jerk. While you are practicing, try completely letting off the gas, then hit the clutch and shift into second. That should be much smoother.

Then, as far as letting the clutch off, the only way I can explain it is like Indiana Jones. He grabs the statue and immediately replaces it with the sandbag. In this case, the statue is the clutch and the sandbag is the gas. He doesn't put the sandbag on until he's grabbed the statue, but he does it so quickly that you wouldn't even know. You need to let off the clutch completely but at the same time, your right foot should be going down to the gas pedal. So, your left foot will be coming up at the same speed that your right foot is going down (of course, you don't want to floor the gas, but you know what i mean). The only thing with that is you can't really do that in traffic. In slow traffic, you might need to slip the clutch a little bit.

[Quantum]

check out this website: http://www.standardshift.com/

lots of advice there.

[CivicWithNav]

i don't understand why people buy a performance oriented sports car if they can't drive stick?!

[Apex77]

Originally Posted by CivicWithNav

i don't understand why people buy a performance oriented sports car if they can't drive stick?!

They've got tons of disposable income to BURN !!!! :)

[Halcyon819]

Hey,

I'm new to stick too and have only had my Si going on week 4 now. I started out stalling a lot too, but I am much better now. (although I still stall occasionally.)

Anyhoo. I found the easiest way to not start off slow at the light and get a smooth shift. My friend does this too in her Jetta.

Note (it may not be the best way though):

At a stop light (flat ground):
Clutch in + Brake + in 1st Gear.
As soon as the light changes, I quickly gas it to ~1600 rpm. Then I release the clutch until I hit the friction point (the rev will drop and you will feel you have to put in more gas or else you will stall). At which point, I give it more gas and release the clutch slightly slower. It feels smooth and you'll get off the line at a decent rate.

On Hills, I usually bring it to ~2000rpm (depending on the incline) and do the same thing.

Try this and let me know if it works better for you. Anyone else do this method?

[Kenbeal]

Try this and let me know if it works better for you. Anyone else do this method?[/quote]


Thanks for the great advice, I've tried that method and actually I would prefer to do it that way, but perhaps my feet coordination and timing is still inexperience. I will keep practicing starting off that method.

[striker_1818]

Originally Posted by CivicWithNav

i don't understand why people buy a performance oriented sports car if they can't drive stick?!

+1
Learn stick before you but a M/T car. Otherwise you'd burn the hell out of your clutch...
thats why u find friends with M/T cars at the age of 16 when ur in hs. Learn it then after you pretty much know what you're doing without stallin it go for a M/T car.

I remember my times learning stick...would go fine from neutral starting the car then first and then it'd stall when getting into 2nd gear lol

[sheek360]

Originally Posted by Fixer

in the end you'll have to learn to 'dance'

+1 dude, youll be doing the stick shift tango in no time, just practice.

[Apex77]

I got a question .....

If you had never driven manual before, how did you do a test drive the car and who drove the car home when you bought it?


In England I hear that there is a seperate license for Automatic and Manual.

[sheek360]

Originally Posted by Apex77

I got a question .....

If you had never driven manual before, how did you do a test drive the car and who drove the car home when you bought it?


In England I hear that there is a seperate license for Automatic and Manual.

i learned on a ae86, my brothers actually. 2 years went by and i bought an srt4. differant world, had to learn all over again