[kurmaro]

I've had my '22 SS for 6 months now. I haven't stalled in a few months, so I got that down, but when I'm up-shifting they're just not smooth. I keep rev-match on all the time. Am I getting off the clutch too slow/fast? Am I giving it gas too soon/late? Am I not matching the clutch and gas at the right time? It's especially bad going from 1 to 2, but sometimes I'll row through the gears smooth as butter.


Also, when down-shifting, how slow or fast am I supposed to come off the clutch? Am I supposed to hold it for a second at the biting point or just gradually come off of it? I'm asking because when I downshift sometimes I can feel the clutch grab hard and sometimes I can just hear it smacking.


Last thing, when racing, how am I supposed to come off the clutch and gas? I feel as though I'm doing it wrong because I'll smell my clutch after banging through the gears.



I appreciate any tips and information!

[95 imp]

Originally Posted by kurmaro

I've had my '22 SS for 6 months now. I haven't stalled in a few months, so I got that down, but when I'm up-shifting they're just not smooth. I keep rev-match on all the time. Am I getting off the clutch too slow/fast? Am I giving it gas too soon/late? Am I not matching the clutch and gas at the right time? It's especially bad going from 1 to 2, but sometimes I'll row through the gears smooth as butter.


Also, when down-shifting, how slow or fast am I supposed to come off the clutch? Am I supposed to hold it for a second at the biting point or just gradually come off of it? I'm asking because when I downshift sometimes I can feel the clutch grab hard and sometimes I can just hear it smacking.


Last thing, when racing, how am I supposed to come off the clutch and gas? I feel as though I'm doing it wrong because I'll smell my clutch after banging through the gears.



I appreciate any tips and information!

Sounds like you're letting it out too fast and "popping it". On the other hand, you don't want to release it too slow, because that wears the clutch faster.

And, if you're smelling clutch, there is a problem.

[LT4Greg]

Sounds like to me you need more seat time in your Camaro. Take your time going thru the gears and in my opinion you don’t need to have rev matching on until you are accustomed to driving a manual. Everyone including me drives a manual different and you learn by driving the car. Get the basics down and work on changing gears smoothly and letting the clutch out too and you’ll be driving it like us experienced manual drivers in due time. Good luck. ��

[Nothing like an SS]

Yup, practice, practice, practice. Before long you'll be ripping gears like a pro!
I agree, skip rev match until you are more comfortable driving.

[mariojas]

It's an art.

And these power trains (big v8 and stuff) won't give up I had 10yrs manual driving experience and I never was so jerky as in this car. Well, probably because I had 2L diesel with nice and smooth "double weight" (forgot English name for that...) clutch. These have brutal performance clutch in comparison.

I just use rev matching - it's stupidly good, so I can forget about mastering this art and just enjoy driving.

[arpad_m]

Originally Posted by mariojas

It's an art.

And these power trains (big v8 and stuff) won't give up I had 10yrs manual driving experience and I never was so jerky as in this car. Well, probably because I had 2L diesel with nice and smooth "double weight" (forgot English name for that...) clutch. These have brutal performance clutch in comparison.

I just use rev matching - it's stupidly good, so I can forget about mastering this art and just enjoy driving.

Think it's "dual mass flywheel".

Originally Posted by kurmaro

I've had my '22 SS for 6 months now. I haven't stalled in a few months, so I got that down, but when I'm up-shifting they're just not smooth. I keep rev-match on all the time. Am I getting off the clutch too slow/fast? Am I giving it gas too soon/late? Am I not matching the clutch and gas at the right time? It's especially bad going from 1 to 2, but sometimes I'll row through the gears smooth as butter.


Also, when down-shifting, how slow or fast am I supposed to come off the clutch? Am I supposed to hold it for a second at the biting point or just gradually come off of it? I'm asking because when I downshift sometimes I can feel the clutch grab hard and sometimes I can just hear it smacking.

Last thing, when racing, how am I supposed to come off the clutch and gas? I feel as though I'm doing it wrong because I'll smell my clutch after banging through the gears.

I appreciate any tips and information!

Indeed it's a fine motor skill that takes some time to hone to near perfection, you just need to practice some more, slightly adjusting your pedal timing and speed until you're satisfied with your shifts.

Skill acquisition also gets slower with age, I recall the 16-17 year olds in driving school who learned clutch operation in a day or two, while it took me weeks.

[KenMaro]

As I said to a gentleman at a gas station once when he asked me how I liked my Camaro, I replied with, "the hardest part is going slow." This car with this engine just wants to go, it wants to go and go fast. Learning on this v8 has got to be crazy for you, but as others have said it just takes practice and seat time. Going slow really is the hardest part for me though, first gear to second gear with the "skip shift" may be messing with your timing too (unless you installed a skip shift eliminator). Practice going slow, it really is the hardest to smoothly shift even for veteran manual drivers.

[Hostile_1LE]

I’ve had my car for 7 months now, and driving this car is a breeze. I stalled it at least 3 times pulling out of the dealer lot, lol! I recommend just driving it. If you know where the bite point is then you should be golden. I like to quickly release all of the dead space in the pedal, then smoothly and gradually release to 0% pedal. With rev-match on, the shifting should be near perfect assuming your clutch work is solid. Imo, learning how to smoothly up-shift is the hardest part.

[ST1LE]

Congratulations, glad you took the plunge and bought a manual. Learning to drive a manual is a core memory for me, a memory filled with nothing but joy.

Everyone in here is right. We all do it different and each car has it's own way it likes to be driven 'smooth'.

Maybe hang back on the racing for a short time, just get a little more used to things first before you try and do it at full speed. You can still go fast and just avoid hard shifts until you get it down.

Just get out there and drive, drive drive. Enjoy!!

[Blackmonba6Gen]

Practice and Practice, I was stalling off the showroom floor with mines... now I am 3200 miles in and I am no lift shifting now...my advice is to drive at night or find a BIG parking lot and just turn off the music and focus on the clutch not the gas just the clutch in first gear and listening to the engine.. the car will tell you exactly what it wants.. this is how i learned and I am a first time manual driver myself..

DONT FOCUS ON TRYING TO SHIFT GEARS FAST TRYING TO RACE... FOCUS ON ROWING THE GEARS SMOOTHLY..if you trying to go out on the street and become speed racer because someone in a auto is tempting you, you will smoke your clutch faster than you bought it.

Whats crazy is after I got my camaro, my friend let me drive his GT350R and it was easier for me to drive that car than my camaro due to the clutch bite point is low where our is a tad bit higher and it doesnt have all the baby sitting features the camaro has like HUD and active rev match. After that experience I learned how to drive my car better

[cjperformance]

I learned to drive a manual when I was delivering parts for an auto parts shop. Had a couple manual delivery trucks... an old mazda and old ford. 8 hours a day, 5 days a week. Prob took me a few weeks to feel super comfortable. So 100... 150 hours should do it. I would guess a car like a v8 camaro is probably a bit more challenging to learn on because you get punished harder for mistakes in shifting/clutching. I've never driven a manual "drive by wire" car, but I would think it would be more annoying than helpful. So much computer interference with the natural acts these days

[RamAir02]

Originally Posted by kurmaro

I've had my '22 SS for 6 months now. I haven't stalled in a few months, so I got that down, but when I'm up-shifting they're just not smooth. I keep rev-match on all the time. Am I getting off the clutch too slow/fast? Am I giving it gas too soon/late? Am I not matching the clutch and gas at the right time? It's especially bad going from 1 to 2, but sometimes I'll row through the gears smooth as butter.


Also, when down-shifting, how slow or fast am I supposed to come off the clutch? Am I supposed to hold it for a second at the biting point or just gradually come off of it? I'm asking because when I downshift sometimes I can feel the clutch grab hard and sometimes I can just hear it smacking.


Last thing, when racing, how am I supposed to come off the clutch and gas? I feel as though I'm doing it wrong because I'll smell my clutch after banging through the gears.



I appreciate any tips and information!

As others have said, it takes some practice.

Every manual car has a different bite point on the clutch. Find that first. From a stop, you can practice slowly letting out the clutch while easing on to the throttle. Once you start moving, smoothly let the clutch all the way out while increasing the pressure on the throttle pedal.

Once you're moving, you don't want to ride the clutch while upshifting -- it's a different motion than from a stop. Clutch in > Shift to next gear > let the clutch out smoothly, but quickly. If you ride the clutch while upshifting, you're going to burn it.

When downshifting, it's similar to upshifting, but you can let the clutch out a bit more quickly. You're using the engine to slow you down. Since you're using auto rev match, you don't need to blip the throttle or worry about matching RPMs. Although once you get better at driving your manual car, I'd recommend turning the auto rev match off and learning how to do it blipping the throttle with your right foot before you let the clutch out with your left foot.

When "racing", if you smell your clutch, you're not releasing it quickly enough -- you're riding it. WOT runs aren't about smoothness, you want to bang gears and release the clutch fast for quick shifts and quick clutch engagement.

Thinking about your questions, one thing you may need to focus on is work on the timing of your right hand and and left foot. With repetition, it becomes second nature -- I don't even think about it. But it sounds like you may be trying to shift gears before the clutch is depressed past the bite point or something else in your clucth / gear change timing is off.

[ember1205]

If you have ARM (Rev Match) on at all times and you're feeling the shifts, it has to be because you're letting the clutch out way too quickly and the engine doesn't drop RPM far enough (if you were waiting too long, the ARM would hold the RPM's where they need to be).

Here's my suggestion - turn ARM off and leave it off. Simply stop using it all together until you have fully blended your motions with the car. During this time, upshifts shouldn't ever cause issues (although they could still be a little bumpy as long as you don't hold the clutch in for far too long). However, do NOT downshift the car unless you know how to rev match it on your own - for that, turn the ARM back on if you need to. If you downshift and the RPM's are too low when you let the clutch out (common), you'll be wearing the clutch prematurely.

Another suggestion is to find a big, open parking lot or something with no one else around where you can practice 1-2, 2-3 type shifts. You'll be rolling at slower speeds and would be able to get more feel for the 'rhythm' of the car's engine.

Lastly, if you have a friend that genuinely knows how to drive manual and drives it well, have a talk with them for tips, tricks, ideas, and maybe even a road lesson or two.

[ctrlz]

Dual disc clutch for sure, not sure about the flywheel being dual mass.
The dual disc design can be a little unpredictable around the bite point. I find it "digs in" a little harder than a single disc and you are kind of committed once it starts to bite. You can be a little more wishy-washy with a single disc, IMHO.

I would not race or track the car until you are more comfortable. Also, I would give up downshifting until you can do the upshifting part without smelling the clutch. Brakes are fine for slowing the car, and you don't need to be killing your clutch lining until you have this sorted.

An old exercise:
With car idling on a flat surface (and nobody around), practice releasing the clutch to get rolling without giving it any gas. This helps train your left leg muscle memory.