[weekend_cruiser]

Hi all, new stick driver here. The 2SS 1LE is my first manual car. Before my car was delivered, I learned on an NB Miata (about an hour lesson). This Miata was my first time driving a manual. Stalled it a bunch of times but overall, I thought I picked it up ok.

After, I went for a short test drive in an ND Miata which I found to be fairly easy to drive. A friend recently got a GR Corolla (awesome car btw). I have driven the GR Corolla a few times and didn’t find it particularly problematic. I found all the above cars to have fairly pronounced clutch bite point. I could easily tell I was at the bite point in these cars because the vibration was distinctive.

I have less than 200 miles on the 1LE. I am able to drive it ok for the most part. Still working on making upshifts smooth (I think I am releasing the clutch too early). My main issue is of all the manual cars I have driven so far, I am having a more difficult time telling the bite point of the 1LE. I don’t sense much vibration at all when it gets to that point. My tell right now is to use the engine sound and rpm. Unfortunately for me, that means if I have the radio on, I sometimes stall it. I haven’t owned it for long (less than 2 weeks) but was hoping to be past stalling at this point. It doesn't help that I keep playing around with my seat settings.

Basically, I am hoping to be able to release the clutch to the bite point a little quicker without slowly raising it till the car moves. I know I will probably get used to it over time but just wanted to hear some thoughts from both new and old stick drivers and how they found the SS’s clutch bite point. Thanks.

[Callaway SC630]

Mine is higher than I would have originally wanted, but it mirrors my C7 and now I like it on both. I can drive them out of the hole really well (like that better than dumping the clutch).

You can turn on rev match to help upshifts.

Practice on a level area just using the clutch. It will teach you quickly about the bite point.

[SSDan]

I have no magic answer for you since every car is different. Get that seat position finalized and keep the music down until you get more practice. With seat time you’ll adjust and be just fine. I’ve owned many manual cars and find my 2016 6MT to be one of the best. It’s easy to modulate the clutch and the shifting action is firm but positive and engaging. Go rip some gears and have fun!

[m6-lt1]

Turn rev match on and all your upshifts (and downshifts) will be perfectly smooth as long as you aren’t dropping the clutch too fast. In fact with rev match on you can release the clutch very slowly and your shifts will still be perfect.

[weekend_cruiser]

Originally Posted by Callaway SC630

Mine is higher than I would have originally wanted, but it mirrors my C7 and now I like it on both. I can drive them out of the hole really well (like that better than dumping the clutch).

You can turn on rev match to help upshifts.

Practice on a level area just using the clutch. It will teach you quickly about the bite point.

Will do. I did a little bit of this which helped. Probably will be a good idea to do more.

Originally Posted by SSDan

I have no magic answer for you since every car is different. Get that seat position finalized and keep the music down until you get more practice. With seat time you’ll adjust and be just fine. I’ve owned many manual cars and find my 2016 6MT to be one of the best. It’s easy to modulate the clutch and the shifting action is firm but positive and engaging. Go rip some gears and have fun!

I agree. Need to find a fixed seat position and go from there.

Originally Posted by m6-lt1

Turn rev match on and all your upshifts (and downshifts) will be perfectly smooth as long as you aren’t dropping the clutch too fast. In fact with rev match on you can release the clutch very slowly and your shifts will still be perfect.

I have rev match on but I think the issue is I am releasing the clutch too quickly when not driving hard. It's particularly problematic going from 1->2. All other gears seem smooth even if I release the clutch quickly on upshifts. Because of this, I tend to go from 1->3 if not driving aggressively. I noticed the shifts are smooth if I drive it hard and shift quickly. Unfortunately can't drive that way all time .

[JT6Speed]

When driving slowly (like around back streets and such) going from 1-2 you have to let the clutch out a little slower. I mean, you never just pop it out, even going into 6th gear, but you'll learn with the feel of the car when you can and should modulate it more carefully.

As mentioned, you'll notice that if you are accelerating a bit more, like shifting around 3500 or higher, it's pretty easy to get some good smooth shifts, even if rev match is off. Really learn where the clutch starts to bite and that will help a lot.

[weekend_cruiser]

Originally Posted by JT6Speed

When driving slowly (like around back streets and such) going from 1-2 you have to let the clutch out a little slower. I mean, you never just pop it out, even going into 6th gear, but you'll learn with the feel of the car when you can and should modulate it more carefully.

As mentioned, you'll notice that if you are accelerating a bit more, like shifting around 3500 or higher, it's pretty easy to get some good smooth shifts, even if rev match is off. Really learn where the clutch starts to bite and that will help a lot.

Thanks, will do. My plan is to practice just the bite point feel in an open parking lot for a while till I have it down.

[Callaway SC630]

[QUOTE=weekend_cruiser;11317351]Will do. I did a little bit of this which helped. Probably will be a good idea to do more.


To clarify. Just the clutch pedal and no throttle.

[ZPirate]

Originally Posted by SSDan

I have no magic answer for you since every car is different. Get that seat position finalized and keep the music down until you get more practice. With seat time you’ll adjust and be just fine. I’ve owned many manual cars and find my 2016 6MT to be one of the best. It’s easy to modulate the clutch and the shifting action is firm but positive and engaging. Go rip some gears and have fun!

I agree with you. Every clutch is slightly different. Finding the engagement point is critical to being able to really drive the car. As others have said practice is the key to success. After a while it becomes second nature. And rev match certainly makes downshifts smoother.

As someone else mentioned the clutch in the Camaro engages rather high compared to other manuals I've had. That took some getting used to on my part. But at the same time the clutch is very smooth and requires very little effort compared to other cars I've owned. Operating the aftermarket unsprung clutch in my Z takes considerable more effort.

[Alpha1BC]

Originally Posted by weekend_cruiser

I have rev match on but I think the issue is I am releasing the clutch too quickly when not driving hard. It's particularly problematic going from 1->2. All other gears seem smooth even if I release the clutch quickly on upshifts. Because of this, I tend to go from 1->3 if not driving aggressively. I noticed the shifts are smooth if I drive it hard and shift quickly. Unfortunately can't drive that way all time .

With rev match on I've found it necessary to drive a little differently that with rev match off to get smooth upshifts on the street while driving casually. With it off I do a little more blending with the clutch and throttle to make it smooth. With it on, I typically wait a touch longer to release the clutch and don't ramp in throttle until the clutch is mostly engaged. Reason behind that is rev match will hold the proper RPM automatically until the clutch is most of the way engaged, and any throttle added before that point tends to cause an over-rev that results in a harsher shift. There's a few other ways to achieve smooth shifts as well of course, this is just the approach that worked easiest for me.

As others have stated, the real key to getting smooth is drive time. That's the best way to really get the feel for it and smooth everything out.

[LT1gen6]

Originally Posted by weekend_cruiser

I have rev match on but I think the issue is I am releasing the clutch too quickly when not driving hard. It's particularly problematic going from 1->2. All other gears seem smooth even if I release the clutch quickly on upshifts. Because of this, I tend to go from 1->3 if not driving aggressively. I noticed the shifts are smooth if I drive it hard and shift quickly. Unfortunately can't drive that way all time .

Avoid the 1-3 or 1-4 (2nd gear lockout) by staying in 1st gear at least until 20 mph. The subsequent shift to 2nd will be smooth. Take it easy in 1st gear in normal traffic and focus on being smooth. You'll quickly be rewarded.

I like to play a game whereby my shift points are imperceptible to a person in the passenger seat. Smooth driving is an art form in my experience and opinion, inspired by great F1 racer Jackie Stewart.

https://www.deseret.com/1988/6/26/18...smooth-drivers

[mariojas]

I drove manual for my first 10 years of driving experience. ZL1 (probably similar clutch experience) - it took me a year to learn it to the point that it is hard to showcase my struggle to others. But I still stall sometimes

[db2022cs]

Correct seat position is great and keep it there! Go to an empty parking lot and just find where the clutch starts to bite in. With a lot of seat time, your foot will pick up the muscle memory of where the grab point is so you don't really go by feel or sound as much but just remembering the distance you need to let out before catching. Just getting in the seat time is the biggest thing and make sure your movements with clutch and throttle are smooth. It's going to be super fun for you to slowly get better and actually notice your improvement. Then once you make it past break-in of 1500 miles you can start being a bit more aggressive with your movements and really use that 1LE what it's for.

This is also a great time to make sure you have good habits so you don't wear out your parts. Keep your foot off the clutch unless you are intending to make a gear change. Keep your hand off the stick unless you are going to make a gear change. If you occasionally do this it's fine but a habit of resting hand or foot on these parts could wear out parts faster.

[ctrlz]

I'm going to guess that both the Miata and Corolla are single disc clutches. The Camaro is dual disc.
The dual disc setup is less "forgiving" around the bite point. Once they start to engage they tend to grab quickly. The dual disc gets you more surface area, so it's a stronger design which will last longer. but in some applications, particularly trucks hauling loads and doing a lot of maneuvering, people just hate them.

No question you will adapt to the feel of this in your new car, it's just not what you learned on. Nobody's perfect. I've driven manual for forty years and still stall once or twice per year if I get distracted at the wrong instant.