[robbyrockets]

Just purchased the new Rally Yellow SS and am very very impressed so far.

The question I have is that its been 15 years since the last time I drove a manuel trans, and that was during a medical emergency on the Los Angeles freeway of all places.

I'd never driven one before till that point, so the leg was hopping like crazy from nerviousnes. It was one of those monkey see monkey do situations, me being the monkey that is.

Anyways, i"m having a real problem getting the 1st to 2nd shift down right, everytime I get into 2nd gear the car has a stuttering to it before it smooths out.

Any suggestions, on proper shift points, speed and rpm?

I think I'm letting the clutch out to soon, but again this is all new to me.

Thanks guys.

By the way what does riding the clutch mean, I hear its bad, how do I avoid doing it.

 

[87camaroPA]

Well it sounds like you are letting the clutch out to fast. But Do not quoute me on that i also have only driven stick a few times. But once i get it into 1st after that i am fine. 1st is my weak point. But i will pratice alot more over the summer.

 

[mken]

Sounds like it's just bogging down. Just give it a little more gas while you let off the clutch. Also, 2500 rpms seems to be a smooth point to shift in normal driving.

 

[wheelburns]

riding the clutch would be considered leaveing your foot on the pedal to cause unneeded*(?) wear. I think your shifting into 2nd 2 soon if u run first up to 20-25 mph b4 u shift 2 second you should be able to avoid the bogging issue. With due time will come the comfort

 

[Capone357]

What you need to do is let te clutch out till were it catches then ease it out from there. Riding the clutch does wear out the clutch so never put your foot on the clutch unless you are shifting.

 

[REDSS#1]

Just purchased the new Rally Yellow SS and am very very impressed so far.

The question I have is that its been 15 years since the last time I drove a manuel trans, and that was during a medical emergency on the Los Angeles freeway of all places.

I'd never driven one before till that point, so the leg was hopping like crazy from nerviousnes. It was one of those monkey see monkey do situations, me being the monkey that is.

Anyways, i"m having a real problem getting the 1st to 2nd shift down right, everytime I get into 2nd gear the car has a stuttering to it before it smooths out.

Any suggestions, on proper shift points, speed and rpm?

I think I'm letting the clutch out to soon, but again this is all new to me.

Thanks guys.

By the way what does riding the clutch mean, I hear its bad, how do I avoid doing it.

I have driven manual for 12 years now. Sounds like you need more practice. If you are shifting too soon before redline, the cars rpms will drop below the meat of the powerband. Kind of feels like bogging!?!

 

[VeloSSity]

I have driven manual for 12 years now. Sounds like you need more practice. If you are shifting too soon before redline, the cars rpms will drop below the meat of the powerband. Kind of feels like bogging!?!

You don't drive it up to redline in normal driving.

I'm fairly certain this guy is talking about just normal every day driving...

In which case 87camaroPA sounds dead-on correct to me... you're just letting the clutch out too fast. You just need to smooth that out, coupled with the proper amount of throttle application and you'll be smooth like a baby's butt in no time.

 

[Capone357]

HAHA nicely put nicely put!

 

[Capone_SS]

I just learned to drive stick not to long ago too. It's been almost a year now,and I had the same trouble you are having.What helped me the most was me driving the car every day.The more I drove it the better I got.I still stall every so often,. but I'm a lot better then I was.

 

[Capone357]

I agree i have only been driving stick for 2 weeks since i got my SS and im only 17 so i havent had much experience but the more i drive the better i get and even if you drive you will still stall every once in a while not thinking. My advice if your on a hill in traffic don't freak out and rev high and worry about rolling back it only makes it worse!

 

[CoBIZZLE]

I've been drivin a stick for over 6 years now and every so very few often I wont be payin attention at a light and slip out the clutch too fast and stall it. I did it once last year, leavin work and there was like ten cars behind me tryin to get out, ended up missin the whole in traffic and had to wait again, oops! LOL

 

[robbyrockets]

Thanks to all for the responses, I'll keep working at it, I'm just afraid that I might damage something if I shift to high in the powerband.

Should I be acceleraring as I am releasing the clutch into the next gear?

Its seems that know matter what I do when shifting I get that deceleration lerch one gets when shifting down a gear.

I cant seem to get the shift and acceleration timed right.

Thanks to all that responded.

Any other recommendations would be appreciated, so keep them coming.

Again, thank you.

 

[CoBIZZLE]

When you are down shiftin, you can slow up a lil before ya shift or brake while shiftin to keep it from nose diving due to immediate shock of high rpms because of downshiftin. I would say slow up before ya downshift. Also get on the gas after the downshift(not WOT) but if ya have some throttle in it it wont jerk as bad then you can slowly let off and slow up as needed.
And you wont damage anything unless you ride redline the whole time LOL Daily drivin shouldnt mess anything up. Keep practicin, and dont worry about NOT gettin it right be STOKED about TRYIN to get it right, if you get frustrated then it'll be that much harder, if you stay motivated and actually ENJOY the driving experience, then you'll be slammin gears in no time!!!

 

[nikeair042]

Actualy, what I do on a hill is pull the e-brake up, and just use the gas/clutch till you feel the car wanting to move forward. Once you get that feeling, I let out the e-brake and on I go. No roll back.

 

[mken]

Should I be acceleraring as I am releasing the clutch into the next gear?

Yes, you want to slowly increase throttle at the same rate you let off the clutch and stay on the throttle afterwards. Just keep the rpms above 2000 as you release the clutch. One thing about the SS is that the clutch grabs high. So it won't be until it's nearly released that it finally engages. A Cobalt SS is probably not the easiest car to learn on, either.

 

[robbyrockets]

Thanks very much folks for all the advice.

I,ve noticed that its much smoother when releasing the clutch at about 2500 rpm, thanks again to all.

 

[SmedleySS]

whats up robby im new to this site but driving stick is a piece of cake once u get it down you can drive stick while talkin on the phone or with a knee and one arm its really easy especially if your not on a hill thats a lil tougher a buddy of mine told me that its easier to feel the friction point in your clutch when u practice in socks ne way give it ne where between 2,000-3000 rpms untill u get it down eventually ull learn that u can get the car movin with out touchin the gas and only using the clutch feel the clutch be the car sike just practice later ohh and dont ride u clutch they're a pain to install

 

[chris101504]

Driving stick like smedly said is a piece of cake n when u kno it u can definately drive talk on the fone and eat lunch lol ive done it. but once u get down the fundamentals you need to learn how to power shift lol get back to us when ur done with the fundamentals. Also what is the difference between double clutching and power shifting???

 

[CoBIZZLE]

Driving stick like smedly said is a piece of cake n when u kno it u can definately drive talk on the fone and eat lunch lol ive done it. but once u get down the fundamentals you need to learn how to power shift lol get back to us when ur done with the fundamentals. Also what is the difference between double clutching and power shifting???

LOL I used to do that on my lunch breaks, when all I got was a 30 min and there weren't any restaraunts w/in like 10 min.s! I would hold the phone w/ my shoulder, a burger with one hand, and steer and shift w/ the other, and if I was cravin bad enough I would have a cigarette in the corner of my mouth that I would take out w/ two fingers while still holdin the burger w/ my other two fingers and thumb to take a bite of my burger... that'll make a burger taste a lil on the not so good side LOL I realized I was doin that one day and I was like I gotta quit this shit!! LOL Hung up the phone, flicked the square and grubbed my burger!!

 

[JamesBrown]

Ya, I just learned to drive stick with my SS too. I have the same problem from 1st into 2nd, feels a little rough, but I'm sure I'll get it with time. As of now my only real problem is starting from a dead stop on hills....I'm terrified of rolling back into somebody else's car..