How to drive a WRX ? (manual)
09-17-2004, 04:47 AM
#1
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How to drive a WRX ? (manual)
Hello all,
Well i'm into my 2nd day or ownership in my '02 WRX. The 2 year wait was deffiantely worth it. I've only stalled it out twice so far and for not driving a manual for 4 or 5 years i'm not doing too bad.
However i'd like to know the basics of driving a manual, such as when the clutch should be compressed and when it shouldn't(riding the clutch?). Basic stuff I know but i've never owned a manual and would like to keep the transmission in decent shape and or 1 piece not to mention the clutch and everything around it.
Any tips ya might have would be great and or a site to check out.
Can't wait to get a handle on my Rex. Winter is coming and can't wait to blast through the MN winters.
Thanks for the tips,
happy driving all
Well i'm into my 2nd day or ownership in my '02 WRX. The 2 year wait was deffiantely worth it. I've only stalled it out twice so far and for not driving a manual for 4 or 5 years i'm not doing too bad.
However i'd like to know the basics of driving a manual, such as when the clutch should be compressed and when it shouldn't(riding the clutch?). Basic stuff I know but i've never owned a manual and would like to keep the transmission in decent shape and or 1 piece not to mention the clutch and everything around it.
Any tips ya might have would be great and or a site to check out.
Can't wait to get a handle on my Rex. Winter is coming and can't wait to blast through the MN winters.
Thanks for the tips,
happy driving all
09-17-2004, 05:42 AM
#2
Registered User
Join Date: Mar 2004
Posts: 113
Car Info: 2002 Impreza WRX
Riding the clutch is when you leave your foot on the pedal and press the clutch in a bit when its not necessary. Just don't leave your foot on the clutch pedal when your not using it and this won't happen. Even a little bit of pressure can cause the clutch to disengage a wee bit with a hydraulic clutch.
Tips for driving manual:
-go here and read http://www.spdusa.com/wrx_intro.htm very good info
-Learn to drive really smoothly while not ripping it - this will help you be able to drive fast smoothly
-Wait for the engine to slow down before you let the clutch out after shifting - my gf doesn't do this in her jeep, its pretty jerky and causes excess wear on your clutch (i.e. not smooth)
-When you want to get going fast from a dead stop, the easiest(on your tranny) way to do it is to get going a bit with some clutch slippage and once the clutch is fully engaged, then get on the gas
Unfortunately.. its not always easy to remember all that good stuff when your ripping it.. hehe
Have fun, Enjoy the car.. try not to get into too much trouble..
Tips for driving manual:
-go here and read http://www.spdusa.com/wrx_intro.htm very good info
-Learn to drive really smoothly while not ripping it - this will help you be able to drive fast smoothly
-Wait for the engine to slow down before you let the clutch out after shifting - my gf doesn't do this in her jeep, its pretty jerky and causes excess wear on your clutch (i.e. not smooth)
-When you want to get going fast from a dead stop, the easiest(on your tranny) way to do it is to get going a bit with some clutch slippage and once the clutch is fully engaged, then get on the gas
Unfortunately.. its not always easy to remember all that good stuff when your ripping it.. hehe
Have fun, Enjoy the car.. try not to get into too much trouble..
09-17-2004, 08:37 AM
#3
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Posts: n/a
Excellant
Thanks for the tips, gonna take some practice I know but i'm not willing to give up on it so hopefully by winter i'll have the hang of it. I'd just hate to ruin something in my tranny as a result of crapy driving. I'm not pounding on the car yet so at least thats a plus. I am deffinately surprised by the power it does have though, as have all my friends.
ok, have a more specific question for ya. So as long as my foot is not on the gas pushing the clutch in has no ill effects? So I should ride the clutch all the way to a dead stop or let the car coast to a stop then push the clutch when the engine slows(before killing)? Sorry if you've answered this already, I still don't know all the termanology that goes along with it yet.
What is clutch slippage?
Thanks again for the info,
ride on!
ok, have a more specific question for ya. So as long as my foot is not on the gas pushing the clutch in has no ill effects? So I should ride the clutch all the way to a dead stop or let the car coast to a stop then push the clutch when the engine slows(before killing)? Sorry if you've answered this already, I still don't know all the termanology that goes along with it yet.
What is clutch slippage?
Thanks again for the info,
ride on!
09-17-2004, 08:44 AM
#4
Registered User
Join Date: Jun 2004
Location: NE philadelphia
Posts: 19
Car Info: 1996 Impreza L
i dont drive a stick but i know this. when not accelerating (slowing down, coming to a stop) you should not have the clutch engaged (foot off pedal) this causes excessive wear on the clutch. I was told this buy a tranny mechanic. He said 99% of the time when the clutch goes bad early its because of inexperienced drivers "clutch breaking". Clutch slippage is when its slighty engaged but not fully engaged.....hence it will slip. This is good when starting from a dig because just dropping the clutch with our "oh so strong" transmissions will prove disasterous. ^^^^------sarcasim.
hope this helps
Pete
.....i wish i drove a stick....
hope this helps
Pete
.....i wish i drove a stick....
09-18-2004, 12:21 AM
#5
Originally Posted by 96Imprezadent
i dont drive a stick but i know this. when not accelerating (slowing down, coming to a stop) you should not have the clutch engaged (foot off pedal) this causes excessive wear on the clutch. I was told this buy a tranny mechanic. He said 99% of the time when the clutch goes bad early its because of inexperienced drivers "clutch breaking". Clutch slippage is when its slighty engaged but not fully engaged.....hence it will slip. This is good when starting from a dig because just dropping the clutch with our "oh so strong" transmissions will prove disasterous. ^^^^------sarcasim.
hope this helps
Pete
.....i wish i drove a stick....
hope this helps
Pete
.....i wish i drove a stick....
09-18-2004, 09:42 AM
#6
Registered User
iTrader: (7)
Join Date: Sep 2003
Location: Davis and San Francisco
Posts: 2,295
Car Info: 2005 STi Silver
im also interested in this thread, i have a queston about stop and go traffic, would u HAVE to be riding the clutch because u're moving along really slow? how do u get the car to go really slow..without riding the clutch, i mean..u have to stop, and then go again..and before u can fully engage the clutch u have to stop and do it over again, is that how stop and go works?
09-18-2004, 11:04 AM
#7
Registered User
Join Date: Sep 2004
Location: Oregon
Posts: 45
Car Info: 02 WRX. Straight Sexy.
Wow....that's way too much thought into driving a stick... hehe. Nah, what i do in stop and go... is let the clutch out quick(er) to engage a little more abruptly, then immediately depress it again, which give the car just enough momentum to coast forward. Just keep doing that if your THAT concerned about your clutch usage...Heck it gives your leg a good work out. But honestly, if you aren't smelling burnt clutch all the time, it's really not that big of a deal. I got a 6-puck, which is a huge pain in the a** to drive. Err....HAD a 6-puck.
09-18-2004, 11:08 AM
#8
Registered User
Join Date: Sep 2004
Location: Oregon
Posts: 45
Car Info: 02 WRX. Straight Sexy.
And ZERO, Imprezedent guy was saying be careful about downshifting to slow you down... That wears your clutch out quicker. IE- Going 35, and down shifting into 2nd and letting the clutch out to use the lower gears to slow you down. Just use the plain ol brakes. They are cheaper to repair. 
09-18-2004, 02:58 PM
#9
Oh okay, thanks for the clarification. So when slowing down, dont touch the clutch and use the breaks, so would that mean no down shifting? (Im sorry, I havent driven a manual in awhile, so this stuff is like new again).
09-19-2004, 02:46 PM
#10
Registered User
Join Date: Dec 2003
Location: Encinitas CA
Posts: 372
Car Info: Black 03 WRX
When slowing down it is a GOOD idea to downshift. This will leave you in gear in case you end up needing to hit the gas for one reason or another, safety. This is especially a good idea when going down steep hills because brakes can fail when being ridden on continuosly for several miles. I have seen my friends rotors glowing red when coming down from Big Bear.
To down shift properly it is important to rev-match. To do this it is a very good idea to perfect the art of heel-toe shifting. Lets say you are in fourth gear going about 50mph and anticipating a turn. First, softly apply breaks and a split second later disengage the clutch and put the car into third. Then, with the clutch still desengaged, give it a blip of gas to get the rpms up to a point where they would normally be in that gear at that speed, don't worry though, you won't even ned to be watching your tach or speedo because you will be able to feel whatthe car is doing. As you are giving it that small blip of gas, slowly engage the clutch. While doing all of this you should be increasing the pressure on the brakes just enough to slow you down to a desirable speed. Repeat this for each additional gear change. If done properly, it is no different than shifting up. It is somewhat similar to double clutching.
I know this sounds ridiculously complicated for those of you that don't drive stick but trust me, it become second nature really quickly. Once you master this you can have a lot of fun on twisty roads. That's another thing, when your clutch is pushed in, you don't have AWD since that runs through the tranny, kind fof feels like a roller coaster ride if you don't have the car in gear. In addition to that, "compression braking" (what we are talking about here) is actually good for the engine because the backpressure on the pistons helps keep the rings seated properly.
http://www.wrxrally.com/driving.html this is a good site too
To down shift properly it is important to rev-match. To do this it is a very good idea to perfect the art of heel-toe shifting. Lets say you are in fourth gear going about 50mph and anticipating a turn. First, softly apply breaks and a split second later disengage the clutch and put the car into third. Then, with the clutch still desengaged, give it a blip of gas to get the rpms up to a point where they would normally be in that gear at that speed, don't worry though, you won't even ned to be watching your tach or speedo because you will be able to feel whatthe car is doing. As you are giving it that small blip of gas, slowly engage the clutch. While doing all of this you should be increasing the pressure on the brakes just enough to slow you down to a desirable speed. Repeat this for each additional gear change. If done properly, it is no different than shifting up. It is somewhat similar to double clutching.
I know this sounds ridiculously complicated for those of you that don't drive stick but trust me, it become second nature really quickly. Once you master this you can have a lot of fun on twisty roads. That's another thing, when your clutch is pushed in, you don't have AWD since that runs through the tranny, kind fof feels like a roller coaster ride if you don't have the car in gear. In addition to that, "compression braking" (what we are talking about here) is actually good for the engine because the backpressure on the pistons helps keep the rings seated properly.
http://www.wrxrally.com/driving.html this is a good site too
09-19-2004, 05:06 PM
#11
Registered User
Join Date: Jun 2003
Location: new england
Posts: 67
Car Info: 98 impreza 2.5 rs
does noone double clutch down shifts?? heard it saves the syncs in the tranny.
maybe this guy doesnt need to know about double clutching just yet. keep it in the twisties....~~~~~.......later
maybe this guy doesnt need to know about double clutching just yet. keep it in the twisties....~~~~~.......later
09-19-2004, 07:17 PM
#13
Registered User
Join Date: Jun 2003
Location: new england
Posts: 67
Car Info: 98 impreza 2.5 rs
its not, the way he described it....rustokman didnt describe a double clutch. he just said to go right into 3rd gear.....not,clutch down, hit neutral,let the cluth up,then back down,blip throttle to match revs then let up clutch. he missed the whole "double " part of it.. anyway,im no racer im just trying to save my equipment...later
09-19-2004, 08:01 PM
#14
Guest
Posts: n/a
Wow, too much info
Nah, can't have enough.
Thanks for all who've jumped in to add their 2 cents. Over the past few days i've been asking around and driving as much as possible. Have only stalled out a couple times in the past few days. Deffinately a smart idea to turn the radio off.
I deffinately agree with the whole brakes are cheaper then clutch/tranny deal. But that only applies when a dead stop is going to happen. I'm still learning where my gears lie and at what speeds I need to be going to use them while down shifing. Getting it slowly but surely.
I still get the jerky shifts in between and i'm working on the timing. Frustrating at times but it'll be well worth it in the end. The car is fantastic, the wait and all the hours of research I put into the car has deffiantely payed off.
Questions arise again though-
-What is double clutching
-What is heal toe shifting, the clutch seems bottomless in a way, short legs and small feet don't help I suppose
Thanks for the links and info, still learning plenty and am looking forward to many years of enjoyment in this car, well at least till its payed off anyway.
Have a good one
Thanks for all who've jumped in to add their 2 cents. Over the past few days i've been asking around and driving as much as possible. Have only stalled out a couple times in the past few days. Deffinately a smart idea to turn the radio off.
I deffinately agree with the whole brakes are cheaper then clutch/tranny deal. But that only applies when a dead stop is going to happen. I'm still learning where my gears lie and at what speeds I need to be going to use them while down shifing. Getting it slowly but surely.
I still get the jerky shifts in between and i'm working on the timing. Frustrating at times but it'll be well worth it in the end. The car is fantastic, the wait and all the hours of research I put into the car has deffiantely payed off.
Questions arise again though-
-What is double clutching
-What is heal toe shifting, the clutch seems bottomless in a way, short legs and small feet don't help I suppose
Thanks for the links and info, still learning plenty and am looking forward to many years of enjoyment in this car, well at least till its payed off anyway.
Have a good one
09-19-2004, 08:56 PM
#15
Registered User
Join Date: Dec 2003
Location: Encinitas CA
Posts: 372
Car Info: Black 03 WRX
Originally Posted by sd70feb
its not, the way he described it....rustokman didnt describe a double clutch. he just said to go right into 3rd gear.....not,clutch down, hit neutral,let the cluth up,then back down,blip throttle to match revs then let up clutch. he missed the whole "double " part of it.. anyway,im no racer im just trying to save my equipment...later
Btw, double clutching won't do anything more than impress your friends now a days. Your synchros are going to do their job whether you double clutch or not so unless you messed up a synchro, don't bother with it, just learn to heal-toe shift properly and enjoy the ride.