Wow, I don't get clutch smell at all any more unless I'm doing something wild with the car. I get it when I do a serious launch at a hill climb or at an autocross. Certainly on the street I don't do those kinds of launches and even at autocrosses I rarely do them. But then I've driven a manual for almost 20 years. Not very well, mind you, but at least I've had some experience.

(hijack alert) I find the STi to be a bit slower to shift than my other cars, mainly since the revs take so long to drop. Other people will give you advice as well I'm sure. Anyway, sometime between 3k and 7k rpm (the upper end being at the track, the lower end being tooling about town when I'm not trying to be Boy Racer), you'll want to shift up. Right hand over to shift lever. Throttle out, clutch in -- pretty much simultaneously. Ideally clutch in just past the disengagement point, but that takes some practice. As soon as the clutch has passed the disengagement point, move the shift lever determinedly to the next gear. Don't slam it, don't play with it, just firmly and semi-swiftly move it, then get your hand back to the wheel. Now at this point I usually wait until the revs have come down to about where they'll be in the new gear, then proceed. Alternately you can just be a bit gentler when letting the clutch out. Anyway, clutch coming back out and throttle going back in. How gentle you need to be on the clutch depends on how well you rev matched as well as how gentle you feel like being to your car and occupants.

Looking at accelerometers, a normal upshift takes about 1/2 second total, meaning going from full acceleration in gear N to full acceleration in gear N+1 takes 0.5s, with the shift in-between seen as a drop in acceleration. I managed to get a pretty consistent 0.2s in my Miata, but (1) it has a far nicer shifter than the STi, and (2) it has about 1/3rd the torque. The STi takes me about 0.4s last I looked. My shifts while tooling about town aren't this fast, I'm sure. The new BMW M3 CSL with their latest SMG takes 0.08s which is pretty fantastic.

While upshifting is all very nice, and movies seem to be full of cars with 40+ gears and constant upshifting (everyone likes that rising engine note followed by a shift), downshifting is more complicated, harder to do well, and a lot more fun. Done right it sounds really cool too, but I think Joe Public doesn't hear it enough (and never hears a proper rev-matched downshift in their own car) so they don't get it. The recent video clips of the 350Z in Prague were full of this -- accelerating three gears, then do a quick cut and viola we're around the bend and upshifting again, making it seem (to someone who isn't rolling their eyes in disgust) as if for 5 whole minutes we're doing nothing but accelerating and shifting to the umpteenth gear. Must be really fast, right? Don't even get me started on the Fast and the Fictitious.

 

You need to match revs on downshift.

 

Hey Nigel,

If you really want to learn clutch technique try this... take your car to a really large open area (empty parkinglot). Get the car moving by ONLY using the clutch, NO gas. Make sure the engine doesn't stall, bog or buck. It will require slipping the clutch and even disengaging it a little to get moving smoothly. If you can do this smoothly then you finally understand your clutch. Now try using the gas in conjunction with the clutch again.

And Nigel, when starting on a hill with a stick..... use the hand brake with your thumb on the button so it doesn't lock. This will prevent you from rolling back, smoking your clutch, doing a burnout, stalling and looking like a hooligan. Good Luck!

MIke

 

Sheesh, This turned into a shifting lesson..... Better than the unbelievable expectations of an S class mbz fit and finish. Rattles? You aren't driving fast enough. Under proper acceleration you can't hear s#@t. It works great. This thing is the basis for a race car. If it didn't rattle, shake, ect then it wouldn't go fast. If you want fast, good handling, and QUIET. Then you must spend another 50k.

RW