Cgiroux
Active member
some of you may have remembered the thread I made maybe a couple weeks ago in which it turned out that I burnt the living sh*t out of my clutch.
While the car was in the dealer shop, I decided to take some lessons from a driving instructor for a couple of hours. We used a Honda Civic which to me seemed to be much more difficult to drive compared to my Golf TDI.
Anyway... I got the car back yesterday. Woke up early this morning and went for a little 2 hour practice session and I seem to be getting better. However, I still distinctly smell burning coming from the clutch when I got home so I just said enough for today, I can't do this anymore. Maybe I am giving it too much gas while the clutch isn't fully engaged. I try not to exceed 1500 RPM before completely releasing the clutch.
I have watched many, many YouTube videos on how to drive a stick and at this point, they aren't going to help me any further. I understand the fundamentals, but a video isn't going to provide any muscle memory.
Few things:
1). driving uphill is kind of a pain in the butt. I'm talking about a very slight incline. It seems like I need to rev the car up to 2,000 RPM going on a slight hill. Is that too much? On a flat, I try to have it at 1,500 before I let the clutch out.
2). It seems like I am always either releasing the clutch too slowly or too quickly and probably causing harm because of that reason. It seems difficult to find a medium, which brings me to #3.
I'm kind of a short guy at 5'6". It almost seems like it is more difficult adjusting my seat -- not too far not too close so I can allow myself to let the clutch in all the way in and out respectively.
Whenever I shift, say from 1st to 2nd, or 2nd to 3rd, I jerk the car a bit violently. I take my foot off the throttle completely, clutch in, shift, clutch out and then return to the gas. Maybe I'm just not quick and smooth enough.
3). The clutch is brand new. Does it need to be 'broken in' so to speak? And with a car like this would it feel stiffer since it is new? will it become more fluid?
While the car was in the dealer shop, I decided to take some lessons from a driving instructor for a couple of hours. We used a Honda Civic which to me seemed to be much more difficult to drive compared to my Golf TDI.
Anyway... I got the car back yesterday. Woke up early this morning and went for a little 2 hour practice session and I seem to be getting better. However, I still distinctly smell burning coming from the clutch when I got home so I just said enough for today, I can't do this anymore. Maybe I am giving it too much gas while the clutch isn't fully engaged. I try not to exceed 1500 RPM before completely releasing the clutch.
I have watched many, many YouTube videos on how to drive a stick and at this point, they aren't going to help me any further. I understand the fundamentals, but a video isn't going to provide any muscle memory.
Few things:
1). driving uphill is kind of a pain in the butt. I'm talking about a very slight incline. It seems like I need to rev the car up to 2,000 RPM going on a slight hill. Is that too much? On a flat, I try to have it at 1,500 before I let the clutch out.
2). It seems like I am always either releasing the clutch too slowly or too quickly and probably causing harm because of that reason. It seems difficult to find a medium, which brings me to #3.
I'm kind of a short guy at 5'6". It almost seems like it is more difficult adjusting my seat -- not too far not too close so I can allow myself to let the clutch in all the way in and out respectively.
Whenever I shift, say from 1st to 2nd, or 2nd to 3rd, I jerk the car a bit violently. I take my foot off the throttle completely, clutch in, shift, clutch out and then return to the gas. Maybe I'm just not quick and smooth enough.
3). The clutch is brand new. Does it need to be 'broken in' so to speak? And with a car like this would it feel stiffer since it is new? will it become more fluid?
Last edited: