Banz Posted July 11, 2016 Share Posted July 11, 2016 1. If I accelerate hard to fourth gear. Then change into sixth gear while the RPM is still high (4k). It makes a grinding noise. If I wait till the RPM drops before I put it into sixth gear, then it is perfectly fine. I did thought it was me not depressing the clutch fully when I change the gear, but I've made sure I have. 2. While driving in slow moving traffic in 1st gear. Around 5-10mph at less than 1k rpm. I can feel the car jolts a little bit. Same with 2nd gear when I'm at less than 1k rpm. I can see the rpm jumps a little bit in slow moving traffic. Under 10mph. I don't have any problem with the clutch when I'm driving it in normal speed. Just annoying in slow moving traffic. I just can't seem to make smooth clutch changes. I haven't been driving a manual car that long, just coming up to 2 months now. I'm getting much better, just not where I want to be. I've been in some taxi that the gear changes are so smooth its like driving an automatic. So I think I had some bad advices from friends and family. When you downshift, give it a bit of gas. Which I don't so sometimes it can be bumpy when I downshift. Stop using the handbrake when you come to a full stop. Then the worse one from my dad was, just drop the car in neutral and cruise to the junction. Therefore you can switch to the correct gear quicker. He gets annoyed at me not cruising in neutral and using the handbrakes. He said that's how he learned how to drive 50 years ago. He does drive a lot better than me though. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Richf Posted July 11, 2016 Share Posted July 11, 2016 1. Could be the signs of a worn gearbox , if its grinding then avoid that action 2. They all do that sir The clutches can be difficult to get a handle on these cars , its a feature Plenty of videos on youtube that can teach you how to rev match and downshift smoothly Nothing wrong with using the handbrake when you stop. Your dad has bad habits , you should not put the car in neutral and coast , you should use engine braking to supplement the footbrake when slowing. Say you are approaching a roundabout , you should be in the correct gear for the road speed, apply the footbrake to slow you down and then when you know whether you need to stop or can keep going then select the correct gear to make smooth progress Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
brillomaster Posted July 11, 2016 Share Posted July 11, 2016 (edited) hmm, some good and bad advice here. firstly, practice makes perfect. you'd ruddy well hope taxi gearchanges are smooth as silk, they've probably had several hundred thousands of miles of town driving to practice, and have probably done pulling away and 1st to 2nd gear changes literally thousands of times. 2 months is not really a long time, some people can drive for years and still not be smooth with a gearchange. downshifting, the lurch is because the engine speed is lower than the new gear, so the car lurches as the engine speed is brought up to match the new speed. letting off the clutch slower will help, but really you want to blip the throttle so the engine speed and road speed match up for the new gear. the technique is clutch in, blip throttle while changing gear, clutch back out. this takes a lot of practice. once you've mastered the throttle blip, next try doing it with the right side/heel of your right foot, while the left side/ball of your right foot is pressing the brake. this is heel and toeing, which requires a lot of practice! using the handbrake - yes, do this. especially when on hills. holding a car on the biting point is a great way of wearing out a clutch. also holding a clutch in will wear out the clutch, if you're stopped for an extended period of time, then pop it in neutral, handbrake on and let the clutch out. coasting in neutral to junctions - don't do this. it annoys me when my wife does this. the correct technique is brake in gear, then just before you stall, clutch in. 50 years ago brakes were terrible, so people used gears to slow down. nowadays brakes are a lot better, and a lot cheaper to replace than gearboxes, so use the brakes to stop. brakes to slow, gears to go. Don't know where he got coast in neutral from though, that's just bad! coasting in neutral means you have no control of the car at all. Edited July 11, 2016 by brillomaster 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Banz Posted July 11, 2016 Author Share Posted July 11, 2016 I see, I'm glad the problem is with me and not the clutch. I've heard about rev matching and know the concepts. Sometimes I do it correctly and sometimes I don't. When I manage to pull it off successfully then it is smooth as silk. I guess we can say Zed is not the best car to learn to drive a manual. I will continue to use the handbrakes, I tend to release the handbrake before I find the biting point. A bit of bad habit but hopefully will change as I drive more of it. I don't coast in neutral anymore. My dad drives in really heavy traffic all the time so I presume that is why he end up driving like that. He doesn't do that on hilly roads but he does it in heavy traffic. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KyleR Posted July 11, 2016 Share Posted July 11, 2016 Rev matching is not required in modern vehicles for day to day driving, racing yes, going to Tesco no. It sounds like you have a worn synchromesh in 6th gear, very common problem and will cost £500+ to fix, so leave it until it becomes unbearable in more gears. The trick I found with going into 6th with a worn synchro in my old Zed was to put the car into neutral and release the clutch briefly, before putting it into 6th. 99% of the time it went in smoothly and only took an extra second. As for having "no control of the car at all" if you're coasting in neutral, I guess these people don't have brakes or steering wheels. It's fine to do if thats what your dad wants, it won't do any harm to anyone or anything, it just uses more fuel and you have to apply brakes earlier. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
colesl4w Posted July 11, 2016 Share Posted July 11, 2016 Don't beat yourself up too much about slightly jerky gear changes. I've been driving for 11 years, and still the Z clutch catches me off guard at times. it seems like it can be a little bit unpredictable. As someone else said, just call it a feature . Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Banz Posted July 11, 2016 Author Share Posted July 11, 2016 Rev matching is not required in modern vehicles for day to day driving, racing yes, going to Tesco no. It sounds like you have a worn synchromesh in 6th gear, very common problem and will cost £500+ to fix, so leave it until it becomes unbearable in more gears. The trick I found with going into 6th with a worn synchro in my old Zed was to put the car into neutral and release the clutch briefly, before putting it into 6th. 99% of the time it went in smoothly and only took an extra second. If I go from fifth to sixth, then I have no problem. 4-6 directly will grind only if the RPM is high. If I let it drop a bit before switching to sixth, then it doesn't. Don't beat yourself up too much about slightly jerky gear changes. I've been driving for 11 years, and still the Z clutch catches me off guard at times. it seems like it can be a little bit unpredictable. As someone else said, just call it a feature . This is my first manual and my first Zed. I try and be as gentle as possible with the clutch. Sometimes 1.5 second for me to release the clutch from the biting point. I try and find the optimal rev to upshift all the time. I'm glad that it isn't me though! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
monkeybrain1234 Posted July 11, 2016 Share Posted July 11, 2016 The Z's Clutch is not the smoothest. Have been driving Manuals for 15 years and the Z for 2 years, it is the most difficult clutch I have come across. It is not that smooth and takes getting used to, and even then it catches me out and I end up lurching like a learner down the road on the odd occasion!!! 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Banz Posted July 11, 2016 Author Share Posted July 11, 2016 I feel so embarrassed when I lurch too. Especially in heavy traffic. Some days I feel like I should just put a P plate on. They must think what an idiot, can't even drive a car properly and yet I have a loud exhaust. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
monkeybrain1234 Posted July 11, 2016 Share Posted July 11, 2016 I feel so embarrassed when I lurch too. Especially in heavy traffic. Some days I feel like I should just put a P plate on. They must think what an idiot, can't even drive a car properly and yet I have a loud exhaust. Brilliant, don't worry about it, they are only jealous of your car. Slam Into 2nd and bury the throttle and watch them disappear in your rear view mirror, they won't be so smug anymore. Although whatever you do, don't stall, then you look like a right plonker and deserve to be laughed at. . . . Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jjdugen Posted July 11, 2016 Share Posted July 11, 2016 Hmmmmm..... Try a Clio Sport, the clutch on those is both unbelievably heavy and has a bite point of half a millimeter. The Z's takes a bit of learning, but at least it does give you a 'bit' of leeway. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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