Been away from manual trannies for about 18 years. Now that I have my TT, I want to know some driving habits to avoid (beyond grinding gears, of course). For example, what does it mean to "ride" the clutch? I know this could probably go in another forum, but I feel more comfortable here...

Sorry if this seems so newbie, but my ride has 93K and I want it to last as long as possible.

 

A clutch is an on/off device. Either engage it, or disengage it, and then take your foot off the pedal. Feathering your clutch in and out/revving the car up a few grand only to slowly get it moving with the clutch pedal just wears on the clutch components.

 

Basically, to not "ride the clutch" you want to avoid holding it at any position between fully pressed and fully released any more than you have to. Launch at lower RPM's (1500 should do fine) to avoid wear also.

 

don't coast in neutral either. if by chance your car stalls, you dont have power assist brakes anymore, and nothing is spinning your power steering pump, so that gets heavy too.

 

Thanks. What about descending? Shift to lower gear or put it in neutral?

 

Your car has 93,000 miles. I'm sure it has endured all types of bad driving habits over the years. To help it last, first thing I would do is change all the fluids.

 

deceleration, i downshift, but don't rev high by shifting early.

 

Gears are used to having load on one side of them. Lash back to the other side from wheels powering engine stresses them.

 

i'll usually rev-match, and time my gear change so the tach ends up around 3K

 

Thanks guys, guess my high rev downshifting days are over...