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riding the clutch
ok well i'll be 20 next month so i've been drivin for awhile, but i just bought a 5 speed mustang and have only been drivin it about a week, so i'm still getting used to it as i had never driven a 5 speed before. my question is, when i'm slowing down and preparing to turn, i ride the clutch as i'm downshifting through the gears and makin the turn. is that bad to do? i know that riding the clutch is bad, but i don't really know what else to do in that situation if i'm goin in 4th or 5th gear and i'm coming up on a turn. any help? will this burn my clutch out?
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It depends what you mean by riding the clutch. If you have your foot on the pedal and the pedal is partially depressed then you are riding the clutch and this is bad as you have the clutch partially engaged wearing or burning the clutch plate.
Downshifting for the novice manual transmission driver is not something I would recommend doing. You can easily miss a gear and end up over revving the engine; doing serious damage to both the engine and the transmission. If you are a NASCAR fan you have seen even the pros miss a gear while up shifting during the starts and restarts, causing a blown engine. So be careful and do not race through the gears.
Down shifting while slowing down is something I only do if I need to panic stop as this too causes the engine to over rev. There is really no reason to down shift in today’s cars with 4 wheel anti-lock disc brakes. People downshifted back in the day, as they say, as brake pads were less efficient and tended to overheat easily making them unreliable.
Up shifting is a different story; fully depress the clutch, shift gears, fully release the clutch and accelerate. Repeat until you are in the proper cursing gear. This of course is with the understanding that you have a standard factory equipped manual transmission. If you have changed to a racing transmission then follow the manufactures instructions.
A manual transmission can be a lot of fun to drive. A little clutch TLC, restrict the number of people who drive the car and a clutch will last a long time. Not everyone drives a manual transmission in the same manner and this tends to wear out the clutch faster. The last manual transmission car I owned I drove 70,000 miles on the original clutch. Understand I lived in a somewhat rural suburban area and did not have to fight city traffic, which will wear down a clutch faster. With proper care and adjustment I would think living in an urban environment, if you do, you could expect to get around 40,000 miles from a clutch.
Happy motoring
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