Accelerating Faster in Manual?

[Scionix]

Hey guys, I've had a brand new 2010 Mazda3 6-speed manual for about a week, and I'm loving it so far, and having fun getting used to driving manual for the first time in my life. At this point, shifting in traffic is almost unconscious, hills from a dead stop aren't scary (there's a 45 degree hill I practiced on in my neighborhood, thing is a monster), and the ride is *mostly* smooth. However, one thing that bothers me is that accelerating from a dead stop quickly seems to escape me. I'm not trying to race anybody or anything, but in high traffic areas it's a bit annoying to have to leave myself a ton of space to turn into traffic and the like from a stop as I seem to creep off the line pretty slowly (I tend to let the clutch out sloooooowwwww, as I had, and still have, a bad habit of dumping the clutch too fast). Am I supposed to just start at a higher RPM, dump the clutch faster, and expect a jolt, or is there a way to jump out a bit faster without feeling like I'm slamming into a wall? Any help would be great.

 

[Howard]

Let the clutch out slowly in the beginning, and as soon as you feel the clutch grab, engage it faster and give more gas to compensate.

 

[Scionix]

Let the clutch out slowly in the beginning, and as soon as you feel the clutch grab, engage it faster and give more gas to compensate.

Alright. I'll probably practice outside of traffic, because every time I "try" to do that I either spin the tires and lurch out or hit the wall 'o clutch and end up accelerating just as slow.

Thanks for the explanation, though. At least I'm past stalling out on level ground

 

[amdhunter]

lol. Man I remember how scary it was for me my first few weeks driving. Once you grab, let the clutch out and gas at the same time. If you lurch -- do it slower. Get used to moving both pedals at once.

My biggest mistake when I started was looking for the "grab" point first, then gassing. The trick is simultaneously moving them.

Rev High - raise clutch less (won't hurt too much)
Rev Low - raise clutch more.

Just don't do like I did and "clutch alone - gas alone."
Unless you have a girl with nice jugs in the car -- then this method works fine. (Bouncy Bouncy)

 

[BlahBlahYouToo]

start at same RPM, gas quicker, let out clutch quicker.

 

[Scionix]

lol. Man I remember how scary it was for me my first few weeks driving. Once you grab, let the clutch out and gas at the same time. If you lurch -- do it slower. Get used to moving both pedals at once.

My biggest mistake when I started was looking for the "grab" point first, then gassing. The trick is simultaneously moving them.

Rev High - raise clutch less (won't hurt too much)
Rev Low - raise clutch more.

Just don't do like I did and "clutch alone - gas alone."
Unless you have a girl with nice jugs in the car -- then this method works fine. (Bouncy Bouncy)

When I'm in normal traffic I tend to rev high and let the clutch out really slow, which is pretty smooth, just slow, as I baby the clutch because my bad habit at first was to dump it. I can work both pedals pretty well, just need to get the timing down. Speaking of ladies, I actually had to pick two up to go to our senior graduation banquet thingy, and manual + dirt and gravel + shiny white car = no fun. I got a car wash afterwards, but man, I could hear rocks pinging off my car the whole way back. Ugh.

 

[amdhunter]

When I'm in normal traffic I tend to rev high and let the clutch out really slow, which is pretty smooth, just slow, as I baby the clutch because my bad habit at first was to dump it. I can work both pedals pretty well, just need to get the timing down. Speaking of ladies, I actually had to pick two up to go to our senior graduation banquet thingy, and manual + dirt and gravel + shiny white car = no fun. I got a car wash afterwards, but man, I could hear rocks pinging off my car the whole way back. Ugh.

Clutches were made to take a beating. Let the clutch out quicker!

It took me about 4-6 weeks to get totally comfortable with my GLi. From what I am told though, the GLi has a very forgiving clutch, and since it had some torque, it would essentially take off on its own with no gas. Very easy car to learn on.

 

[BlackTigers]

oh, this is easy.

rev it, and let the clutch out a little faster. as soon as the clutch engages, have fun.

 

[Scionix]

Clutches were made to take a beating. Let the clutch out quicker!

It took me about 4-6 weeks to get totally comfortable with my GLi. From what I am told though, the GLi has a very forgiving clutch, and since it had some torque, it would essentially take off on its own with no gas. Very easy car to learn on.

The mazda will do that, you just have pump the clutch a tad. When I was learning (before I got the car), the guy teaching me made me get his 70's era truck moving with no gas. D:

 

[Howard]

Please, stop your habit of slow-releasing the clutch now.

 

[Scionix]

Please, stop your habit of slow-releasing the clutch now.

I'm trying D:

 

[vshah]

just have to get used to timing pressing the gas at the moment the clutch engages. it becomes second nature after a while and you can decide how fast or slow you want to take off. i'd give it another week and see how you feel.

 

[Barnaby W. Füi]

It's one of those things where there's no substitute for practice. Just keep driving and you'll get better.

 

[jlee]

Revving high and letting the clutch out slowly may be smoother, but it's actually causing more wear on the clutch. You'll get used to it, don't worry!

 

[sdifox]

optimum is to release clutch at a speed just a few ms longer than stall point

 

[ayabe]

I don't know if this is the case with all of the new 3's, but several reviewers have complained about the clutch on the Speed 3's, it's very close to an on\off with a short engagement point making it tricky to drive.

So it might just take you longer to learn in a car like that.

 

[Tristicus]

You've been driving for a week. It took me about a month to get totally used to driving my first manual, and about a week to fully get comfortable with the Jeep I'm currently driving.

 

[DivideBYZero]

You're lucky the car doesn't have a sport mode that alters the throttle sensitivity, because now you have two throttle profiles to match against the clutch dependant upon which mode you are in.

 

[PricklyPete]

It will come...you're just getting used to the clutch engagement. Don't worry.

Hope you like the Mazda 3...test drove one not too long ago in manual and it was a blast to drive.

 

[ViviTheMage]

I can smell your burnt out clutch from here :-D

Just keep practicing, you'll get it. Key is to use clutch + gas at the same time. When you get good, it will feel like an automatic to a passenger.

I just wanted to say, I test drove a mazda 3 and mazda 6 .... my impressions were : gutless, and horrible handling, and plasticy interior, but who cares as long as you like it

 

[jlee]

I can smell your burnt out clutch from here :-D

Just keep practicing, you'll get it. Key is to use clutch + gas at the same time. When you get good, it will feel like an automatic to a passenger.

I just wanted to say, I test drove a mazda 3 and mazda 6 .... craptastic jello cars...and gutless, but who cares as long as you like it

I drove a friend's MS3 and it was fantastic. Apples and oranges, I guess.

 

[ViviTheMage]

Both of mine were rentals, with 2k-3k on the odo too, not sure what it was, but they definitely felt like an econobox.

 

[exdeath]

Two things:

1) Make sure traction/stability control is disabled, it may be interfereing with your low speed throttle response.

2) Manual isn't like an auto with a slipping converter that allows the engine to rev into it's power band ahead of the drive train. In place of the torque converter *YOU* need to provide that slip either in the clutch or the tires. You can't just put it in gear, let out the clutch fully, and step on the gas at 1200 RPM and expect it to do anything with the engine lugging at 1200 RPM and unable to slip unless you have *alot* of power and low end torque. You need to either slip the clutch or spin the tires and get the engine around 3,000-4,000 RPM, *AS you're taking off*, before you can lock it up solid and floor it. Basically you can decide if you want your clutch (slipping it) to take the abuse or the drive train (dumping it).

On a related note, I finally found a way to disable traction control in an 06 Avalon XLS... automatic. Got tired of having to play games and jiggle the pedal to make it go and low speed throttle response being inconsistent. Now it just does what I tell it to, exactly the same way, every time. Get wheel spin and nasty hop if you just floor it of course and needs more respect driving it. But controlling it with my foot and having it spin slightly WHILE MOVING and modulating the throttle to keep it there is better than just deciding to kill ALL motivation and bog grrr.. With the fake "manual" selector in 1st and VSC turned off, it actually puts you back in the seat and snaps your neck a bit It doesn't die when I stall it against the converter and release the brake anymore either. Lol @ goldish 4 door granny car rice burner.

 

[Zap]

Both of mine were rentals, with 2k-3k on the odo too, not sure what it was, but they definitely felt like an econobox.

I've driven two different rental Mazda 3, and they did totally feel econobox-ish and totally unlike my wife's Mazda 3 ("S" model with manual).

 

[KIAman]

If you want to accelerate faster but still be smooth, you got no choice but to rev the engine to its powerband and slip the clutch. There should not be more than 1 second of clutch slip as your speed should catch up to your RPM in 1st gear by then. If you slipped longer, you are doing it wrong.