Manual drivers, how do you operate the clutch in very slow and heavy traffic?

[psteng19]

Lets say it's completely stop and go, meaning one second your completely stopped, the VERY next second you'll hit 5-10 mph max, never out of 1st gear, and then you're stopped again... totally bumper to bumper.

Which way do you drive?

1) Neutral when stopped, shift to first when moving and back to neutral when stopped, etc.?
OR:
2) Keep the clutch depressed when stopped, gearbox in first at all times and just gas, clutch, brake?
Or other?

 

[fs5]

2)

doesn't really matter, either way is the same.

 

[HappyPuppy]

That's why I finally went to automatic transmissions. It isn't worth the hassle.

 

[SuperPickle]

When I drove a manual, #2 all the way, although I wasn't stuck in traffic that often.

 

[ErmanC]

"Riding" the clutch supposedly wears it out quicker, but I never really worried much about it. I guess I did a little of both.

Have an automatic now, but drove a stick for 10+yrs.

 

[Zenmervolt]

Originally posted by: ErmanC
"Riding" the clutch supposedly wears it out quicker, but I never really worried much about it. I guess I did a little of both.

Have an automatic now, but drove a stick for 10+yrs.

He's not describing "riding" the clutch. "Riding" the clutch is when you are slipping the clutch all the time.

ZV

 

[fs5]

Originally posted by: ErmanC
"Riding" the clutch supposedly wears it out quicker, but I never really worried much about it. I guess I did a little of both.

Have an automatic now, but drove a stick for 10+yrs.

yes riding the clutch does, but neither of those options indicate riding the clutch.

 

[dirtboy]

I try to let the clutch out and not ride it. Perhaps this is why I have 69,000 miles on the factory clutch in my car and it has no signs of wear?

 

[Scootin159]

Originally posted by: ErmanC
"Riding" the clutch supposedly wears it out quicker, but I never really worried much about it. I guess I did a little of both.

Have an automatic now, but drove a stick for 10+yrs.

Yes, that is not "riding the clutch", as said before....but it does still wear it out faster as it will wear out your throw out bearing quicker.

That said...I still do #2, and have for years, and have NEVER had a thorw out bearing die on me, nor have I ever seen a throwout bearing die before the clutch (and you normally replace both at the same time).

 

[StageLeft]

I do 1 and I leave a good distance before starting again. This way I'm not wearing the clutch as much, even though it pisses off assholes behind me sometimes.

 

[atom]

#2 all the time and haven't had a problem with the T/O bearing yet.

 

[Eli]

Originally posted by: dirtboy
I try to let the clutch out and not ride it. Perhaps this is why I have 69,000 miles on the factory clutch in my car and it has no signs of wear?

LOL..

A clutch should barely be broken in after 70k miles unless you have bad clutching habbits.

 

[psteng19]

Originally posted by: dirtboy
I try to let the clutch out and not ride it. Perhaps this is why I have 69,000 miles on the factory clutch in my car and it has no signs of wear?

My car has 125k miles on it and it's still on the original clutch.

 

[dirtboy]

Originally posted by: Eli

Originally posted by: dirtboy
I try to let the clutch out and not ride it. Perhaps this is why I have 69,000 miles on the factory clutch in my car and it has no signs of wear?

LOL..

A clutch should barely be broken in after 70k miles unless you have bad clutching habbits.

Many people don't know how to drive a stick properly and go through clutches...

 

[Ornery]

Originally posted by: Skoorb
I do 1 and I leave a good distance before starting again. This way I'm not wearing the clutch as much, even though it pisses off assholes behind me sometimes.

I always switch into the lane ahead of people who do this. It REALLY pisses off the people behind them!

 

[Vic]

Originally posted by: dirtboy

Originally posted by: Eli

Originally posted by: dirtboy
I try to let the clutch out and not ride it. Perhaps this is why I have 69,000 miles on the factory clutch in my car and it has no signs of wear?

LOL..

A clutch should barely be broken in after 70k miles unless you have bad clutching habbits.

Many people don't know how to drive a stick properly and go through clutches...

IMO, that takes hard work. Clutches should not be a "wear" item. Less than 100k miles under normal driving conditions and you're going something wrong.

The most common thing that I find that people do wrong is they ask questions like the OP's... or "what rpm do I shift at?"
Damnit, stop working pedals and levers and start driving!

 

[bigredguy]

Originally posted by: psteng19
Lets say it's completely stop and go, meaning one second your completely stopped, the VERY next second you'll hit 5-10 mph max, never out of 1st gear, and then you're stopped again... totally bumper to bumper.

Which way do you drive?

1) Neutral when stopped, shift to first when moving and back to neutral when stopped, etc.?
OR:
2) Keep the clutch depressed when stopped, gearbox in first at all times and just gas, clutch, brake?
Or other?

There isn't much difference between them except that in SoCal the time it takes you to shift to first about 5 cars will cut you off because they see "an opening" and i would imagine that constanly shifting as opposed to leaving it in gear would add a slight increae in wear and tear. Shrug i dunno

 

[Zenmervolt]

Originally posted by: Eli

Originally posted by: dirtboy
I try to let the clutch out and not ride it. Perhaps this is why I have 69,000 miles on the factory clutch in my car and it has no signs of wear?

LOL..

A clutch should barely be broken in after 70k miles unless you have bad clutching habbits.

Depends on the car. Honda clutches typically go upwards of 100,000 miles. Porsche clutches, 40,000-60,000 miles because of a rather different driving style and different material composition designed to give more grip than life.

ZV

 

[Vic]

Originally posted by: Skoorb
I do 1 and I leave a good distance before starting again. This way I'm not wearing the clutch as much, even though it pisses off assholes behind me sometimes.

Stop doing that. The reason for traffic congestion is because there are more cars on the road than capacity. When you leave too much of a following distance (by this, I mean 6-10 car lengths, which I see all the time), you reduce the road's capacity even further, which worsens the congestion that much more.

 

[TwoBills]

Originally posted by: Vic

Originally posted by: Skoorb
I do 1 and I leave a good distance before starting again. This way I'm not wearing the clutch as much, even though it pisses off assholes behind me sometimes.

Stop doing that. The reason for traffic congestion is because there are more cars on the road than capacity. When you leave too much of a following distance (by this, I mean 6-10 car lengths, which I see all the time), you reduce the road's capacity even further, which worsens the congestion that much more.

I agree. There always seems to be one, in the passing/fast lane, that has to have 1/8 of a mile in front of them, causing everyone to move to the right to go around them.
As far as clutches go, my brother sold his Toyota pu with the original clutch. 269K miles. Mostly hard, city/service type driving. He was hard to stay with on a run across D.C.

 

[thedarkwolf]

1.
My car has a fairly heavy clutch and my leg would be dead if I held it in all the time plus that wears out the throwout bearing.