Clutch IN, or Clutch OUT?

[c-lo]

dont wear out your pressure plate. Always anticipate for the green light. You'll also get fatigue from holding that clutch down at the red lights (which eventually get you annoyed and filled with road rage).

 

so this is why my left calf is bigger:icon_bigg .

 

foot on floor. and it is illegal to be in neutral while your car is moving.

[TSiWRX]

How long does it take for you guys to get into first gear?

 

Also, you're assuming that panicing when you're going to get rear ended and just gunning your car into the intersection is safer?

 

Not long at all - but.....

 

No, not just randomly gunning-it into an intersection - but rather, just as with all good driving practices, always having an escape/evasion plan. Just blindly gunning it into cross-traffic is NOT a valid E&E plan.

[Drakuun]

Well.. FWIW, my bearings were never replaced in my truck to my knowledge even after I sold it (I know the guy I sold it to) Only the clutch itself was relpleaced at 80+k.

 

As for the resting hand on the gear shift.. again, may not be designed that way but I certaily don't see trannys failing because someone leaves their hand on shifter, thats what I mean by it being silly. Besides, common sense alone tells me that gears in the tranny are subjected to far more rigorous stresses than my hand being on the gear shifter.

[biturbowagon]

I do not teach my students to panic. Rather, I supply them with information and help them learn habits that can help minimize risks and improve safety in the real world.

 

Staying in gear at a stop light reduces reaction time and gives the rider better opportunity to pull away from a hazard, such as a vehicle that is about to cause a rear-end collision.

 

An alert rider will be searching for potential hazards in front, to the sides, and behind himself. So, if someone is about to rear-end him, he will be ready to pull ahead alongside the car in front, or even through the stop light--maybe straight, maybe to the left or right, depending on road and traffic conditions.

 

I'd rather tell the judge why I blew through the light, then tell the doctor why I didn't.

 

Many of the skills that one learns in the motorcycle safety course are equally applicable to car driving. This is one of them.

 

Throwout bearings are far more robust than they once were. Not using the clutch because of weak throwout bearings is mostly a wives tale at this point. But even if they do need replacement a couple hundred thousand miles down the road, so what? They did their job.

 

The couple of seconds that it takes to shift from neutral into first can make the difference between being rear-ended or not being rear-ended. It's your choice what you do. I know what choice I make.

 

 

How long does it take for you guys to get into first gear?

 

Also, you're assuming that panicing when you're going to get rear ended and just gunning your car into the intersection is safer?

 

It takes me less time to shift into first and start moving than it takes me to get moving in any car I've driven with an automatic transmission, so I'm in the "clutch out" camp. And, if you're easy on your clutch, it's definitely possible to wear out the input or throw out bearings before the clutch, even in our advanced society.

[Mach V Dan]

leaving your hand on the shifter. say your hand weighs 3lbs. times that by the lever arm of the shifter. (think truck shifter) and all that force is going either down on the shifter forks or sidways or front to back. wearing out the syncros and the asosiated shifter fork...

Nah. Road & Track, I think, just had a tech guy comment on this in the past few months. He basically said back when we had three-on-the-column shifters, it was terrible to hang your hand up there, because it put lots of sideways load on the gears. But with a modern floor-mounted shifter, there's very little sideways load if your hand is resting on the shift knob, so it's no big deal.

 

--Dan

Mach V

FastWRX.com

[ineedboost]

- Most of the time I put the car in neutral with the cluch out.

- If I am only going to be stopped for a short time its clutch in / in gear.

- Sometimes when I just miss a light I will leave the clutch out and in neutral

until I think the light is about to change and then I put the car in gear.

Then I'm sitting there and the light just stays red forever but, I keep the

foot on the clutch in gear because I know as soon as I take my foot off

the clutch the light will change.

- I coast in neutral all the time, I'll take my chances with the cops.

- If I am sitting at an intersection and a cement truck plows into me am I

not going to be shot across the intersection reguardless of wether I am

in gear with the clutch in or in neutral with the clutch out. Especially if I

not see him coming. Of course the impact mite just kill me unless the rear

impact airbags (we have them right) do not deploy.

[TSiWRX]

Of course the impact mite just kill me unless the rear

impact airbags (we have them right) do not deploy.

 

[robmarch]

I do not teach my students to panic. Rather, I supply them with information and help them learn habits that can help minimize risks and improve safety in the real world.

 

Staying in gear at a stop light reduces reaction time and gives the rider better opportunity to pull away from a hazard, such as a vehicle that is about to cause a rear-end collision.

 

An alert rider will be searching for potential hazards in front, to the sides, and behind himself. So, if someone is about to rear-end him, he will be ready to pull ahead alongside the car in front, or even through the stop light--maybe straight, maybe to the left or right, depending on road and traffic conditions.

 

I'd rather tell the judge why I blew through the light, then tell the doctor why I didn't.

 

Many of the skills that one learns in the motorcycle safety course are equally applicable to car driving. This is one of them.

 

The wear issue is pretty much moot anyway, since most people will replace their throw out bearing when they replace their clutch.

 

I just don't see the advantage of staying in gear at a light when it's just as easy to just engage first and react. And, if you don't have 1/3 of a second to engage first before you react, you wouldn't fare any better if you had left the car in gear. If we consider automatic transmission equipped cars safe, then it's surely not a safety issue to sit in neutral at a traffic light.

[wukindada]

Clutch out...If not.. when I am driving the Roush, I'd develop a calf larger than my Thigh:eek:

[robmarch]

Nah. Road & Track, I think, just had a tech guy comment on this in the past few months. He basically said back when we had three-on-the-column shifters, it was terrible to hang your hand up there, because it put lots of sideways load on the gears. But with a modern floor-mounted shifter, there's very little sideways load if your hand is resting on the shift knob, so it's no big deal.

 

--Dan

Mach V

FastWRX.com

 

and since most people don't keep their cars 100k, it doesn't really matter anyway.

[starlabs]

- I coast in neutral all the time, I'll take my chances with the cops.

 

If you're doing this to save gas... FYI it doesn't.

[Xenonk]

If you're doing this to save gas... FYI it doesn't.

 

+1

[ineedboost]

I just do it for the hell of it, and to see how far I can go before I need to give it gas.

[emorphien]

thats.... dumb

[EddieWan]

as someone else said, do you not use your brake to keep from wearing it out? I always keep mine in gear as I see no reason not to.

[jerami1981]

i read this topic a while back and look at the lack of control as being a stupid BS reason, but that aside and law being law....i have a question maybe someone could answer. If it is illegal to drive with the clutch in because of the lack of the ability to be able to accelerate, why is it that as far as i can tell my parents brand new hybrid car SHUTS off while driving? And before anyone says..the electric motor is driving it..i was under the impression that was only good up to a certain speed which wasnt very high, much less 50+ mph.

 

The reason i believe it to be shutting off is by watching the little neato flow chart this thing has in the nav system. It shows were power is coming from and going to. It shows arrows going to and from the wheels and from the engine. And whenever i take my foot off the gas pedal on a slightly or more declined road it no longer shows power going from the engine towards the hybrid systems battery or wheels and the MPG avg bar goes up to the 60's.

 

So am i just incorrect at what this chart is showing me or is it illegal to drive one of these cars? BTW its an 07 camry.

[Crawdaddy79]

Agreed, I came from an automatic car, and the manual keeps me more alert at lights. You want to start reading the lights. On my normal commute to work, I pretty much know all the patterns of all the lights, so I know when it is going to go. But at other intersections, just use common sense, if the cross traffic lights are green, you are good until they turn yellow, then get ready.

I do this exact same thing.

 

I voted car in neutral.

 

EDIT: This poll is really f***ing old.

[jerami1981]

yes it is..i remembered the whole illegal while in neutral and my rents just picked up this new car and i noticed it turning off and i was like wtf. so i figured here would be a good place to post

[meier motor sports]

when you step on the gas the car accelerates right? the engine turns back on and you move... right?

[LIZARD]

yes it is..i remembered the whole illegal while in neutral and my rents just picked up this new car and i noticed it turning off and i was like wtf. so i figured here would be a good place to post

:lol: Try starting your own thread next time, I just voted on a pole that's OLDER than my 05 LGT!! What relevance does a Toyota Camry hybrid have to do with an MT in neutral at a stoplight??

[qikslvr]

Soooo...If setting there with the clutch in and the car in gear is hard on your clutch/pressure plate and TOB... Why did the first clutch/pp/tob in my 92 Jeep Cherokee last 220,000? I beat the piss outa this thing daily for yeeeeears and have always sat at even the longest lights with it in gear and with my foot on the cluth and yes I clutch lock it in hills too. I'd rather buy a new clutch pack than have some idiot try to stop five feet long, in my trunk and be trying to get it in to first and moving while going:eek:!

Get real. I've shattered many a clutch from dumping them and smoked a few from slipping them, but have never once in over 20 years and 38 cars worn one out from sitting with the clutch pedal comlpetely depressed while sitting still.

[JustCallMeNick]

can a worn throwout bearing cause a clutch pedal to squeak when depressed? my dad always holds the clutch down in his 96 mazda at lights and his pedal squeaks. also on hills sometimes when he's waiting at a light he gives it a tiny bit of gas and lets out on the clutch a little and just holds the car still that way instead of using the brakes and then when it turns green he just goes. hehe.

 

well?

[jerami1981]

:lol: Try starting your own thread next time, I just voted on a pole that's OLDER than my 05 LGT!! What relevance does a Toyota Camry hybrid have to do with an MT in neutral at a stoplight??

I was simply tying it into the being illegal to drive with the clutch depressed is all. Reason being because you arent in control.

 

To answer another question. Yes, when you press the gas the car turns back on and away you go. But then again in my manual when i let the clutch back out and push the gas my car goes as well. Not really seeing the difference there. But oh well.

[rocknroll]

After having my clutch replaced at ~48k(mostly highway), which the dealer attributed to a weak pressure plate I make a conscious effort not to hold the clutch pedal in if I'm sitting for more than a few seconds.

[Crawdaddy79]

can a worn throwout bearing cause a clutch pedal to squeak when depressed? my dad always holds the clutch down in his 96 mazda at lights and his pedal squeaks. also on hills sometimes when he's waiting at a light he gives it a tiny bit of gas and lets out on the clutch a little and just holds the car still that way instead of using the brakes and then when it turns green he just goes. hehe.

 

well?

Do that in an LGT and it will take years to wash the stink out of your hair.