im new to driving a manual, and i just have some dumb questions

1) how far do you guys push the clutch to the floor when shifting? the manual says to go to the floor, but i feel that less the 1/2 works ok.

2) if im driving up to a red and, am i doing anything bad by going into neutral and just coasting to the light?

3) is there any kind of shift light for the mustang? either built in, or something aftermarket that's not awful looking?

thanks for the help

 

1) all the way all the time. Unless you like replacing clutches more often then normal.

2) that's fine, generally you can keep it in gear until the rpms get too low, will save you a little gas.

3) the aftermarket has what you need.

 

1. Umm yeah, what JoeyWhat said.
2. It doesn't hurt anything but you're wearing out your brakes out a bit faster by not letting the engine/gearing slow down your car. I was always taught to keep the car in gear until you're going slow enough that the car almost dies.
3. Not sure here - probably with an auxiliary gauge. Seems useless to me - the engine is sure loud enough to know where it's at without!

 

1) Usually I go all the way in but I have noticed that the clutch seems fine with the pedal a little more than half way down. I rarely do it though.

2) If I am just cruising around then I will put it in neutral and ease on the brakes. Nothing dramatic. I also just sit at the light in neutral (Florida is mostly flat). I do a lot of down shifting now since I got my axlebacks and enjoy the popping noises haha.

3) There are shift lights offered via aftermarket but why would you need one unless you are drag racing and even then you will learn your car to the point that you will know when you need to shift. Go with how the car feels and shift when it feels right, just don't go over redline.

 

Once you get used to not stalling and not bogging, there are a few more techniques you might want to become familiar with. You might bookmark this thread and come back in a couple months, especially don't try the last one until you're steady.


1. If you have a GT, your gas mileage can vary quite a bit if you shift above 3000 RPM. You can do a lot better if you follow the shift points in the owner's manual. If you have different gears in the back there is also some math to do.

2. Not really necessary in our cars because they have plenty of torque, but having learned in less powerful cars I downshift all the time in case something bad happens in traffic. If you are performance driving also, you want to choose shift points that maximize the engine's torque. On the GT that's around 4500 RPM, but you would want to shift a little later so that, when you lift your foot off the accelerator and the engine RPM drops, you're still around 4500 RPM after you've shifted and reengaged the clutch.

Double clutching. If you are attempting to select a gear and it "won't go in" (mine does this when cold), leave it in neutral, let off the clutch, then press in the clutch again and try your gear again.

Heel toe shifting. As you downshift you will need to increase engine RPM. This is difficult to do if you also are braking which you'll find is always when you need to downshift. If you are performance driving, time can be saved by placing the ball of your right foot high on the brake pedal and rotating the bottom or side of your foot to the right to touch the throttle. Your left foot is free to apply the clutch as usual.

Good luck and congratulations.

 

For #2
For safety's sake, I maintain if you're on a road, you need to be in gear to deal with any potential problem.

What happens if an idiot is coming up at your rear reeeealy fast and slams on their brakes. You're in neutral - will you have time to put the clutch in, engage 1st and move to another lane before they rear end you?

 

I wager it'd take about the same time (maybe even less) to put it in gear from neutral then to change from whatever gear you're in into a more appropriate gear to actually get out of the way...unless you have a habit of downshifting often enough to keep the RPMs north of 2000 at all times.

If you're coasting in 5th gear at 1500 RPMs you're not going anywhere fast unless you downshift...not a huge difference then having to shift into 2nd from neutral and dump the clutch to get the hell out of there.

 

thanks for the info. i have the friction point down, but i will start putting the clutch to the floor now.

i only really wanted a shift light because when im driving hard, im paying more attention to the road then the tach. every shift light i have seen are ugly and huge. i was hoping for something tiny. i might get the aeroforce gauge.

 

I'm a fan of putting it in neutral and coasting or just using the brakes to stop. Brakes are less expensive than a clutch. If I'm playing around yes I downshift to a stop.

 

Another option for shift light... if you have an iPhone (or probably other phones, not sure compatibility), download Harry's Lap Timer Pro and buy a GoPoint BT1 OBDII bluetooth piece.

You can then link the iphone to the car through the bluetooth OBDII device and using Harry's, you can set the phone to light up at whatever RPM you choose. I use this at the track, as I know about where I am in the RPM range but the shift light is a nice reminder and it's exact. Plus it's wireless so nothing "ugly" and no annoying light when I don't want it.

Otherwise, there are all sorts of shift light options. Do a little google searching

Lastly, agree on clutch to the floor.

Highly recommend learning to heel-toe - it takes a lot of practice, but once you get it down, it's a fantastic feeling plus when you get the car to the track (no pressure from me of course ) that technique comes in handy!

Enjoy the car and good you're asking questions rather than just youtubing it and sort of guessing.

 

Letting the engine/gearing slow the car down doesn't wear out the clutch or the brakes. I have no doubt one big reason my factory brakes are still fine, at 78,000 miles, is all the wear I've saved on them by letting the engine/gearing slow the car down. Note: I'm not talking about downshifting, just slowing down in whatever gear you're in.

 

78k miles on pads... I think I'm on my 5th set of front pads at 10k. Maybe I'm slightly harder on brakes than most

 

I believe if you have two identical cars and one hits N when slowing down and the other car uses the engine/clutch, the one that uses the clutch will wear out the clutch faster than the one who hits N.

 

Also in theory, you're putting more wear on the engine, such as the main bearings, by keeping the RPM higher by leaving it in gear. Probably minimal wear considering an engine's lifetime, but something to think about lol.

 

I think you guys are right about clutch wear.

I thought clutch longevity was the purpose of rev matching (given in my previous post as heel toe shifting).

Still probably reduces clutch life vs not disengaging and reengaging, but minimizes clutch wear while still allowing you to select the appropriate gear.

 

I'm not talking about downshifting, I'm only talking about not putting the clutch in and the shifter in neutral until I've almost come to a stop.

 

I push that sucker all the way in all the time :-)