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So I am buying a Z/28 (Monday) and the good news is the torquey LS1 V8 in it is VERY forgiving. The engine will pull at 15mph (25 km/h) in 3rd gear like it’s nothing! I’ve been driving my friend's Z/28 and while he says I “get it” much more than anyone he’s taught before, I just really have a problem starting off quick and finding the “sweet spot” between gas/clutch. I can keep the engine alive and keep going, it’s just I start out rough and I’m too slow going from neutral to moving and not giving enough gas. I guess I’m afraid to rev for some reason. Now, his car has a stage 2 clutch, a chromoly flywheel, and a Hurst short shifter (finding third is a challenge haha). So it is a bit difficult for a beginner, the one I’m buying only has a stage 2 Monster clutch. Either way the clutch grabs high with a short friction zone and it grabs. I think that’s part of what’s messing me up.
He said not to worry much because I’m already doing much better than many other amateurs but that I really need to just sleep on it and practice, mostly “under fire” as he says (by that he means traffic, which I have a lot of around my home. He does say I’m way overthinking it though and I just need to relax. Does anyone really have any other tips for me to get it down faster? I know it will come with time, I just wonder if anyone has any suggestions. Again, the Camaro is very forgiving (his 2.0L focus is NOT as easy haha) I just need to be more consistent.
When I got my Z it was my first manual trans. car. I had driven a few cars before and knew how everything worked, I just didn't have the practice to make a smooth ride.
Fortunately yes, these engines are super torquey so it's a bit more forgiving than if you were driving a little 4 banger. Just do what everyone else said. Drive the car. Your muscle memory will help you figure out the optimal friction points for different take-offs and you'll be driving the thing like a bat outta hell in no time.
+1 on everything above. There's no substitute for just getting in the car and driving it.
My SS was my first manual car as well and Atlanta traffic was helpful in speeding up the learning process (thrown right into the fire).
After a little time you'll be able to easily find the engagement point of the clutch and you'll have a better feel for the amount of throttle it takes to get it moving.
If your car still has the stock cam, you will find that your car will move forward off idle if you're smooth at hitting the clutch engagement point. This will be especially helpful in traffic. Life got much easier in traffic once I figured it out.....and then I modded the car to the point where it does take a little throttle to get it going smoothly.
you just need to learn where the sweet spot of the clutch is as was mentioned earlier. in an empty, flat parking lot just let the clutch out slowly (while in 1st) until it engages and the car starts to move, then you can give it some throttle. after a few weeks it'll be second nature.
once you get better, make sure to practice on an incline!! being a newb and having to stop at a light on an incline with cars behind you is a little terrifying!!
The Monster clutch is more normal than you'd expect, it just shakes the whole car a lot while you're just starting out, but the good news is it's much easier to drive than my buddy's Z/28. In normal traffic I'm a bit slow but I won't stall usually.
However, hills...Oh God the hills. I was stopped on a big hill and there were lots of people behind me and I could go and kept stalling! 😭😭😭😭 It was very embarrassing to say the least. I also don't think my car has a hazard button. If I could get some help doing hill starts without burning rubber I'd appreciate it, I guess I'll just have to practice a lot.
The hazard should be on the right side of your steering wheel column. You just pull the little surrounding **** out until it turns on. Push the central button that the **** was surrounding to turn it off. It took me till my third F-body car to figure this out, I'm not even kidding. lol
If you feel the car about to stall, just try to get used to correcting it. You can usually tell a short moment before you're about to crunch out. Ease the clutch back in if you have to, or give it a little more gas. Just don't do it in a way that you are grinding out the clutch (I imagine you aren't just ripping open the throttle and dumping it, I'm just saying for the sake of saying.)
Once you get good enough you are ready for a faceplated tranny. With one of those you won't need to even use the clutch when you shift. Match the engine rpms with the rpm the clutch is spinning and go clutch-less
That clutch setup will drive almost identical to stock. The lightweight flywheel is a different story, the lighter setup won't carry as much inertia so you need to compensate with more throttle. Once engaged it will drive about the same.
If you're missing 3rd gear try moving your elbow out from your body a little bit. It might feel weird but it helps hitting 3rd and 5th. Smooth shifting is the key.
Starting uphill is a PITA to learn. Trick is to use the handbrake while you still learn the car. Hold the brake up, bring rpms up, let clutch up and brake down as you give it more gas. No other way to learn than practice until you get the timing down, then learn to heel toe.
Try holding the rpms at 2k while easing out on the clutch. The rpms will start to lower as the clutch grabs more so a little more throttle will be required. You will get it
Congrats on the new beast. A tip for uphill starts. This is how I do it, you can give it a shot once you get comfortable with the engagement point. While you are stopped, just before the light turns green, I let the clutch go to the Start of the engagement point, and then move my right foot from the brake to the gas. If you get it right, the car will not roll back at all and when you add throttle the car is all ready to go.
I like this method the best, especially when someone is right up your *** at a stop.
^ You know you have it down when it's second nature on a San Francisco hill. You should have seen my wife (then girlfriend) parallel park her manual Toyota Corona or BMW 2002 on those hills. Amazing.
12-05-2015, 07:46 PM
Manual driving tips? 
