Riding the clutch is bad?

[Cr@ckerJ@ck]

Rolling down a hill, round corners and rolling to save gas with your foot on the clutch is an extremely bad habbit to get into. I for one have wasted alot more money than I've saved from this practice...why???? when I was young and stupid I was a believer that 'coasting' was a great way to save petrol, until I tryed coasting through a corner a little to quick and smashed through a metal fence!!!
Normaly I could hit the corner alot quicker when I was driving in gear, but with no engine control I just slid straight off the road. So I learnt the hard way that you need to apply the engine to pull/push you through a corner properly, and especialy with a front wheel drive, how you apply power will determine if you under steer or over steer. I sugest you slowly learn your car in a very quiet area where you can feel the difference between coasting and where/when you apply power through a corner. Do it with someone who has some idea of your car (fwd, 4wd, rwd,)who can help and give pointers because the ealrier you know it, the more cash you will save.

^ speaks the truth, also you lose braking compression in some cars which = very bad for stopping....also any driving instructor will tell you that leaving your foot even resting on the clutch is a bad habit as this prematurely wears the clutch over time?

[FEELDV]

The only time you should ride your clutch is when your at a set of lights up against a 200 or Any Turbo Vehicle, When the light go's green, You want to be the first car out of the hole.

[zorrt]

The only time you should ride your clutch is when your at a set of lights up against a 200 or Any Turbo Vehicle, When the light go's green, You want to be the first car out of the hole.

u mean dumping it? step on clutch accelerate at same time? blow up the gearbox?

[FEELDV]

u mean dumping it? step on clutch accelerate at same time? blow up the gearbox?

Not Necessarily dumping it no. You have to Ride it for a good 3-5 Seconds b4 the light go's green, then it all depends on how well you take off, u can dump it or ride the clutch in the take off to control wheelspin a little.
"blow up the gearbox?" It all comes down to the Individual, Do you race? Or you take of like a granny next to your Turbo Enemy ? You Decide.

[aaronng]

yeah i thin k clutch smeellttes bad coz its bad

Wooohoo.. thread resurrection! Actually, it's because your clutch is organic. So it smells bad when it burns. Have you tried burning organic fertiliser? It smells bad too.

BTW, you use more fuel going downhill in neutral or pressing the clutch when compared to leaving it in gear and going downhill. Why? Because in cars with EFI, the ECU shuts the injectors when you lift your foot of the accelerator. If you are going downhill, the momentum of the car keeps the engine spinning. If you are in neutral or pressing the clutch, the injectors have to spray to keep the engine spinning at idle rpm.

[spardikis]

good point aaronng! I bet there is a lot of people who never knew that...including me!

[ginganggooly]

i know a guy that was coasting corners through the rnp, he ended getting compression lockup when he let go of the pedal on a corner exit and flipped the s15 down an embankment. not pretty.
coasting with your clutch in is a very bad idea...

[lerroy]

IMO Riding the clutch or holding on the friction point to a degree is what you have to do in first second and reverse other wise your gonna stall...

you know when your really riding it though you can feel it sometimes smell it..something you do when you get a new cluth or jump in a diff car for the first few take offs heheh

but yeah coasting isnt a good idea NO CONTROL its like driving a 1.5 tonne shopping cart down a hill

[Poeter]

Hmm, may i ask what's compression lockup?

Is it when you release the clutch in the wrong rpm band?

[stormridah]

this might sound stupid but what does the burning the clutch smell like?

[spardikis]

why dont you try breaking heavily to stop a few times and smell your front breaks...thats about how it smells...or i would describe it as a deep pungently warm smell that reminds me of death!!! lol

[ITRBoI]

it wears out the clutch faster!!! and it leaves a black mark on the flywheel as well. Shouldn't even be riding it in the place. That's why you go and hire a manual car first. hehaehahe