to clutch or not to clutch
 

I had someone ask me about my driving style versus his and this discrepancy came up... so, if you would indulge me with your opinions on the following.

When at a traffic light and stopped:

A: put the car in neutral and release the clutch

B: leave the car in gear (move it over to 1st) and keep your foot on the clutch

C: who cares? either one of these is fine

D: hey! that's all wrong, here is what I do.


thanks!

i have it in neutral and let go of the clutch.. and when the light going the other way changes to amber i put it in first

:bt: what he said

That would be A.

Keeping your foot on the clutch at stoplights places undue wear on the clutch release bearing (sometimes called the throw-out bearing), which can lead to premature failure.

personally i think that is bs. but give me a link to prove me wrong. I always hear people telling me this but i never believe it.

Dustin

i'm a B type.

im a lazy bastard haha

what are you talking about? release bearings? what way of clutching ? like leaving it out of gear or haveing it in gear?

http://www.howstuffworks.com/clutch2.htm

Before I get to the light I pop it out of gear without using the cluch. Keep it in neutral until it's time to go. :D

What would i Do?
 

I would do what groharlem does... :squint:
put the car in Neutral.. then use HAND BRAKE to stop!! LOL :eek:

I downshift for almost every gear (saves on brakes and doesn't hurt the clutch, engine, or transmission.) the throwout bearing will not go bad by holding the clutch in, I have a 1986 GMC Jimmy 4x4 with 265,000 miles on the odometer and its still the original clutch (bought the car new in 1985). Also by leaving the car in neutral and using the emergency brake you are not as aware and you have to put the car in gear if a car is skidding behind you. I almost got rear ended once at a light but because I had the car in gear i was able to move foward and avoid the accident.

I go with A myself.

The other 'style thing' that comes up here is whether you downshift to slow down (a la Azrakain) or whether you coast down (a la Gro Harlem).

I'm inconsistent in this myself...

Oh my.. I just had to drive through 1/2 hour of stop & go traffic tonight... for no apparent reason either!

I found that I'd pop it into 1st or 2nd to move give it a short burst to get some momentum, then take it out of gear and release the clutch .. coast up and brake again. . Didn't really feel like riding the clutch that much tonight :)

I tend to downshift when stopping .. unless I have to stop fast! (then it's full in clutch & brake :). Then keep my foot on the brakes while stopped. If it's a long light, then the shifter goes to neutral and off the clutch. Like someone else said before, when the other light goes amber ... into gear.

If stopped on a hill, or traffic is creeping up to the light then I'll leave it in and balance the car with clutch and gas instead of using the e-brake. I find the P5 is pretty easy to keep stationary on hills with the clutch.

Uh, you can stop faster if you learn how to heel-toe, i.e. downshift well while braking. You will get the added benefit of the engine braking, as well as the disc brakes.

Ok, this is the one of the WORST :eek: things you could do to your car. You are purposely riding the clutch, slipping it and burning it. Would you work the clutch and gas with the e-brake on? Why not? By balancing the car on a hill like this, it is just about the same thing.

The clutch is meant to allow engagement of gears without having to perfectly sychronize engine revs with transmission revs - that's ALL. It's not meant to hold your car on a hill. Jeez, man read your owner's manual (or any other owner's manual, for that matter).

I'm not trying to flame you or anything, but stating that you balance the car with the gas and clutch, and stating that like it is a GOOD thing just caught me. You'll wear out that clutch much faster, especially if you live in a hilly area, or if you do it a lot. Hey, once in a while is okay, just like romping on it and smoking the tires, but if you do things like this all the time, your precioius P5 is gonna spend a lot more time in the shop.

Hmmmm, yeah.. I guess I was a little misleading with that one. (guess that should've been an "and" instead of an "or") Thanks for the tips... :doh: now, when actually stopped on a hill i don't sit there riding the clutch, just to clear that up. haha.
(Gee it's only been 3 weeks and I have to go get a new clutch already.. waht a crappy car!)
Just that traffic has a tendancy to "creep" during a long light, especially if you're in a right-turn lane.
As far as the stopping goes, I meant like fast, really fast not normal fast .. just like, when you don't have time to downshift through the gears and slow properly .. like ohh you know, emergency type braking. bah. I'm well aware of the superior stopping power being able to use engine braking along with the normal brakes.
Anyway, thanks for pointing that out..