HooliganR6

I did a search of all the sections and did not see exactly what I am seeing in my P5.

When I am at a crawl and the car is at a low idle...say like 1.5-2 if I give the car a little gas the car bucks on me until I give it a little more gas. The car is a 5-speed and I have been driving manual trans car's for 10 years now and no other car I have had does this. The only thing I can think of is that there is too much slack in the throttle cable.

Just wanted to know if anyone else has run into this and what the fix is. Other then that there is no other issues with the car and it has done this since day one. I just thought it was a characteristic of the car..but starting to think something is wrong.

Sir Nuke

this actually NORMAL for our cars...there is NOTHING to fix....the fact is...the throttle response is VERY touchy when you are in low gear and you attempt to just touch the throttle....if you are just crawling...and you want to start to accelerate SMOOTHELY....you really have two choices.....practice with the car and its touchy accelerator to get a smoother response....

OR you can always push in the clutch and feather it some to get the rpm up into a range where the throttle isn't as touchy.

DaleK

Here is a thread that 'discusses' the subject.

proteges rock....

There are a couple others as well, but I couldn't find them in my quick search.

Quite a few of us have had this particular complaint, and I think the conclusions reached are some combination of either a) really soft motor mounts, and/or b) the ULEV ECU mapping, and/or c) fast throttle tip in, and/or d) we are shitty drivers

As Nuke says, it is a characterstic of the car, we need to get used to it (He is the master of all things, after all....... ). I have been able to adjust my driving style to avoid the issue most of the time (without using the clutch), but I still get nailed occasionally.

Hope this helps

Dale.

hihoslva

I hear people (mostly newbies, it seems) complaining about this issue frequently, but I can't seem to understand why.

Seems to be a natural behavior on a car that: 1) has little low-rpm torque, and 2) has a short first gear.

While my Pro is an auto, I have driven plenty of cars that exhibit this same behavior - and my Miata comes right to mind.

Basically, you're bogging the motor down, and getting it to buck. The little 2.0 isn't very gutsy at low RPMs, so even a slight touch to the gas sends it into that "lurching" behavior we all experienced when we first learned to drive a stick.

My Miata did the same thing - over time, you can learn the limits, so that you'll only give it as much gas as it needs to accelerate, and avoid the bucking. But give it too much, and you're riding the bull - no way to avoid it other than careful gas application, or feathering the clutch a little bit to calm it down.

~HH

midnightblue97

I've got a 97 that kinda does the same thing, when I'm idling in first gear at a certain point it starts to buck and if I give it a little gas it does this even worse. I either floor it, and it doesn't do that anymore, or I do what everyone else does and feather the clutch.

PaulM

I've had mine for a month now and notice the very same thing. As a matter of fact I was just going to check this forum for an answer. I guess it's the nature of the beast. You have to have a very sensitive right foot to be smooth when you're crawling. My 88 Civic had the same problem but not as pronouced. Still, the car is great.

Paul

bmorton

It IS the nature of the beast, and nothing to do with how you're driving--why that myth persists I have no idea. This should not be mistaken for the bucking you can get any five-speed car to perform if you're clumsy with the gas and clutch. The throttle tip-in is too abrupt regardless of the speed of the car or what gear you're in. I can feel the driveline bounce in my P5 when I take my foot off the gas and gently apply it again at 50 mph in fifth gear. I remember from a previous thread that someone did manage to fix this to some degree by making an adjustment to the throttle itself, but I think most of us have just learned to live with it.

HooliganR6

Thanks for the feedback everyone.

I have grown to deal with it and have adjusted my technique when driving my P5. I used to own a 2000 Celica GT-S that I dragged and auto-x'ed so it is not like this is my first manual tranny. But like you guys said...guess it is just the nature of the P5. A very small thing to deal with considering the car kicks **** otherwise! I still can't get over how calm it is in the twisties!