I just got my first manual car last week ! I can pretty much drive without any stalls, can take hills and am decent at downshifting. My problem is that when im up shifting (mainly from 1st-2nd and 2nd - 3rd) when i release the clutch the engine kinda jerks. I know its the engine tryin to match the transmission speed and ive attempted rev matching but it seems like i just shoot the RMPs up and then when the clutch engages they fall down. Also, when this happens i have to hold the clutch down a little longer to make it smoother. Ive heard that Accords can have tricky clutches and wonder if anyone has any tipsor suggestions. Also i didn't know where to post this so i just chose this tab.

 

practice little grasshopper, practice...

 

Practice.

Each time it jerks, you have to pay attention... Does it jerk the car forward or backwards? It's all timing. Not spark timing, but YOUR timing. Gotta practice some more.

When you shift, you lift off the gas pedal, and as you take a moment to go thru the actions of shifting, the engine coasts down to lower RPM.My guess isyou take too long, &the engine gets too slow. With more practice, you'll be faster finding the next gear.

Did I mention practice? Don't feel bad, it's only been one week...

 

You are letting go of the clutch before it is fully engaged. You have to let it out smoothly all the way until your foot comes off the pedal. Don't worry so much about rev matching because a slow, smooth engagement will take care of it for you until you get a little better with the clutch. I'm kinda in the same boat as you and have the same problem at times.

 

As they said above...practice makes perfect! Honda actually has the easiest clutch I have ever driven. I learned how to drive a manual transon a 1990 Mustang GT (300 ft lbs of torque - stock). The clutch was hard as a rock and the gas pedal was hard as a rock. it really took effort to mash both of them down. I was a mess trying to drive if I had just gotten done doing squats or something at the gym. I did a lot of "accidental" burnouts in that car!

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Yeah RIGHT. Accidental, huh Jon?
[sm=gears.gif]
"But Officer, I didn't do it on purpose!!"

 

That reminds me of driving to a jobsite last week in steel toes. I could not feel any of the peddles for the life of me and laid down quite a bit of rubber.

 

I was just thinking about this a little more. When you upshift in a manual transmission car, you will always jerk a little bit. that's just how it works. I'm confused as to how you can "rev match" when upshifting. As far as I know, "rev matching" is something you do when downshifting. When you upshift, it should be as simple as: press the clutch, shift, let the clutch out smoothly. There will always be some jerking involved. Even an automatic transmission jerks some when upshifting.

 

sh*t i want to learn manual.

 

Rev-matching when you UPshift is sorta about timing. Take too long to shift & the engine spins down so the rpm is too low. Then you have to blip the throttle a little bit to match, sorta like during a downshift, but not as much.

 

^ I guess I just would have never thought someone that knew how to rev match would shift that slow haha