I have been driving manual for a while... but I sometimes I feel unsure of the way I shift gears and use the clutch. Can you all please post some DOs and DON'Ts. I don't want to ruin my clutch in a year or so, just because I am not using it correctly. Thx

1) Should you downshift coming to a stop, or just shift into N and coast?<p>2) How bad is it when you take-off up-hill where you have to burn more of the clutch? Should you use the hand brake to relieve a little of this?<p>3) What RPM do you guys normally run? The car seems to like to be around 2500-3000.<p>I can't think of any more specific questions but any advice/help/ideas would be great. Just learning to drive my manual 2.8qs 30v.

I've never owned an automatic in 30 years of driving. I have had clutches go at 30,000 miles and others last over 90,000 miles. IMHO it depends largely on the make of the car, and somewhat on improvements in design.<br>I don't recommend hard downshifts, but neither should you coast to a stop with the car out of gear or the clutch down from a speed over about 20 mph. There will probably be other opinions on this.<br>Just a couple of thoughts!<br>Clair, 98.5 2.8 FWD MAN

1. Downshift to 1st (thus prepared for any emergency move if needed).<p>2. release handbrake while letting out the clutch

I downshift through every gear on the way down. On my 89 Accord a service rep wouldn't believe me that I had 117,000 miles on the factory brakes. <p>Soon you will be ready to search the archives to learn how to double clutch.<p>Bill

(nt)

Laying your hand on the shifter can put undue stress on the linkage, and might inadvertently pop you out of gear.<p>For info, if I'm going down a hill, will downshift to gear to maintain comfortabel car and engine speed (approx. 3000 RPM, as noted). I will downshift when approaching a light, at least to 3rd. If cruising/drifing to a stop, genrally keep it in third till get close to idle, then will declutch and shift to neutral. I stay in neutral with clutch engaged until ready to start again.<p>I don't like downshifting to second unless absolutely necessary (descending a hill in nasty weather; will hardly ever downshift to 1st for purposes of slowing the car. To me 1st gear downshift puts the greatest strain on gears, clutch, and drivetrain.<p>Got 130,000 miles in clutch in old Coupe Quattro; tranny/synchros were fine, too.<br>

(1) I downshift down to second, at which point I'll just brake. The extra shift to first has never seemed to be worth it.<p>(2) Use the handbrake, in conjunction with the clutch. I suppose (especially with the 2.8) that you could just pop the clutch but why? Of course, none of us would ever hold the car on a hill with just the clutch for more than a few seconds.<p>(3) It depends on what I'm after. If I think I'll be needing acceleration, I keep rev's relatively high, else rarely below 2000. The 2.8 will accelerate quite well at just about any point, but really starts to take off once you give it some rev's.<p>I tend to disagree about where the car "likes to be", mine seems to "like to be" >4000 rpm, at which point it rockets. It's no slug before that but it zooms past 4000.<p>--Greg<p>

1. Downshifting is fine but as someone else said don't bother with first.<br>2. At a light, shift into neutral and let off on the clutch pedal. Don't use the clutch to hold your position.<br>3. Double-clutching is great for 40 year old British sports cars with weak synchros but is unnecessary in an A4.<br>4. Getting started on a hill is toughest and just takes practice. At first the mergency brake may be useful but after a while you shouldn't need it.

Having done extensive transmission work on my car after regretting for more than a year not waiting for a 1.8T with a manual, I have a few opinions on this front.<p>With the 30v V6 on level ground, you have to think about the horsepower and torque available at idle. Imagine you are on a perfectly flat surface. You should be able to pull your 2.8 off the line easily by just letting out the clutch and adding gas at any (reasonable) stage. However, starting uphill you should probably use the handbrake. Whether driving an automatic or a manual, I shift into neutral at stoplights and use the handbrake when on an incline. Unlike the others here, I do shift into first, and I always work my way through the gearing on the way down into a stoplight because I always want to be in a plausible gear for maneuvering within the stoplight situation or going once the light turns green (I *always* work down through the gate when first in the stoplight order). Is this really neccesary? Nope, probably not. Maybe one time in every hundred it helps me out. However, it's good practice. In the 30v/V6 Passat, I find myself often getting initial wheelspin from the stock wheels and tires, while not having this problem with larger wheels and better tires on the modified 5spd Passats I've driven... this seems reasonable, but is less true in 2.8QMS A4's I've driven... maybe in part due to Quattro. Light clutch movements are always preferable, just like you were told with your frightened father in the passenger seat driving around the church parking lot.<p>Sharing what I know,<br>Cameron

Actually, I find the torque in my 98.0 A4 2.8QM to be sorely lacking at idle. I've had several manual transmission cars before ('79 Mustang Turbo, '66 Porsche 912, '91 Eagle Talon TSI AWD), and driven many miles in all of them, and I've never had to slip the clutch as much to launch a car from a stop as in my 30v A4. Nor have I ever stalled a car out as much starting from a stop as in the A4, especially in reverse. <p>Incidentally, I never have a problem if I'm trying to launch the car fast -- e.g. pulling out onto a racetrack or accelerating hard from a stop light. But at slow to moderate speeds I really have to time the pedal action PERFECTLY to get a smooth start without riding the clutch. Any suggestions?<br>

First off, I've had the same problem with the A42.8QMS, and yes, the clutch points seem to be anything but corresponding between second gear and reverse. Also, the clutch feel is not intuitive from Audi to BMW or BMW to Audi and you feel the catch often before it's really there in the 2.8QMS (or at least it seems that way). Launching the car is easy, it likes to eat up the RPM's you give it, but I agree that pulling away gently is a science. Being a former 912 owner, the clutch slip probably seems excessive, but the entire clutch ranging is very different from the 912 to the long A42.8 clutch... disturbingly long during the first few times I drove the manual 30vA4 and suffered through a couple of embarassing stalls. However, overall the design seems sound for pulling away smoothly, whether quickly or slowly, though pulling away in a gentle movement up a slight incline (when you don't want to come flying over the railroad track bed you're about to climb, for instance) does seem more challenging in the A4 than in other cars.<p>Cameron<br>

<br>nt

One thing to practice is, when shifting from 2nd on up, try to match the speed of the engine to the speed of the wheels. That way there is no slippage while engaging and disengaging the clutch. Start your practice driving gently. Once you start consistently shift without the slippage, then you can gradually increase the speed of the shifts, while still trying to have no-slippage in the clutch. I found that in my old '86 Integra that, with practice, that I could even do some relatively spirited driving and my passengers heads would not be snapping forward and backwards when I shifted. I've only been driving my '99 A4 for 1 1/2 weeks, and I've already come a long way in getting to know this transmission.

ny

I think it's really hard to describe, but here are my basic tips:<p>1. Get used to where the grab point is.<p>2. Don't slip the clutch at the grab point. gear engagement should be precise, but not jerky.<p>3. Shift down through all gears except first, unless you are going less than a few MPH.<p>4. When downshifting, give a little gas to bring the revs up to match the gear.<p>5. Here's the tricky part: It is best to be braking while downshifting. I am able to blip the throttle with the right side of my foot, while the left side works the brake pedal. Some do the heel toe method, using their heel to brake, and their toe to work the throttle. I think it hurts! <p>6. If I'm coming up to a light, I start slowing down early and go through the gears so that I'm ready for acceleration again. If you time it just right, you may not even need the brakes.<p>7. I am not responsible if you rearend anyone!<p>8. I do not, and can not use the handbrake method on hills. I'm way too uncoordinated for that, and it usually causes me to roll back atleast a foot, and usually more! I just get off the brake and onto the gas as quickly as possible, while letting out the clutch quickly to the friction point. Usually don't roll more than maybe 6 inches. If it's really steep and I have a full car, I turn the A/C off just to get going.<p>9. I doubt this explained clearly the way I drive.<p>10. My clutches and brakes last a long, long time!<p>11. It's 6AM and I have not gone to bed yet! :-(<p>ChuckH<br>

With the traffic and roads I take, I often find myself in about 3rd gear (or 4th). Anyway, when approaching a stop light I have been just popping the clutch into neutral and braking the rest of the way...ok ok..i have decided to use double clutching from now on because I guess my original method isn't too healthy for the car...anyways, I double clutch say from 3rd to 2nd (and so now my RPMs are really high) but I cant' really tell if this is slowing down the car??? I always end up using the brake a lot to slow down somemore...am i doing something wrong?? a lot of posts in the archives talk about people saving their brakes by downshifting all through the gears and just letting the enigne brake for you...I want to learn this too but am a little confused...<p>Please advise =)<br>Jimmy

Downshifting allows you to get on the powerband faster if you need to accelerate quickly in an emergency, of if you want more engine braking.<p>I don't do it much myself except for tight corners.

I would much rather wear out brakes than a clutch or tranny. You do not want this to happen when your are screaming down a mountain, but in general, do not worry about the brakes wearing out!

I've been hearing a lot of people around my office stating that they keep their foot on the clutch while still the same gear they were on before they had to brake. They do not downshift at all. Only when they need to accelerate again do they throw it back into the appropriate gear. One of them has 90,000 miles on his tranny using this method. Is this method correct and safe for your tranny?<p>I now know that you should not throw your tranny in neutral and brake to a stop (with the foot off the clutch)... (or could I be wrong?)<p>My uncle also taught me how to get into 2nd and up without stepping on the clutch at all. This method requires a lot of practice and gear grinding before you can do it gracefully. I would not do it on my brand new A4 or any other new car. I practiced it on one of my uncle's 87 corolla sr5. He claims that this method saves his clutch. Is this true?