I took off from a stop sign the other night, and jsut applied approx 50% throttle, I spun a little but there was allot of smoke. I was like wow baby like the cold air, but it wasnt my tires it was my clutch. My car has stunk for the past two days, and now even on normal driving when I stop I can pop the hood and smell it. Smells really hot. I didnt ride the clutch at that stop sign either. Any ideas? I got 88k on my car so I guess the clutch could be going??

 

you burned the clutch with that launch.
50% won't burn it, but flooring it with the clutch not fully engaged will burn it, which is probably what you did.
next time you do that...don't leave the clutch hanging while accelerating, let go and the floor it.
the smell is only temporary, but if you saw smoke you must have burned it pretty badly.
just drive around and it will get aired out.

 

Im really new to stick so what are some do's and dont's? How do you launch without killing your clutch and all that fun stuff?

 

don't learn how to drive stick on a maxima

(thats what civics are for of course!)

 

do a search under member name Dave B. He did a write up on this I think.

 

Can anyone help me? I dont wanna blow out my clutch, but i want to launch to race my friend!

 

- put your car in 1st
- with the clutch down, press on the accelerator til your rpm reaches around 1500 rpm
- when you are ready to take off, let go of the clutch and press on the accelerator and you all set

 

Thats not gonna hurt my clutch too much? What can i do wrong that would hurt it while attempting to drop it at 1500-2000?

Derek

 

as long as you don't keep your feet on the clutch pass 2500 rpm while pressing on the accelerator then your clutch should be fine...

 

most likely racing will put some wear on the clutch.
what some people do when they launch is not take their foot off the clutch before they punch the gas, this will kill the clutch, so try to avoid that. if you're racing, launch at like 2000rpm, let go of the clutch completely, then floor it.
also when you stop at a light, don't leave it in first with the clutch down, leave it in neutral until you're ready to go.
also try to rev match properly, taht will reduce unnecessary clutch and synchros wear.

 

Those Dave movies were beast, but that guy was jumping off the clutch. Is that even healthy for your car? I had to learn on my Max, first stick car. I get a new clutch soon And I'm gonna race my friend's Civic soon, he came back for Winter Break. It's gonna be a fun ride. I'll post the results soon. I still suck at stick, so I might not slaughter him like I plan to, just humiliate him.