I am new to the wonderfull world of 5spd driving, so can some one tell me if this is normal: when I engage the first gear and have one of those jerky starts, is the car supposed to ballance out and stop jerking? My 98 5spd keeps lurching forward as I hold down the gas pedal in first gear. Please tell me its cause of the bad start.

 

Happened to me, too, when I first learned to drive stick. Either shift into second or let off the gas.

 

Its most likely your driving. The max's 1st gear is kind of low and it has a lot of torque for its light weight. If you hit the gas too hard and let the clutch up too fast she'll buck a bit. Keep practicing and you'll get it. I have always driven manuals and I find this car one of the hardest to take off from a stop...

 

One of the hardest huh... I guess I should have practiced on my bosses modded Viper first, hehe. Anywayz thanks for the input.

 

IT's rather quirky. Some days, I engage 1st like I'm Da Man, and others, I'm stuttering or lurching quite a bit.