I think starting from 1st & going 1st to 2nd maybe be more difficult to smooth out due to the "clutch cushioning" also called "clutch delay valve". I don't know why they do things like this. A manual transmission should be kept simple & allow the driver to get a feel for it. The drive-by-wire & clutch cushioning just make things more difficult.Starting from 1st is still kinda wonky to me. The clutch seems to bite really early but you still have to release it very slowly. I have no problem in any other gear.
I at 1500 miles now, and I've gotten it pretty smoothed out.Yeah, that "clutch cushioning" thing sucks. I had an '07 MS3 before this, and the clutch feel was excellent.
I pride myself on being smooth and good at starts, but that's pretty dang hard to do in the 2.
I'm hoping a performance clutch will fix it, but that's not going in until the warranty expires in three years. If anyone knows of a good resolution to the 2's marshmallow catch points, please share.
I regularly shift at 4k and above when the car is warmed up. It's a small engine... wring it out a little!
I'm still not any good going 1st to 2nd. Amateur I guess !
I've tried revving high, low, in-between. Tried holding the clutch longer, letting it up quicker, etc.
Who out there can do 1st to 2nd, so it's nice & smooth?
I need to know how you do it, because I either get the bucking bronco effect, or the engine bogs down for a bit.
I'm all right in all the other gears.
Thanks !
Either way, this is certainly the most difficult clutch I've ever had to learn.
It seems like my throttle response has a slight dead spot or something when going to 2nd gear, or maybe I'm just a really bad driver.![]()
Dont ever buy a VW TDI then... this clutch is cake compared to the TDIs...
I doubt that your a "really bad driver." Like I said above, just don't think about it so much.
Must be a diesel thing. I'm coming from a VW GTI and that car basically drove itself off the line. It's literally the easiest transmission I've ever encountered.
Wow am I glad I found this thread. I've been driving stick since my first car in 01 and I've got 3,500 miles on my 2 and I can't seem to get it down. Going from a Neon with a lightweight flywheel/PT Cruiser clutch was just about complete opposites and I thought that was why I sucked............ but nothing has ever taken me this long to adapt to!Disclaimer: I've been driving three-pedal cars since Jesus was a pup. I drive semis on a regular basis and a racecar as well. I'm pretty comfortable/experienced with the silly things.
I've had the same problem with my 2 - sometimes it's either too many revs, and other times it's not enough and the thing bucks and stalls. A large part of the problem is the calibration of the drive by wire throttle. It is particularly laggy on the 2, and the lag is most pronounced in first and second gears, presumably due to some ECU inherent issues.
It's not (compleatly) your fault.