Let me start by saying that I've driven only standard transmissions for the last ten years - I hate automatics - and that in that time I've *never* burned out a clutch or had any troubles, including the car I learned on. That includes 120,000 on two previous cars and 35,000 miles on two motorcycles. The Mazda 5 has possibly the nicest clutch of the cars I've driven, and its shifter is pretty good.
My goal when I start from a stop is to keep the revs absolutely constant through the release of the clutch - once one really understands the car and the clutch in question, it's just so satisfying to have an absolutely, completely smooth start and to match the revs perfectly.
As with anybody learning a new car, there have been a few times - on hills, most notably - when I or my wife have overcompensated and spun the engine up around 2500 rpm before the engine engaged, for maybe a half second. I don't think anything of it, as that happens to everybody occasionally, except on our (brand new) 5 it produces a terrible smell. Given that it's a new car I sort of assume it's probably because the extra heat produced is burning some manufacturing compound off the exterior of the transmission casing (I have a scooter that came from the factory with cosmolene on everything, for example), but it does make me a bit nervous - is it possible this transmission is susceptible to severe overheating from a momentary, minor over-rev during engagement? Is it possible the smell is the transmission itself and not some manufacturing remnant on the outside?
Again, I'm not talking about revving the engine and dropping the clutch or anything like that - we get it on a smooth release of the clutch when we give it a little too much gas, such as on a hill start. It's only happened three or four times because we're both experienced manual drivers. Opinions?
My goal when I start from a stop is to keep the revs absolutely constant through the release of the clutch - once one really understands the car and the clutch in question, it's just so satisfying to have an absolutely, completely smooth start and to match the revs perfectly.
As with anybody learning a new car, there have been a few times - on hills, most notably - when I or my wife have overcompensated and spun the engine up around 2500 rpm before the engine engaged, for maybe a half second. I don't think anything of it, as that happens to everybody occasionally, except on our (brand new) 5 it produces a terrible smell. Given that it's a new car I sort of assume it's probably because the extra heat produced is burning some manufacturing compound off the exterior of the transmission casing (I have a scooter that came from the factory with cosmolene on everything, for example), but it does make me a bit nervous - is it possible this transmission is susceptible to severe overheating from a momentary, minor over-rev during engagement? Is it possible the smell is the transmission itself and not some manufacturing remnant on the outside?
Again, I'm not talking about revving the engine and dropping the clutch or anything like that - we get it on a smooth release of the clutch when we give it a little too much gas, such as on a hill start. It's only happened three or four times because we're both experienced manual drivers. Opinions?
Thanks, I've broken in too many 3rd-world engines to go crazy during the break-in! How many Americans can say they've put 13,000 miles on a 150cc India-built engine?