Bite point of clutch question.

Holiday

Member
:
Protege 5
Not the original owner of my P5 and this is my first standard transmission car so I'm curious just how much wear my clutch has on it. Perhaps this is not an easy question to answer but I'm wondering if the biting point of the clutch is normally about the midway point of the release. Seems there is a lot of travel for my clutch to bite, then again as I said my first manual transmission car so I have no prior experience. Just wondering about the signs of a worn clutch.
 
Not the original owner of my P5 and this is my first standard transmission car so I'm curious just how much wear my clutch has on it. Perhaps this is not an easy question to answer but I'm wondering if the biting point of the clutch is normally about the midway point of the release. Seems there is a lot of travel for my clutch to bite, then again as I said my first manual transmission car so I have no prior experience. Just wondering about the signs of a worn clutch.

generally speaking, a clutch that grabs closer to the top signifies an aggressive previous owner. clutches rarely grab close to the bottom of the pedal, most clutches grab halfway so that sounds normal to me.

if the clutch is worn, you will feel it slip, or shift slowly when shifting quickly or aggressively at high RPM. there wont be much feel when you are engagin first gear. if the clutch pedal has good feel and it grabs nice and firm, then you got lots of life left in the clutch.

you just got to practise, but generally to drive smoothly you want to use as little throttle as possible when starting in first gear (1500RPM for normal start, 2000 for quick start, 2500RPM for launching) and then start to release the clutch slowly. as soon as you feel the clutch bite, keep it in the same place. once the clutch is fully engaged then you can let it out fully. this way, you put as little wear on the clutch as possible. if you dont start in first gear smoothly you will burn up/ rub your clutch (using too much throttle and letting out the clutch slowly) this will wear your clutch quickly.

to shift smoothly, you want to lift up the clutch quickly during the first half (the "dead" part of the clutch that doesnt bite or do anything) and then, in one swift motion just "slip" the clutch out fully. be sure to always use a touch of throttle on your upshifts if you are shifting slowly. if you are shifting into third gear at 2000RPM for example, "tap" the throttle to 2000RPM as you shift.

once you get your shifting and first gear engagements nice and smooth, then start to practise downshifting and rev matching. be sure to use plenty of throttle before switching to a lower gear. remember - when downshifting, MORE throttle is better than LESS throttle. for example if you are going 60 KM/H in fourth gear and want to downshift to third (lets say third gear is at 3000RPM based on your current speed) then you let the clutch out, rev it up to 3000RPM while shifting into the desired gear, then slip the clutch out. as a rule of thumb, you never want to "dump the clutch" when trying to shift quickly, but "slip" it into place with one swift motion. ust make sure not to let the RPM's fall to low while choosing your gear, or at least tap the gas to bring the RPM's back up to where you want them to be before releasing the clutch.

practise makes perfect. just put effort into your shifting and you will feel yourself become confident with manual while shifting quick and smooth. you will notice the car feel faster and even save gas if you slip the clutch into each gear nicely. your Mazda has really short gearing, so you should always be upshifting. don't drive around in too low of a gear - always be shifting.
 
Last edited:
Mine has always began to engage about 3/4 of the way up, even before I replaced it.

Drive it until it starts to slip.
 
I'm just guessing but wouldn't the clutch master cylinder just fill up with more fluid as the clutch wears so that you've always got the same engagement point ??

PS... Apparently, you can take your car out on the highway in fifth gear and relatively low RPM's then hammer the gas.
If your clutch is anywhere close to slipping, this is where it will happen first.
 
Our car can go 300,000 km, even miles, on the original clutch.
Conversely, you can install a new clutch and wear it out in a couple of hours if you put your mind to it.
It all depends on how you drive.
 
Thanks for the replies. Starting to get the hang of it. Right now my challenges are slow speed maneuvers in limited spaces, applying gas too quickly on my upshifts, controlling throttle (gas pedal is so sensitive) and getting the proper timing of downshifting for corners on city streets. The clutch does grab, feels solid, very easy to launch it outta first, not so easy to do a slow controlled acceleration again because the gas pedal is so touchy it's easy to wind it up to 2500 rpms or more with the slightest pressure.
 
Thanks for the replies. Starting to get the hang of it. Right now my challenges are slow speed maneuvers in limited spaces, applying gas too quickly on my upshifts, controlling throttle (gas pedal is so sensitive) and getting the proper timing of downshifting for corners on city streets. The clutch does grab, feels solid, very easy to launch it outta first, not so easy to do a slow controlled acceleration again because the gas pedal is so touchy it's easy to wind it up to 2500 rpms or more with the slightest pressure.

you just have to practise using the right amount of throttle. the key is to "tap" the throttle to bring it up to 1500, no more than 2000RPM and start to feed the clutch in slowly until it bites while bringing engine speed up slightly. it takes lots of practise to get right, but the key is to use an appropriate amount of throttle for how fast you are trying to go. if you live near toronto, we can meet somwhere and ill bring my manual nissan maxima to compare and show you some clutch tricks.

for downshifting, you want to use the engine to help you slow down before red lights or corners. when you feel like you need to start slowing down, keep going down gear by gear. you want to be in second gear for a normal speed corner, and third gear for quick corners.

sounds like you're getting the hang of things. my main suggestion is to practise using the right amount of RPM for a smooth, controlled take off.
 
oh and you never, ever want to use more throttle then necessary on upshifts. if you are shifting into third gear at 2000RPM, do not rev the engine any harder than 2000rpm. be sure to watch your RPM's with each shift and adjust your throttle application accordingly.
 
Thanks. I'm out west, small town so it's good for practising. I noticed previously I had a bad habit of hitting the gas too quick and too much on releasing the clutch when upshifting. Probably because of all the practising on adding throttle in 1st gear. I try to remind myself that it's clutch off then gas or just a touch of gas as I'm releasing the clutch fully. I'm finding that I'm starting to feel the characteristic of the whole drive train, like the car is kinda telling me what it wants and needs and of course tells me right quick what it doesn't like. Heh heh, I'm starting to realize why people refer to their cars as "she."
 
Also, when I'm coming to a stop sign or a stop light, I always shift into neutral from whatever speed i'm cruising at and coast to a stop, using my brakes to stop me. I never upshift (4th, 3rd, 2nd, etc) when coming to a stop. saves a lot of wear and tear on the clutch. it's much easier to replace brake pads :)
 
Also, when I'm coming to a stop sign or a stop light, I always shift into neutral from whatever speed i'm cruising at and coast to a stop, using my brakes to stop me. I never upshift (4th, 3rd, 2nd, etc) when coming to a stop. saves a lot of wear and tear on the clutch. it's much easier to replace brake pads :)

^^^ What he said...

I also wait till the car is at about 10 km/hr then hit the clutch and push the shifter just slightly towards first gear and wait. The shifter just falls into first when it's ready... at about 2 km/hr.... smooth as glass, no wear & tear.
 
Back