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.