Driving Best Practices

[dudro]

Greetings!

My '96 NSX-T is the first 5-speed car that I have owned. I have a question about best practices when it comes to driving a car with a manual transmission.

1) Should I depress the clutch all the way to the floor when changing gears for normal driving?

2) When coming to a stop or approaching traffic, is it okay to take the car out of gear before coming to a stop? (I sometimes take the car out of gear at 50 mph so I can coast)

3) Should I be able to feel and hear the gears engaging when shifting? I do not hear any grinding, just a dead sounding "thud" when I engage the gears.

Any advice will be greatly appreciated. Thanks!

 

[Jason Weaver]

Hello, In mu opinion.

1.) Yes always depress the clutch fully on all shifts.

2.) Coasting is fine, better gas mileage, plus by not downshifting you are wearing the clutch, tranny and engine less by than just stopping with the brakes with the car in nuetral. Much cheaper to replace brakes than the others.

3.) As long as there is no grinding I imagine you are ok.

Just my 2 cents

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Jason

 

[Larry Bastanza]

Dudro,

1. Yes

2. It will not harm anything, but I prefer to have the car "engaged" in a gear until I just about stop, then put the clutch in.

3. The beauty of the NSX shifter is it is as smooth as a baby's butt. You should not hear or "feel" the gears engaging.

On another note DO NOT sit stopped with the clutch depressed. Very bad for the throwout bearing. This is a very bad habit I have seen alot of people do. Just before you want to move, depress the clutch, go into first and take off smoothly. I find the NSX clutch to be extremely light and easy compared to other cars. I am talking about the stock clutch. Aftermarket clutches are different.

HTH,
LarryB

 

[nsxtasy]

The beauty of the NSX shifter is it is as smooth as a baby's butt. You should not hear or "feel" the gears engaging.

As with any car, the best way to accomplish this (and the best way to shift) is to try to match the revs with your road speed before putting the car in the next gear.

 

[maomaonsx]

"The beauty of the NSX shifter is it is as smooth as a baby's butt. You should not hear or "feel" the gears engaging."

Yes, the NSX has one of the best gear box. but in every NSX I have driven, the gear-shifting has a solid mechanical feel, and you DO hear and feel the SHIFTER engaging into gears. If you have a hot knife in butter feel in your NSX shifter, it's not normal( at least for the 5-speeds). But there should be no sound coming from the tranny.

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