How do you use the clutch in your car?

[Midnight_Raven]

Hey so today I kind of thought of something about the clutch pedal and tried it out on my way to/back from work.

When I started learning driving I got into the habit of fully pressing the clutch pedal down to the floor, switch gear, and then depress to get the clutch to engage. Just for the sake of making the learning process simpler. I always could tell the engagement point was not near the bottom of the throw, but because of habit and how I learned, I just did it that way for the past 6 years.

Today I thought why not just push the clutch just past the engagement point and shift. It felt strange not bringing the clutch down and kind of floating at only 1/3 - 1/2 of the throw. I could see the benefit of this method where my shifts seemed quicker and felt less straining on my leg during the shift.

So as a general inquiry what do you guys do? Do you push it down to the floor or float it? What do you think is the best method? Maybe I've been doing it wrong for the longest time ever lol.

 

[myhui]

I lightly pressure the shifter before I step on the clutch. Then when the shifter moves, I follow through with the shift while my foot continues to press down more. Then I quickly pop the peddle up (gently) once the stick has stopped moving.

 

[shawn110975]

well if you miss the engagment point and shift you could grind gears and that over tiem woulf be a money issue.

push to floor to be safe in my opinion

 

[KSXNSX]

Push it to the floor.

BTW: Depressing the clutch means to push the pedal down (not let it up).

 

[heySkippy]

I press it to the floor.

What I didn't realize until I got a new clutch last month is that I had developed a habit of beginning to release the clutch before I was all the way into 2nd gear. The engagement point for the new clutch is a lot closer to to the floor and the first couple days I ground 2nd gear a few times.

 

[Peace Frog]

I--like most other people--don't really think about it, it's an involuntary action. I do not always go to the floor/stop, but just above it. Sometimes all the way down.

Somewhat on-and-off topic---
I also do not hold the clutch for more than 8-10 seconds, or do the whole "keep-yourself-from-rolling" by keeping it in gear and riding the clutch constantly until traffic moves. I do not care about the extra wear done to the clutch/flywheel or throwout bearing, my primary concern is to the main thrust bearing in the engine, which can be worn severely or completely through and actually do serious damage to your crankshaft and/or cylinder block if you make it a long time habit. Although rare, I did see a piece of crap Chrysler block out of some 20 year old car to which had a damaged-beyond-repair block and crankshaft due to this exact situation.

 

[myhui]

The thrust bearing is under load whenever the clutch is engaged ( squeezed together ).

Hence just highway driving with no shifting also wears out the thrust bearing.