Is the way I'm driving incorrect

[dantemcc]

Needing some advice and clarification. I learned to drive manuals over a decade ago and just bought my first car in manual a few days ago. I havent driven a stick in a car in over 6 or 7 years, so obviously I'm a tad bit rusty. I drive a truck for a living so I'm already familiar with manuals, even though driving a stick in a semi is different from a car. I took my car off the lot to my home and noticed I could smell the clutch. Which I only can summize it because I'm riding it. Like i said, I'm rusty. But, here's where i wanted to know if what I'm doing is right or wrong. When I go from a stop to go a go, I lift the clutch up about half way, hold it there while I give it about 1000 rpm and then slowly let out the clutch. Right or wrong? Am I not to hold the pedal while giving it gas, or it it suppose to be one smooth fluid movement? Shifting isnt really an issue and I'm thinking the reason why I'm smelling my clutch is because I'm riding it from a stop to a go for to long.

Any help is good help. Its a brand new car and I dont want to burn out the clutch.

[Rope-Pusher]

Remember - new cars have all sorts of smells during the first few times they come up to temperature and burn oil off the surface of the exhaust system, etc.

I'd recommend going to an empty parking lot and practice no-gas launching - with the engine idling, just let up on the clutch pedal slowly, until the car starts to roll, then pause at that point for maybe 1 second and then continue to let up on the pedal again. Do this a bunch of times and you will become familiar with where the clutch friction point is and get beyond the instinct to let the pedal up in one continuous motion - the pause is important.

After you get good with no-gas launches, then you will be ready to start applying pressure to the accelerator pedal right after the pause - right at the point where you resume letting the pedal come up again. It should be that you so gently press on the accelerator pedal as you let the clutch engage more and more that the engine rpms don't really flare, but they don't dip below idle speed either. As the left foot comes up, the right foot goes down, but you shouldn't mash the accelerator pedal as if you were driving an automatic transmission equipped vehicle - you've got to learn more finesse with your right foot.