Clutching in during speed bumps & turns

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canyonlands
Junior Standardshifter
Posts: 1
Joined: Wed Aug 03, 2016 11:26 am
Cars: Mazda Protege5 2003

Clutching in during speed bumps & turns

Post by canyonlands »

Hello!

I recently learned stick shift and been driving my 2003 Mazda Protege 5 for the past month. I was wondering, when I am going over speed bumps and taking tight corners (eg. compact indoor parking lot, during traffic and taking a Right on a red, etc.) I feel the urge the clutch in (staying at 1st or 2nd) as I'm turning and kind of release it a bit and add some gas when I need to.

I know that riding the clutch is something I shouldn't do, but do you guys clutch in on tight turns or just slowly turn without clutching in? Is it really that harmful to clutch in while turning? I feel like if I don't, I'm going SO SLOW that I will stall the car halfway through the turn.

Also, I'm not familiar with rev matching. When I downshift, say 4th to 3rd, I first clutch in >> switch the stick to 3rd >> step on the gas (prob around 2.5 - 3 rpm) >> basically at the same time, I steadily release the clutch. Is that rev matching? Or is that just downshifting lol?

Any tips for new stick shifters?

Thanks :)
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theholycow
Master Standardshifter
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Joined: Tue Jun 24, 2008 1:36 pm
Cars: '80 Buick LeSabre 4.1 5MT
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Re: Clutching in during speed bumps & turns

Post by theholycow »

It is probably unnecessary to declutch for those turns and speed bumps. Try them without touching the clutch pedal. If the engine growls angrily then, next time, stand on that pedal. If not, don't worry about it. The engine will be fine going down to its idle RPM, or maybe even lower, especially in low gears like first and second.

It won't stall. It will hiccup and cough and buck long before it stalls and you'll stomp that clutch pedal.

Your rev-matching description properly describes a single-clutch rev-match, assuming that 2500-3000 RPM is actually matched (meaning that when you let the clutch pedal up, that same 2500-3000 RPM doesn't jump up or down).
1980 Buick LeSabre 4.1L 5MT

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