Clutching in and speed bumps

[StickIt]

I've been trying to figure out why this is necessary and found some old threads on this but there didn't seem to be a consensus. In the FAQ post on this I am a little confused about step 5 there. If you are still going fast enough to get back into 2nd gear, then why did you need to clutch in in the first place?

[jomotopia]

b/c you may or may not slow down to below a good speed for 2nd depending on the harshness of the speed bump, and also b/c usually if there are speed bumps, there may also be pedestrian traffic for which you might have to slow down more or stop. sometimes i don't clutch in going over speed bumps, but a couple of times i have gone over them in 2nd, not clutched in, and ended up slowing down so much that i stalled half way over the bump.

remember, you can't really apply one piece of advice to 100% of driving situations. there are many variables that can affect how you go over a given speed bump such as the car, the grade, the speed, the harshness of the bump, pedestrian or other vehicular traffic, etc. also with driving a manual, there is usually more than one way to do things.

[SonyAD]

I always clutch in for them. It's either that or go too fast over it which is rather unpleasant, prolly for the suspension as well, or go too slow, on the verge of idle in second, which I am loath to do.

[hockeystyx16]

downshift to 1st. my springs are brutally stiff and i have no problems speed bumping in low 2nd, about 3-4 mph

[Prodigal Son]

There are two kinds of speed bumps. There are the slow-down-and-ride-over speed bumps and the stop-and-climb speed bumps. Whether a particular speed bump is slow-down-and-ride-over or stop-and-climb depends on your car. What is slow-down-and-ride-over for as SUV might be stop-and-climb for a sports car.

For slow-down-and-ride-over, there is no purpose in clutching in. If the slow down part require downshifting, I would suggest that that should be completed before riding over the bump, then ride over in gear with the clutch engaged.

Stop-and-climb obviously require you to clutch in for the stop part. However, coming to a complete stop at the foot of the bump and then launching over it can be quite hard on the clutch. In those cases, my preference would be to put the clutch in an carry just enough speed that when you hit the bump, you ride up it slightly. Then engage the clutch in first before you start to roll back down the bump, and climb the rest of the way over. That is much easier on the clutch.

[SonyAD]

"Much easier on the clutch"? You make it sound like 24/7 drag racing. I don't like climbing sidewalks, that's for SUVs to do, yet that's clearly a piece of cake for my clutch. Even if you don't have a torquey engine or over-rev because you're afraid you'll stall.

The approach I like best is clutching in a little before the bump and using the brakes to slow down to just enough to pass over the bump with inertia alone then shift to/remain in first or shortly slip the clutch with a little throttle in second to get back up to speed without lugging.

What does a stop-and-climb speed bump look like?

[watkins]

What does a stop-and-climb speed bump look like?

Whether a particular speed bump is slow-down-and-ride-over or stop-and-climb depends on your car.

[SonyAD]

Still unclear. I stop before climbing the curb, that's about it.

[StickIt]

The reason I asked the question is because the condos where I live have a number of speed bumps on the property that I have to go over all the time. If I know I can go over them engaged in 2nd gear then I didn't understand why I would need to clutch in.

The second thing that confused me is that if you are in 2nd and you clutch in because you are going to slow down too much and will stall, how is it then possible to remain in 2nd and reengage the clutch without stalling? The only way I guess this can make sense is that you have to add throttle before even reaching the friction point in this case? I tried clutching in and coasting over in 2nd a few times but when I reengaged the clutch I didn't add throttle until after reaching the friction point and didn't stall.

[jomotopia]

^^ if you're going just slightly too slow for 2nd but want to keep going in 2nd, then yes you would add some throttle and do basically a rolling 2nd gear launch.

[phantomD]

Know your car. I haven't yet met a speed bump that I couldn't get over in second gear. Know at which point your car will stall and only clutch in and downshift if you can't get over it.

[watkins]

Still unclear. I stop before climbing the curb, that's about it.

It looks like whatever speedbump is too big to just roll over without scraping something on the rebound

[watkins]

Know your car. I haven't yet met a speed bump that I couldn't get over in second gear. Know at which point your car will stall and only clutch in and downshift if you can't get over it.

+1
Except for one speedbump at my girlfriends house. Its either crawl over it and shift to first, which I need to do mere seconds later to make it up a bit of a hill before I reverse into my semi-reserved parking space, or smack down hard on top of something.

[tehfade]

Speed bumps are my enemy in the GTO...if I don't slow down to a crawl, I'll bruise a kidney on them.

Reminds me of a good story though. One of my friends back in HS used to drive a 1972 Buick Centurion 455 convertible--the very definition of the term "land yacht". On one memorable occasion, I saw that car take SIX big speedbumps in a row at about 50 mph without complaint.

[gizmo]

Sorry to digress but that dog is just great!