I am just curious what it would actually take to red-line the Fit. Is that something a newb could do?

hehe

 

keep foot on accelerator long enough, i redlined by accident the other day in the auto in paddles. Go absent mindedness!

 

Redlining just means to hold a gear allll the way until you hit 6500 rpm. Its one of those "just do it" things. Careful of the rev limiter, though, it hits around 6750-7000 and can be very unnerving.

 

Keep in mind the rev limiter only works for upshifts -- down shift to too low of a gear and you can over-rev and damage the engine. Not cheap to fix.

 

Anybody can red line any car, FLOOR IT!

 

lol kind of a weird question of course anyone can redline hte fit, just don'tshift out of gear while flooring it

 

So.. I don't EVER kill my car... or have a burnout when I take off in my Fit, but the takeoff is some rough stuff. I cannot seem to get a smooth start consistently

I've tried different ways of letting off my clutch and I either let off too fast or push too much gas, and I still get going rough. I have tried letting off the clutch very slowly... but it seems like it takes forever to let it completely out. I do manage to get a smooth start that way. I just get nervous when I'm on the busy roads with a bunch of redlights and people are sitting behind me wondering what I'm doing when I'm slowly letting off my clutch! haha I also can't seem to get a smooth shift from 1st to 2nd. Occasionally, I do manage to pull off a smooth start and a smooth 1st to 2nd, but I don't really pay that much attention to how I pull them off.

I think I might just need to sit in it one day and practice on my takeoff to make it a bit smoother.

I'm guessing it is just my technique and I need to work on it some more.

 

Well, it seemed that you've solved your problem right there. It just needs practice. We all went through it.

 

Yup, just keep practicing.
One tip - it's better to let the clutch out too fast and kill the engine rather than letting the clutch out too slowly. Yes, I know it's embarrasing, but don't worry about it - you're still getting used to the car.

If you consistantly let the clutch out real slowly and rev the engine while it's partially engaged, your clutch will wear out fairly quickly. It's nothing to panic about, just keep it in mind when you're practicing......

 

yup its all in practice, let off your clutch slowly to find the point to where it engages.. and then you kno where you have to push on some gas

 

the way i did i learned was to rev the engine to 2000 rpm and let the clutdh out as fast as i could without stalling the car

 

Agreed, practice makes perfect!
I started driving manual about 10 years ago, my first car was a beat up BMW 320i... with shift gates that felt more like a wet noodle! lol, reverse and 1st were in the same spot depending on the linkage It took me about 6 months to get to a point where I shifted smoothly. Moral; just practice!

My shifts are pretty much seemless in the Fit, well at least when I want them to be. Nice to be able to go from grandma smooth mode to performance mode whenever you want.

 

My advice is to let go of the clutch until you start feeling the car NEED gas and then just add a little gas and then slowly let go of the rest of the clutch. Do this VERY SLOWLY so you understand the engagement point. That's the key.

 

you just need more practice, the thing i tell people when i teach them how to drive stick shift is, find the point where the clutch starts to grab, once you find it, you are set.

 

Yeah because once you get it, youll realize how smooth this little car can be...

 

This is the first MT vehcle I have owned, and I have very little experience with stick shifters. However, I test drove a Fit with the MT yesterday, and had few problems shifting soothly, most of the time. I had problems starting and getting into 2nd, but I'm sure some practice will make things smoother. Overall, the transmission gets though the gears pretty easily. Biggest problem I had is the fact that "R" in the Fit is in the same place as "6" in the last car I drove. I got some grinding action when I forgot that the Fit only has 5 gears.

 

I will try letting out to feel the engagement point; maybe that's where I'm going wrong

I just get uncomfortable when I'm in traffic. I feel rushed to get going ASAP! And when I do that, I usually lug the poor baby

Sometimes when I let the clutch out, I hear the clattering noise, which means I've let it out too far.... so I'll work on it.

Thank you all for being so patient listening to my stories and worries! lol

 

Is there a warning light when the clutch wears out? I'm having trouble shifting into second gear sometimes without the clutch slipping. I let out the clutch slowly at first until it catches, but it still keeps slipping after I let it out all the way. To get better shifts I wait longer for the revs to slow down until I let the clutch out again. I think I know why it slips, but I would like to hear what you guys think.

 

Hmmm, If you clutch is slipping when you are fully engauged, first check your fluid levels and clutch master/slave cylinders for leaks. If no problem with those you probably will want to look into replacing both the pressure plate & the clutch plate. If you are doing it yourself there are usually kits availiable through autopart stores that have all the new seals and bearings in it too.