prynce_qt

Howdy,

I recently bought a 2004 A4 1.8T Quattro. I've driven manual cars before, owned one for a year prior to this car a few years back. Now I'm back with another manual and still getting a feel for this car. I'm not sure if it's me, the car or both but I'm not feeling very confident driving it. This may be a general, how do I drive manual or tips on driving an Audi.

1. In traffic going between 5-15km/h, driving in first gear is very jerky letting go of the gas completely and then pressing the gas again and off again without hitting the brake. I'm not doing anything with the clutch, just simple on and off the gas. In gear 2 I don't get the jerk but if I need to step on the gas for a quick lift off, I don't get any pull in gear 2. Should I always be slipping the clutch in gear 1 within this speed. I'm not slow enough to stall the car.

2a. I'm having trouble taking off at a stand still. I can get the car going no problem. But I can't get the clutch to bite quickly without slipping the clutch at 1.8k-2k rpm before it fully engages. And while doing that, my rpm doesn't drop it just sits at that rpm until it engages. If I do less slipping and let the clutch out sooner around this rpm, the car bogs for a sec before it picks up quickly. What should I be doing to fully engage the car quickly for every day driving.

2b. In first gear from a stand still, when I'm taking off, I put a little bit of throttle and slowly let off the clutch and while putting more throttle I'm letting off the clutch more. As I'm doing this at the very end before fully letting off the clutch I hold it in until I feel it fully engage before I completely let it off. If I don't do that, the car bogs a bit. If I'm taking off at a higher rpm then I'm just slipping more. I want to be fully engaged in first gear as any other gear where I just hit the clutch in, shift, clutch out and gas at the same time and not have to hold the clutch in at the very end for so long.

3. Heel and toe is almost impossible in this car, the gas pedal is so deep in, small, highly mounted and so close to the edge that my heel of my shoe can't get there. Instead I hold the brake on the far right side and hit the gas with my outter right side of my toe.

4. When I shift gear at high rpm around 3-4k rpm, I can't seem to get a smooth shift quickly. I seem to have to wait a second before letting off the clutch because it doesn't seem the rpm drops fast enough to be where the next gear wants to be.

5. Even when I'm trying to drive conservatively when shifting gears around 2.7-3k rpm, I seem to make bobble heads out of all my passengers. When I'm taking off everyone gets pulled back to their seat like any other car, but once I left off the gas their heads move forward until I hit the gas again and send them back to their seats. It's not a violent bobble, but it's not like driving an auto. When I'm driving an auto, when the car shift my passengers don't do that.

6. In traffic, is it OK to use the clutch to move the car and let it fully engage without any throttle? If I need to move quickly I obviously use the throttle. Same thing for hills, is it OK to let the clutch hold me up for a bit while I go from brake to throttle so I don't need to use the hand brake? Any traffic tips would be helpful.

7. When I press the clutch in to shift gears, I usually just press the clutch a little past the point where I'm able to shift my gear in. Should I fully press the clutch in and then shift? Maybe I'm shifting trying to shift too fast?


Basically at the end of the day, I want to drive my car as smooth as an auto but the fun of a manual. Maybe I just need manual driving school. I'm good enough to drive the car everyday without any issues or stalling. I just want to know the proper and best way to drive a manual.

Thanks for the tips and long read.

Just_G

the best tip is: keep practicing. I find that my audi transmission is awesome and the clutch works like a charm. Therefore, either your clutch is messed, or you need more practice.

They are jerky in 1st gear when you release the pedal and press it again because of the torque, i know thats the case with my 3.0.

You seem to know the theory, now you need to log in some hours and you will get the finesse.

prynce_qt

If it's jerky in gear 1, how do you handle driving in 1st gear?

Just_G

by playing around with the clutch....if you downshift to 1st bring the RPM's up before you shift into the gear while the clutch is engaged...

nemohm

prynce_qt,

Have you driven other Audis with MT?

I'd suggest you have some base for comparison before decide what to do with the car.

a4audi4fun

prynce_qt,

My 2c worth; I drive a manual 2.0T and a manual 3.0 - depress the clutch the whole way when changing gears. Only time I'd even think about short clutching would be during a 1/4 mile run which for me means never (I'm not into drag racing). In traffic leave a slightly larger gap to the vehicle in front and treat the throttle as if there was an egg on it. Many times in traffic I can drive in 1st or 2nd, clutch engaged, no throttle and seldom need to touch the brake since we're going so slow anyway.

As others have said practice; in fact I'd suggest practice slow speed stopping and starting in an empty parking lot. You'll really learn how your car behaves with no worry at all about sudden stops to avoid the vehicle in front.

Have fun... our cars are SO much fun to drive.