Juice925

So far I am having a blast with this car. Im a little bit nervous at the same time since it is my first manual car. I will post pics in a bit but for now i had a couple of questions i was hoping you guys could answer

1. I stalled the car about three times so far is that bad?

2. How bad is stalling for the car?

3. When i parked it in the garage after having gotten home from the dealership it smelled significantly like burnt rubber. Is that normal?

4. Everytime I upshift/downshift the car jerks a little bit, what can be done to avoid this?

I am looking foward to your guys's respnse and i'm glad to be a part of the community!

jdepould

iTrader: (2)

Stalling really isn't that bad, it happens. The burning smell could be your clutch, since this is your first manual, which would be a bad/expensive thing that you might have trouble getting warranty coverage on. Assuming you aren't beating on the car since it's still under brake in, that would rule out brakes and tires . . .

Wingless Wonder

iTrader: (7)

You are burning up your clutch disc because you don't know how to drive a manual transmission car. No real harm except that the clutch will have a much shorter working life and need replacement much sooner. Replacement will not be covered under warranty as the clutch is a normal wear item.

Rather than try to give you driving lessons over the internet, I will say that if you are both stalling the engine occasionally and also smelling burnt clutch material after driving the car, you haven't found the right amount of clutch 'slip'. Moving the car from a dead stop is a balancing act of slipping the clutch just the right amount for the given conditions (level ground or parked on an incline) so that you let up on the clutch pedal while simultaneously applying throttle.

Too much throttle or releasing the clutch too slowly and you burn the clutch disc material because there is a rapid heat buildup. Too little throttle or letting up on the clutch too quickly from a standstill results in stalling the engine.

I would find a nice big empty parking lot to practice so you don't have the added distraction of traffic.

Your Owner's Manual may have some additional driving tips that you may find useful.

Sinister Subaru

I've been driving manual for nearly 4 years and my STi always ends up with "clutch stink." I think this is a common problem with STis, but I'm not sure about WRXs. I've heard of a lot of people experiencing this with STis.....

meilers

Look, before you wreck the drivetrain of a brand-new performance car, go to Enterprise and rent the cheapest manual shift car you can. Take that beater out and drive it for six straight hours, in all conditions. Especially practice stopping and resuming while on a hill (using both parking brake to hold position and foot brake) and downshifting as an alternative to braking when in corners and during minor speed changes. Drive with the radio off and spend a lot of time listening to the engine and drivetrain and how it behaves under different conditions.

Slight "jerking" on downshifts is very difficult to avoid with the WRX or any AWD car; you are shunting power through three differentials, so almost any rapid change in RPM is going to cause driveline shock. To minimize this you need to learn "revmatching." As you put in the clutch to downshift, also apply a very small amount of throttle. Once you are in neutral, the RPMs of the engine will rise very rapidly (which is why you use VERY LITTLE throttle); if you time the downshift right, you will match the speed of the drivetrain to the final RPM of the gear you're downshifting into. You'll know you've got it right when there is minimal driveline shock but also when you don't hear that bbrrrWWEEEEEE sound and see the tachometer needle jerk. Good revmatching means the tach sweeps smoothly up to the new RPM rather than jumping all over. Again, drive with the radio off and try to treat every minute you're in the car as a learning experience.

Juice925

but the thing is I know how to drive a manuial car wich is why the smell is awkward for me. i only stalled it three times on the way home from the dealership but if i could make it home, then i must be doing something right, right?

HomerJay

iTrader: (3)

The smell is most likely dressing they put on the engine for new cars burning off. It's so it looks shiny when you lift the hood. Should go away.

meilers

If you stalled the car, you don't know how to drive a stick yet.

pwn

iTrader: (10)

Also keep in mind, new cars smell. Its not necessarily his driving that is causing it. New clutch does smell no matter what for a little bit. My car did have a smell for a short while after I got it, like when I parked it in the garage you could slightly smell it. No need to jump all over him, you don't know its user error. However, their suggestions none the less are good ones to keep in mind .

Wingless Wonder

iTrader: (7)

If you come to Hammy this year, I can tell you if the smell is your clutch burning. It is unlike anything else in your car that might give off an odor.

EDIT: Brake pad material can have a similar odor but that's easy to localize as you walk around the car.

-j-

iTrader: (2)

Someone give him some lessons before it's too late. Go to one of the meets and meet someone that knows how to use a manual transmission. Shouldn't take more than 5 minutes.

Don't worry about the rev matching & double clutching stuff for now. Just learn to be smoother first then go to the next stage.

[W5]IntoTheWRX

iTrader: (3)

like what -j- said.. dont worry about down shifting, rev matching, etc. thats for later on.
like what meilers said.. turn off the radio and try to concentrate on your timing of your pedals and listen to the engine.
practice on a flat open area so you can take your time. the main thing is to first learn the clutch's cathching point. go from a dead stop to moving along like 10 miles per hour. go back to a dead stop and do that like 100 times. if your giving too much gas (your rpm is like at 3000) dont drop the clutch in or else your gonna burn the clutch even more. the smell is most likely from your clutch burning.

SubyN00by

iTrader: (15)

ALSO

we're getting a clutch done under warranty, under 36k miles, you get one new disc and one new plate and labor under warranty, but no mods at all!

jdepould

iTrader: (2)

You've very lucky, they are technically obligated to cover wear items that wear at an abnormal rate, but it's so difficult to actually get them to cover it.

SubyN00by

iTrader: (15)

my service tech made the call to the warranty center and said (STI, 32k miles, clutch slipping...ok). Then he said bring it back before 36 and they'd do it, disc and plate and that's it.