If you have never driven a manual car before, you may not even know what a clutch is. But, if you do drive a stick, you may have forgotten you even have one, because it becomes second nature. While many know how to drive a stick shift, few actually know what happens when the clutch pedal is engaged and disengaged. So lets take a look at what actually happens when you shift gears.
Friction is the main idea behind the whole process. In the clutch, there is a flywheel with teeth on it that connects to the engine and a clutch plate that connects to the transmission. Now after driving along your RPM's (Revolutions Per Minute) reach about 3,000 and it's time to shift. As of now with your foot off the clutch pedal, the pressure plate pushes the clutch plate against the the flywheel by springs. The clutch plate and flywheel are now spinning at the same speed and transmitting force to the wheels. When you push in the clutch pedal to shift gears, the springs pull back the pressure plate and the clutch plate, leaving the flywheel spinning at the same speed and the clutch plate slowing. Now you must move to a higher gear if accelerating or a lower gear if decelerating. Once in the correct gear, quickly press the accelerator slightly and let the clutch pedal out at the same time. If you matched the RPM's correctly, it should make for a smooth shift with little wear on the clutch plate.
It can be hard to learn to drive a stick, but if you know what is actually going on when you push and let off of the clutch it may just make it easier.
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4 comments:
It would help if you explain what some of these pieces of equipment are; you seem to assume that every reader will know what you’re talking about when you speak of the “clutch plate,” “pressure plate,” and these enigmatic “springs.” What do they look like? What shape? What size? Where are they exactly in relation to the other objects? We know that the clutch plate, for example, “connects to the transmission.” That’s a helpful piece of information. But where is the clutch plate in comparison to the flywheel, or the engine, or the pressure plate? Do they interact at all, and if so, how? By what process do the clutch plate and flywheel “transmit force to the wheels”?
In short, I’m asking you to explain the process so that someone like me, who is virtually clueless about cars, knows what you’re talking about.
By the way, it’s just “RPM,” not “RPM’s.” As you wrote, it stands for “revolutions per minute” – as you can see, it’s already plural and does need the added “s.”
I enjoyed your blog because I drive a stick shift and I understood a lot of what you were saying and could relate to it. I do agree with Samantha however that many who are not familiar with car parts or driving a stick shift, would probably be confused.
I knew absolutely nothing about a stick shift until after reading your blog. There were a lot of strong informational points all through it. I was very interested in everything you mentioned. It was pretty descriptive too which helped me learn and understand about it. Nice work this week. :)
Ry,
You and I both know that I know nothing about cars. So for me to read your blog and learn something, I am very glad that you wrote about this. It helped me to learn more. It was descriptive and well written. Good job!
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