"feathering" the clutch
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From: McAlester, OK
"feathering" the clutch
Ok, I let one of my friends dirve my car the other day for the fun of it. Well she gets in and every time she took off I heard the engine rev up and down, up and down. I asked her what she was doing and she told me that the guy who taught her told her to do that, and that he also used the words "to feather the clutch." This guy is pretty smart but I think he isn't quite all there yet.
So what is the deal with that? I have never heard of that before. Has anyone else heard of that method? Her accelerator was really stiff so I was thinking that that may be a method to keep from dying or spinning the wheels.
Clayton
So what is the deal with that? I have never heard of that before. Has anyone else heard of that method? Her accelerator was really stiff so I was thinking that that may be a method to keep from dying or spinning the wheels.
Clayton
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From: Annapolis, Maryland
AFAIK, "feathering the clutch" is when you're doing the balancing act (like when you're holding the car on a hill). If she drove something like a Volkswagen jetta, they seem to have real stiff clutches, so you see a lot of VW drivers doing it.
In reality, you're rubbing the clutch plate against the flywheel instead of locking it up, which causes premature wear (same idea as brake pads rubbing on the rotors).
The damage occurs over many many miles, so I wouldn't worry about it. There's much more damaging things you could be doing to it.
If that's the way she drives, she has a much better chance of trashing the clutch than most people do.
XXL
In reality, you're rubbing the clutch plate against the flywheel instead of locking it up, which causes premature wear (same idea as brake pads rubbing on the rotors).
The damage occurs over many many miles, so I wouldn't worry about it. There's much more damaging things you could be doing to it.
If that's the way she drives, she has a much better chance of trashing the clutch than most people do.
XXL
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From: Fairbanks Alaska
When you smell or even worse, see smoke thats really bad. On my diesel no throttle is needed so very little wear. My 150 though needs some pedal to match the clutch otherwise it will take a year to get going.
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From: Black Hills of SD
The worst one I ever drove was my buddys 62 vette. It was the 340 horse 327 with 3:23 gears. If you never drove it before you would kill it 3 or 4 times before getting the feel. You had to really slide the clutch on that car to get it moving.
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From: McAlester, OK
Ahh, I get what your saying about the actual term "feathering," Sorry, I don't think I was clear though. She was pressing the gas petal in and out until the thing caught on and started rolling.
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Sounds like she couldn't do the balancing act of keeping the engines RPM's up a bit while releasing the clutch. Reving the engine high and letting it almost stall then reving high is no way to drive a stick....
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From: McAlester, OK
She wasn't reving high, it was just a clean slight waver, probribly couln't even tell if you were outside the car. Just a slight tapping on the gas. In fact I can't even tell that she's doing it in her own car, I'm just so sensative to mine.
She said that's the way she was taught. And as I said the guy who taught her isn't all there in some places. He knows more than the average guy about alot of stuff but there are somethings that I question where he got the ideas for them from. For instance, while we were packing for a camping trip I asked him if he had an axe or something for firewood, the genus brings out a hack saw and claims that it will work great, yet he has made a coffee table that is one fine looking table.
She said that's the way she was taught. And as I said the guy who taught her isn't all there in some places. He knows more than the average guy about alot of stuff but there are somethings that I question where he got the ideas for them from. For instance, while we were packing for a camping trip I asked him if he had an axe or something for firewood, the genus brings out a hack saw and claims that it will work great, yet he has made a coffee table that is one fine looking table.
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From: clementsport canada
sounds like she drive's a 4 banger. most of my friends who drive small cars seem to do that..... kinda funny seeing them do it in a 20,000lbs fire truck....
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Post Fiend
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From: Black Hills of SD
When I worked at a Toyota dealership we would occasionally have someone buy their duaghter a new tercel and we would have it back by the end of the day with the clutch smoked. And it wasn't covered by warranty, I wonder why. lol
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From: torrington,ct
i tend to do that with my ranger cause with 31's and not that much low end tourqe you really have to work it escpeccially towing my trailer, 1800 pounds, it doesnt like hills, but once ya get it moving she dont even feel it.
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