Hey guys, so this is my first manual car and I just have a quick question. When I put the car into first or second you can hear it "thump" pretty loudly. It's also gotten harder to put into gear. It feels like there is more resistance when I put it to first.
Is this normal on a manual? The car is about a week old with less than 500 miles on it. Maybe its just breaking in?

hrmm ...

you only put it into 1st year when you're at a complete stop, right?

The tC has a fantastically easy gearbox. It should be real simple to move in and out of gears, moving or at a stop. The only gear that might give you resistance would be first gear and that's only because if you are doing 60mph and you try to down-shift to 1st you would destroy the car so it doesn't allow it until you slow down.

Have you taken time to learn the clutch engagement point?

no it should be very easy,theres no break in period for the gear box only the motor itself
remeber only go into first when at a dead stop........it doesnt sound like your too familar with a manual since its your 1st........just sit somewhere with the car off and run it through the gears see how it is if its smooth then its fine

Yes and no.... it won't let you downshift in higher speed but its more like : if u do 40-50 u can't put it back to 2nd gear.. around 30 u can't put it back to 1st gear.rev matching should help u out tho

What RPM's are you shift on.. and are you letting the clutch in smooth or are you just releasing it and letting it smash in?

Its my first manual car but i have driven manuals before. I only shift to first at a complete stop, and when I slow down at a light or stop sign i put it into neutral. I upshift at around 3000 RPM when normal, and during a bit faster acceleration around 4000. If I need to downshift I usually do it around 1500 RPM. Yes I release the clutch really slowly and get it to be smooth. The only thing I can think of, is when starting from a stop in first, i start to release clutch pedal and start to give it gas just a small bit before the clutch starts to disengage, but thats because sometimes im on a hill and I dont want to roll back too much. Is that bad for it?

Hey guys, so this is my first manual car and I just have a quick question. When I put the car into first or second you can hear it "thump" pretty loudly. It's also gotten harder to put into gear. It feels like there is more resistance when I put it to first.
Is this normal on a manual? The car is about a week old with less than 500 miles on it. Maybe its just breaking in?

if you have concerns and the car only has 500 miles. take it back to the dealership and demonstrate the issue. at that low of mileage and within a certain time period they are obliged to fix or replace anything defective, even if its something like a scratched door panel to a faulty transmission.

and if that doesn't work, certain states have lemon laws you can fall back on, and epa (environmental protection agency) laws you can use to your benefit.

for example most of the standard warranties that car manufacturers "offer" are actually government imposed statutes that keep car manufacturers honest and broken cars off of the road. some manufacturers just extend that imposed warranty a little further and make it so they look like they are ahead of the curve......

just take care of this before it has to come out of your pocket.

anyways hope it helps.

and if that doesn't help learn to blip your clutch. or look up double clutching.

Its my first manual car but i have driven manuals before. I only shift to first at a complete stop, and when I slow down at a light or stop sign i put it into neutral. I upshift at around 3000 RPM when normal, and during a bit faster acceleration around 4000. If I need to downshift I usually do it around 1500 RPM. Yes I release the clutch really slowly and get it to be smooth. The only thing I can think of, is when starting from a stop in first, i start to release clutch pedal and start to give it gas just a small bit before the clutch starts to disengage, but thats because sometimes im on a hill and I dont want to roll back too much. Is that bad for it?


well it sounds like you know what your doing as you mentioned you drove a stick before,but this is the first one you owned,but since it has low miles on it,i would take it back to the dealer and like another member mention show them what your experiencing and see what they say,cause it should go into gears very smooth with no force,

if you're downshifting lets say in 3rd gear and you wanna downshift to 2nd it's better for your car if you rev match.

meaning while in 3rd gear you slam down the clutch rev up your RPMs, drop it into 2nd so the RPMs match with what 2nd gear is bringing on if you know what i mean.

my car sometimes feels a little hard to get into gear i thought maybe i just needed to replace my tranny fluid. when my car is cold its even harder to get into gear

my car sometimes feels a little hard to get into gear i thought maybe i just needed to replace my tranny fluid. when my car is cold its even harder to get into gear
I just learned about this in school, but I can't for the life of me remember what it means haha

Okay, my book says
1. Clutch adjustment incorrect
2. Clutch linkage binding
3. Shift rail binding
4. Internal bind in transmission/transaxle caused by shift forks, selector plates, or synchronizer assemblies
5. Clutch housing misalignment
6. Incorrect lubricant (too think of a lube it says on a later page)

lol i appreciate the response to bad i have know idea how to look or adjust any of those lol

do not adjust any of those if you just bought the car................

are you having a problem when you shift up? or just shift down?

if both then something wrong. if shifts up fine and wont let u do it down shift then you doing it wrong. you cant shift back to 2nd and 1st gear whenever you want.. synchro wont let you do that.

thump is you dropping the clutch and harder to grab is you burning up the clutch

its usually only going into first at a stand still sometimes feels like a bind i guess..im gonna do a oil change here soon and also gonna change my tranny fluid