Bancho

I disagree. My driving includes hills (some pretty sick ones) of all sorts and my xB never seems to be straining or hunting for a gear. The 4-speed seems really well suited to the motor. If it's just a cost saving measure then I'm really ok with that. The xB is a much less expensive vehicle than a Camry.

The Camry, on the other hand, can weigh as much as 300 lbs more than the xB in its 4cyl guise so I can see the extra gear helping a bit more there.

I have driven both transmissions with this motor (in a Camry and my xB) so this is my own opinion based on personal experience.

SlowRider

Disagree with which post?
-Topic is high clutch engagement on the 5-speed MANUAL STICK-SHIFT transmission.

oni424

actually I started the post not so much about the clutch engagement but the position of the clutch pedal itself. Its damn high

The pedals are set up like this below!
Clutch Brake Gas

__
_____ ___

oni424

I felt like every time I was going to shift I was depressing one of the floow style parking brakes.

Bancho

Sorry about that. I disagree with the golfbiz regarding the 4-spd auto in the xB vs. the 5-spd auto in the Camry.

andrewdustin

yeah, if you look underneath where the clutch pedal is you can see a gold cylinder with a pin to keep it in place. remove the pin and wiggle the cylinder off the pedal and turn it either to the left or right to make the clutch release higher or lower to the floor. if you need pictures let me know.

KevinTxB

yes. pictures are good. would be much appreciated by all the newbies like myself. :-D

DriverXa

I drove a new B with the 5spd n I liked it. What really impressed me was that I had to move the seat up thats how much room it had. Power is awesome, clutch was smooth, and shifting gears felt good. I liked the placement of the shifter in the dash, felt nice. Once I got use to the clutch n that stupid DBW I was fine, and this is the second stick shift car I've driven besides my xA. Best part of my test drive was blasting through the first 2 gears. Grabbing second was a blast, something I wish my lil xA could do.

BozzMan

compared to my xA it was really awkward at first but after about a week I was used to it and now I don't even notice it anymore. I was quite worried at first. The clutch position was really driving me nuts. Now - not even a second thought. It's amazing how many clutches are so different depending on the car.

golfbiz

so true, have had a Mini Cooper S and that clutch was not the greatest, but got used to it, had a Miata and that was both an incredible clutch and transmission, have had 2 BMW's and both had wonderful clutches and tansmissions. Still remember the 69 Dodge Super Bee with the 383 and Hertz 4 on the flour, now that was a tight clutch

flbugboy

Golfbiz that was a Hurst shifter

golfbiz

lol....you're right.... I had just rented a Hertz Edge car last week on vacation and was still on my mind !

Daisygirl

I don't feel that the clutch pedal is that high, compared to other vehicles. I liked the manual so much better than the automatic ( a lot more fun to drive and not as noisy).

k1tz1e

I think the clutch feels like its almost too far away AND too high but its not a major deal to me. It just takes a bit of adjusting to.

I'm almost 6ft tall, so the interior leg space was amazing to me, with the clutch being so far back I kind of have to squish my knees into the square dash to be able to reach it. Had the steering wheel area been designed a bit different I dont think it would matter so much.

Typically I just make sure I wear flat shoes otherwise I'm done for, big heeled shoes make it impossible to get to the clutch.

oni424

Still gotta say, I hope the xD is more impressive, if not, the tC replacement.