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Is it just me, or is the 7th gen one of the harder cars to shift/start smoothly. I've driven many different cars: all ranges of audis (new and old, a4's to rs4s), porsches, various bmw's, etc... and I got used to shifting smoothly after a few red lights.

I've put 1k miles on my es1 already and I still can't get the hang of this clutch. I have to be very "slow" on the clutch or the engine/car jerks.

One of the motor mounts was replaced by the dealership, and I'm assuming the others were fine if they didn't replace it.

 
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Audi's and BMW's have alot more power and torque. Ive Driven an SLK350, Jetta TDI and an RX-8, all much easier cars to drive due to more power. The TDI was the easiest. Just keep driving it, your'll get the hang of it. Our require a little more play with the clutch but i find it the most rewarding of all those cars. It really is a blast to drive.

 
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I see several issues with your post. First off, all the cars you listed are luxury cars that are several times the price of your civic, they arent exactly in the same category. The civic is an economy car. You cant have everything for a cheap price.

That being said, how many miles is on your car? Maybe there is something wrong with your car as it sits- why did the mount need to be replaced? The stiffer the mounts the more jerky the starts are. I have an ETD on mine and its a lot rougher on starts from a stand still but shifts better at higher RPMs. Maybe one is installed on your car, or you have aftermarket mounts installed

Just give it a little more gas and ease up on the pedal a little slower, dont just slam it in gear and jump off the pedal.

You can make several changes to your shifting...
1) Change tranny/clutch fluid
2) Aluminum shifter bushings for the base and the tranny link (these are pretty nice)
3) Aftermarket short shifter like the Revo that has been properly greased
4) Stainless steel clutch lines (I havent done this one yet)
5) Replace clutch with something that holds better (Havent done this either- havent needed it)

 
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Nonsense. FWD Hondas have the best and smoothest shifting in the business. I've also driven some of the different premium European and Asian makes, and I feel that the shifter in my EM2 is one of my favourites.

 
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the actual shifter is smooth, i'm talking about the feel of the car between shifts. my last car was a mk3 vw jetta, and that car was much easier to shift smoothly and you could get off the clutch faster. the civic makes me feel like i'm "riding" the clutch.

its a 2003 lx, 106k miles, dealership replaced the motor mount.. i'm assuming because it was cracked.

edit -

specs on my jetta: stiff racing motor mounts, short ratio gearing, lightweight flywheel, sachs sport clutch kit. manual adjust clutch cable.

 
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i see what brokedown is saying...

when i'd shift my friends 95 civic coupe it was seriously the easiest shifting in the world...the spacing between gears was perfect and easy to understand.

i then drove my friends 05 vw jetta turbo 1.8 and i probably destroyed that clutch more than anything but the shifts were extremely short...you barely had to tap ur foot to engage the clutch before it caught the gear and the only way you knew when to shift because the powerband was so smooth was by looking at the tach.

like they said changing from german innovation to japanese ingenuity is 2 different worlds and their style and perception of cars are completely different. it will take alot to get used to especially when changing from 2 different cars like that. you'll get it though

get a stage 3 exedy clutch if u really wanna feel ur shifts lol

 
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Sounds like your clutch is slipping an needs to be replaced- might as well change the flywheel to something lighter so you accelerate faster too.

 
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Yes, that's exactly it. The higher the pedal stroke is before the car starts rolling, the more the clutch is worn. It sounds as if you'll be needing a new clutch in the near future.

 
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lol @ my clutch slipping, and the pedal stroke before the clutch engages isn't much.

where did either of you even gather that from?

 
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i understand what hes saying tho, the clutch is sensitive in 1st, 2nd, and 3rd gears- just another example of how it wasnt made raced, but to conserve fuel

 
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I did a bit of research, and apparently on our cars we cannot rely on pedal travel as a sign of a worn clutch anymore. Supposedly it is 'self-adjusting'. Does anyone else have any knowledge regarding this matter?

 
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exactly

i didn't know that, but either way I have no idea how you and the other guy gathered that my clutch was slipping. if you let out a clutch too fast on ANY car, you'll get a little lurch/jerk from the engine/tranny ... in the civic it's much easier to have this happen and "too fast" is slower than any other car i've driven.

 
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Yes, our clutchs are self adjusting. So sometimes our engagment point may shift slightly. Ive noticed this a few times.

 
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Yeah, I've noticed my clutch engagement point has changed before, sometimes it feels as if it is almost different from a stop than through the rest of the gears...idk, maybe I'm making that up in my head, but whatever

 
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I can kind of agree.

A lot of the time I get the jerking when I switch from 1st to second.. no matter how smoothly I make the switch, I almost always get a small jerking feeling, where as with the other gears, you can hardly feel the switch.

My 02 coupe with 250k kms still has the original clutch :x

 
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1st gear for me is extremely sensitive. If I dont pay attention lots of jerking happens. Also, the tire spins easily in the rain. I have a heavy foot, but still, ive driven other cars that dont spin like that. Main reason is the engine revs so damn fast.