please define "riding the clutch"
 

Can someone please define what it means to "ride the clutch"? I am finally starting to get use to my manual transmission and I want to make sure I'm not doing anything wrong to the clutch. I asked some friends and I got different answers.

Basically, once you have shifted gears, LET GO of the clutch pedal...if you partially hold it in (riding the clutch), you will wear it out faster and might also damage your throw-out bearing...read: mucho $$$$ to repair/replace.

What if I was in a small parking lot space and I was reversing or moving forward without gasing it? I usually just let the car roll by itself when it meets that special spot in the clutch without ever gasing it.

Anytime you don't need to use the gas pedal when releasing the clutch, don't. It helps save wear imo. Remember you are only using the gas pedal to get the car going in first gear. A lot of times you don't need to give it gas then. It just depends whether you are on an incline or want to take off a little faster. After first, you never need to give it gas, it's only to smooth the engagement of the clutch.

IMO, in that situation (called creeping) it is okay to do it, since the actual speed is so low that it will not cause damage to your clutch or bearing...this is especially helpful to do when stuck in slow moving traffic, where you might be moving at a constant but slow pace. Then you don't even need the brakes, as the engine itself will provide braking by simply easing out of the gas.

I've done this on previous cars and I do not believe it has ever contributed to faster wear on the clutch..then again, I usually swap clutches before needed...

So it's mainly just holding down the clutch and then gasing the car to a high rpm that is bad?

No, as long as the clutch is all the way in it's completely disengaged; you can rev the engine as high as you want. "Riding" the clutch is where you have it halfway in and halfway out. In this position it's not making full contact, nor is it completely disengaged, which means it's probably slipping. That will wear your clutch out faster. Just don't let your foot rest on the clutch pedal and you'll be fine. [IMG]i/expressions/face-icon-small-smile.gif[/IMG]

Hey WD40, sorry about your car, man...that really bites. Were the peeps who did it ever caught?