Clutch in or out at stoplights?

Contour Enthusiasts Group Archives

Just wanted to know what you guys do while seating at stoplights. Do you sit at a stoplight with the car in gear and the clutch pressed in or do have car out of gear and the clutch pedel up? Which is better? Any opinions?

i just sit with the clutch in, and in gear so i'm ready to go when the light turns green...

there really is no "better" method, it's more of personal preference. i'll sometimes do it the other way too, if i know the light is a longer one.

I spin the wheels until the light turns green.

When I learned to drive, I was taught to keep the clutch pressed in when stopped. However, now I sometimes just take the car out of gear instead, so when I drive I use a combination of the two.

I've heard that keeping the clutch in can be hard on the throwout bearing. However when I'm at a stoplight I usually keep it in until there are a few card behind me.. I've been rear-ended 4 times before, so I'll trade off some possible wear on the TOB to be able to quickly get out of the way!

about 95% of the time im out of gear with the clutch out...

im out of gear to keep the leg rested for those times you never know when some fag ricer will want to get blown away...

its your pref

hasn't there been 1,000,001 posts about this already?

Originally posted by owen_SVT:
about 95% of the time im out of gear with the clutch out...

Same - because usually I coast in neutral to stop. Techically illegal, I believe (coasting in neutral), but old habits die hard.

In a standard vehicle, of course. The Contour's ATX is no fun.

when im at the stoplight i pick my nose

My gosh people..... has it been 3 months already?

You know.. its been a few months since the requisite "windows up or down while driving?" thread has been made... that and
"premium required?"
"rear windows all the way down?"
"two door contour??"
"Convertible SVT?"
"SHO engine in an SVT..."
or
"What's that fan looking light on my dash?"

These posts seem to circle the globe and return, like some poorly written spam message about a kid with cancer, every few months. It won't be long until this topic happens again.

:sigh:

Ray

What's a clutch?

Originally posted by LocoSCZ:
What's a clutch?

Its that thing big boy cars come with...

J/k... Its a third pedal people add on next to the brake, when they get used to driving with only two pedals...

j/k... Think of it kinda like a "sport mode" for an ATX...

Ray

Originally posted by LocoSCZ:
What's a clutch?

yeah really I just leave it in D. lol but no when I am one of the SVT's I live it in.

Originally posted by LocoSCZ:
What's a clutch?

didn'y you respond with that exact same thing in the last post about this?

Clutch out and car in neutral at stop lights. Less wear on the T/O bearing.

Originally posted by SVT3Rivieres:
when im at the stoplight i pick my nose

and flick it at other cars

Originally posted by Ray:
"What's that fan looking light on my dash?"

What fan looking light?

Still looking for a post 98 Zetec with MTX.

Originally posted by GregDawg:

Originally posted by Ray:
"What's that fan looking light on my dash?"

What fan looking light?

Low coolant light.

Ohhhhh. Never seen it.

Originally posted by DemonSVT:
Clutch out and car in neutral at stop lights. Less wear on the T/O bearing.

Exactly.

My leg would get tired anyway.

Gear and Clutch out most of the time...

i usually pop the clutch and gas in and out so my car looks like it has hydraulics

Originally posted by rearden:
I've heard that keeping the clutch in can be hard on the throwout bearing.

This is old school thinking from the 50's and 60's.

Back then, holding the clutch down too much would burn off the lubricant from the throwout bearing. Many years ago the bearings along with the lubricant and the seals got much better so it is no longer a concern. You can hold the clutch down as long as you like, or until your leg gets tired, an no damage will occur.

I do both, depending on conditions or mood.

Originally posted by Big Jim:

I do both, depending on conditions or mood.

Same here...

Originally posted by Woodencross:

Originally posted by Big Jim:

I do both, depending on conditions or mood.

Same here...

Originally posted by Rishodi:
When I learned to drive, I was taught to keep the clutch pressed in when stopped...

Me too. But nowadays when I drive a mtx, I let the clutch out (on neutral) at traffic lights for reasons mentioned (tired left leg).

Originally posted by owen_SVT:
about 95% of the time im out of gear with the clutch out...

Ditto.

When I drive it, of course.

Originally posted by Woodencross:

Originally posted by Big Jim:

I do both, depending on conditions or mood.

Same here...

Hope that doesn't mean what it sounds like?

I should have asked this in the orginal post but...

With the clutch down is there not still some drag between the flywheel, clutch disk and Pressure Plate? Allowing it to rub the entire time you are setting at the stop light.

Where as, with the clutch out and the Trans not in gear the clutch assembly moves as one. But does this create worse drag in the Trans?

When the clutch pedal is down, there should be little if any drag, at least it should be insignificant. If there is any drag, it is hard to engage a gear when you try to move the shift lever.

In the old days, the throw out bearing had to lift off the clutch fingers slightly when the pedal was fully up so that it didn't burn off the grease and cause pre mature throw out bearing failure. Current design keeps the throwout bearing constantly touching the fingers at all times. The bearings are better built as are the seals and the lubricant is far better than in those old days.

About what is happening inside the trans when the clutch pedal is out and the trans is in neutral. The input shaft of the transmission would be spinning at engine speed. The rest of the trans is not moving as they are tied to the stopped wheels. That means that the bearings (needle or pin bearings) between the input shapt and the main shaft would be getting heavy use, but they are designed for exactly that purpose and there should be no significant wear.

If you want to cut any chances of any wear, shut the engine off and park the car.

Really it depends on where I am...

If it's a known stop light, and I watched it turn red, then I'll probly do the neutral thing and just relax until the final yellow light before mine turns green.

If it's unknown or I don't know how long till it will turn green, I leave it in gear.

I'm a yellow light watcher and like to start letting out the clutch right before it turns green to get a smooth takeoff. Back in Iowa I had the delays timed out and could roll across the stop line as the light changed at full speed. Always scared/impressed everyone, but was obviously dangerous if someone ran the light.

I'm down with beowulf, though... clutch out and in gear spinning the tires is WAY cooler