Bouncing in first gear

brothaMan84 · Oct 24, 2017

My si is my first Manual car, and I have been loving it! I've drastically improved, yet come to find myself asking more question and getting more advice!

One big concern of mine (if I should be concerned) is that when I start from a complete stop, my car will at times jerks back and forth. It's not all the time and it's not a violent jerk, but more of bouncing back and forth. Same goes for being in first gear. When I'm cruising slowly in a parking lot in first, the car will sorta jerk, or bounce, will not giving any throttle.

Is this normal for the si, or manuals all together? Thanks for your help
- just a first Manual question

Unibrow Tail Lights · Oct 24, 2017

It's the engine braking in 1st gear. Because of the gear ratio, the engine has a very strong braking effect compared to higher gears, and this upsets the suspension a bit, which is the "bucking back and forth" that you're feeling. All manual cars do this. This is the best way to learn throttle control.

Edit: I forgot to welcome you! Welcome to the SI forum. This is my first manual car too. If you have any questions at all don't be afraid to ask. You're basically cheating by learning manual on a Honda, they make the best manual transmissions in the market.

JoYu · Oct 24, 2017

brothaMan84 said:
My si is my first Manual car, and I have been loving it! I've drastically improved, yet come to find myself asking more question and getting more advice!

One big concern of mine (if I should be concerned) is that when I start from a complete stop, my car will at times jerks back and forth. It's not all the time and it's not a violent jerk, but more of bouncing back and forth. Same goes for being in first gear. When I'm cruising slowly in a parking lot in first, the car will sorta jerk, or bounce, will not giving any throttle.

Is this normal for the si, or manuals all together? Thanks for your help
- just a first Manual question

If you go too slow in any manual car it will jerk. I press in the clutch when going really slow, and release when it's time to move a little faster.

When starting from a complete stop if it jerks you either need to give it more gas or release the clutch slower.

Have fun! I wish I got to learn on a car as nice as this

jakabony · Oct 25, 2017

brothaMan84 said:
My si is my first Manual car, and I have been loving it! I've drastically improved, yet come to find myself asking more question and getting more advice!

One big concern of mine (if I should be concerned) is that when I start from a complete stop, my car will at times jerks back and forth. It's not all the time and it's not a violent jerk, but more of bouncing back and forth. Same goes for being in first gear. When I'm cruising slowly in a parking lot in first, the car will sorta jerk, or bounce, will not giving any throttle.

Is this normal for the si, or manuals all together? Thanks for your help
- just a first Manual question

It takes time to master a smooth transition. First is always the toughest because of the engine braking, as mentioned. Wait until you drive an older clutch, and then you will see how easy the clutch on the 2017 Si is. The clutch on my 96 Accord is totally different, and much less forgiving. You will get it, over time.

coopermidnight · Oct 25, 2017

First gear is rough. I've been driving stick for 10 years in a few different Civics and I still haven't perfected the art of going from a stop without at least a little bit of bucking in the Si.

Monocacy · Oct 25, 2017

brothaMan84 said:
. . . When I'm cruising slowly in a parking lot in first, the car will sorta jerk, or bounce, will not giving any throttle. . . .

I find that second gear makes it easier and less jerky when I am cruising slowly in a parking lot. Less engine braking in second gear makes slow cruising much smoother.

As others have said above, starting off in first gear just takes practice. Reverse takes practice, too. Keep at it and you will get there.

turbo lover · Oct 25, 2017

The Civic seems to have a lot more of this jerking in first gear than my previous three manual cars. Maybe it had really soft engine mounts and the engine rocks back and forth a little.

sfedai0 · Oct 25, 2017

Its just a matter of feathering the clutch while maintaining speed. Little tricky but not a big deal since you wont be cruising too long in first anyways.

philharmonik · Oct 25, 2017

I was worried about this when I was about to drive off the lot in my Si. I used to own a 2000 EX Coupe manual and drove that for over 10 years. Luckily, as soon as I made it out of the parking lot I was fine. A few jumpy first gears, but now its back to business as usual. Love this car!! Just takes time to learn how to "drive" again.

jeremiah · Oct 25, 2017

As others have said, once you get used to the car it will be a lot smoother.

Every manual car drives differently to some degree.

Remember the clutch engagement is toward the end of its travel and its buttery soft, manage that with some throttle finesse and you'll be fine.

Mogadee · Oct 25, 2017

brothaMan84 said:
My si is my first Manual car, and I have been loving it! I've drastically improved, yet come to find myself asking more question and getting more advice!

One big concern of mine (if I should be concerned) is that when I start from a complete stop, my car will at times jerks back and forth. It's not all the time and it's not a violent jerk, but more of bouncing back and forth. Same goes for being in first gear. When I'm cruising slowly in a parking lot in first, the car will sorta jerk, or bounce, will not giving any throttle.

Is this normal for the si, or manuals all together? Thanks for your help
- just a first Manual question

Driving a stick will help you with fine throttle adjustments. You can cheat a little by looking at the RPMs; 1500-2000 is a very forgiving range that won't cause the car to huck-a-buck (jerk). Once you become comfortable with being able to do that without looking, you will start to notice smoother starts as you can feel where the clutch begins to grab and the RPM that you can start from will lower. It's a balancing act, too high of RPM cooks the clutch and too low causes the huck-a-buck which could stall the engine.

Phylanx · Oct 25, 2017

I find the FC1 to be much smoother in the Engine Braking department than my FA5. Can still get a little bit of bouncing back and forth in first gear, but that's normal when engaging / disengaging the clutch.

brothaMan84 · Oct 25, 2017

I really appreciate everyone’s input! I’ve been enjoying the learning process and I have definitely gotten better! I’ve learned how to rev match without jerking the car

It just came to my concern, not knowing how mtrans should feel! Wouldn’t want to take her to the dealership without getting some experience advice first! Much appreciated.

PS: A member at my gym let me drive his type R, OMG :love:

That transmission is smooth, and that revmatch makes downshifting that much smoother

Si Stuart · Jul 24, 2018

Monocacy said:
I find that second gear makes it easier and less jerky when I am cruising slowly in a parking lot. Less engine braking in second gear makes slow cruising much smoother.

As others have said above, starting off in first gear just takes practice. Reverse takes practice, too. Keep at it and you will get there.

sorry to hijack, but relevant: is there a minimum rpm we should keep in mind? I'm always worried about lugging the engine, but i too hate bucking while driving slow through parking lots

Monocacy · Jul 24, 2018

Si Stuart said:
sorry to hijack, but relevant: is there a minimum rpm we should keep in mind? I'm always worried about lugging the engine, but i too hate bucking while driving slow through parking lots

Hmm, I'm not usually watching the tach but probably drop into the 1,500 rpm range or maybe even less when feathering the accelerator in a parking lot or rush hour traffic.

I think lugging is more of an issue when you are trying to accelerate more strongly, at which point downshifting is prudent.

Bouncing in first gear

brothaMan84

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Unibrow Tail Lights

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JoYu

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jakabony

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coopermidnight

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Monocacy

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turbo lover

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sfedai0

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philharmonik

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jeremiah

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Mogadee

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brothaMan84

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Monocacy

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