Manual transmission

[attrapereves]

I've had my car for about a week. I find the little Yaris with 5spd particularly difficult to drive smoothly.

Takeoffs are the most difficult. I either give it too much gas and the car slingshots forward, or not enough and it shudders a little.

What should the RPM be to start from a stop on flat ground? Also, around what RPM does this car prefer to be shifted?

[Betrivent]

This is different for every car.. I honestly don't shift by RPM anymore, just by feel.

[IllusionX]

I do short trips these days. So my RPM idles at 1500rpm. I no longer need to give it "gas" to take off.

Because the IDLE is always different depending on engine operation/temperature, you have to adapt yourself.

Since i drive such short trips, when i get to drive around more, and the engine has time to warm up and idles at 650rpm, then I end up stalling once in a while. :P

[Kar98]

You'll get used to it. The Yaris is actually the first car that I had where I have to follow the instructions of letting gas come and clutch go gently. Every other car, the clutch was pretty much digital, either on or off.

[fnkngrv]

been so long since I have had the stock clutch that I can't almost recall. I can say that I agree the stock clutch is a PITA in my book though. The Drive-By-Wire system is a lot to blame too.

[Em_]

my hatchbach ised to idle at 550rpm and used to launch at around 1100 rpm saves a lot of wear
i have an automatic 4 door yaris now
fedup shifting

[Kar98]

Well look at Canadian Monsieur Fancy-Pantalons here with his Canadian tach and manual transmission ;)

But seriously, 550 revs at idle? 1100 to shift? I don't have a tach in my Yaris, but pretty much every other car I had before idled around 950 to 1100 and I shifted at around five grand. Shifting up at 1100? Do you get mistaken for a geographical feature a lot? :P

[IllusionX]

Mine idled at 550 before I cleaned the TB.

[Betrivent]

Mine idles around 650 ish

[fourbangingfun]

Launch between 1100-1500 rpm when on zero slope, and little higher if going up a hill.

And usually up shift around 3k

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[MUSKOKA800]

You'll get used to it. We all have. It's done by feel. Driving off is no time to be looking over at the tach.
The engagement of the Yaris is like none of the many manuals I've experienced.
After 6+ years and over 165.000 kilometers I still stall mine occasionally. Switching from one pair of shoes to another with different sole thickness often catches me out.

[DebbyM46227]

Mine usually idles at around 600 RPM.

As far as how the clutch feels, it took me about a year to get used to the Yaris clutch and I'd been driving MT cars for a long time. I think the Yaris is my 14th MT car and it's been the hardest to master.

But I will say one thing....earlier this week the dealership replaced my clutch and to save money I opted for them to use a non-Toyota clutch kit. It's a Sachs now, and it's been so much easier.

[Deathegg]

My '10 hatch is hard to drive smoothly, and in fact makes me look like a rank amateur even after my 30 years of driving a manual. A few factors are involved regarding the yaris, IMO:

* Clutch take-up is quick, and almost an "on-off" affair.
* Accelerator pedal is simply connected to a switch, instead of being analog (via a cable to the engine), and it's not calibrated quite right. First, I can press the pedal about 1/2", and nothing happens. In the next 1/2", I get response. Not a smooth transition. Second, there's actually a delay between your foot pressing the pedal and getting the response. It's the thing I hate most about my car

These things contribute to the yaris being a hard car to drive smoothly. I'm used to it, and actually prefer to take off at a low rpm, instead of revving it a bit. But still bad engineering by Toyota. And yes, wearing different shoes than what you're used to can make a difference as well.

[nookandcrannycar]

Originally Posted by IllusionX

Mine idled at 550 before I cleaned the TB.

Aha! I was wondering what the reason might be re my '14 idling at a higher RPM than my '07. I've never cleaned the TB on my '07 .

[nookandcrannycar]

I agree with many of the points Debby and Deathegg have made. I've owned a Mitsubishi Galant VR-4, a Mirage/Colt, a Scirocco, a Suzuki Swift, and a GTI...all with manual transmissions. Each of those was easier to drive than either my '07 MT or my '14 MT Yaris. I'd think even the 2nd Gen Yaris would be a hard adjustment for a novice manual transmission driver. My '14 doesn't seem to have the 'notchiness' in 1st gear that the '07 does. I'm PGD at launching on a steep incline in 1st gear. Could do this even in my '07 (at least when it was 'younger'). With my '14...forget it. One of the ramps in the parking structure at The Galleria in Houston is pretty steep (it is so flat here, this is the only time so far that I've encountered this issue ). I was on it in my '14 in bumper to bumper traffic one day fairly close to Christmas. I had to use the parking brake during that experience to keep from stalling.

[Kar98]

LOL, I always use the parking brake for taking off any time there's a detectable incline ;)

It's the skilled driver's hill-assist feature :D

[matti]

I have a 2012 Yaris and always liked the clutch-feel. My wife has a 2009 Honda Fit Sport and that clutch gives me fits.

[nookandcrannycar]

Originally Posted by Kar98

LOL, I always use the parking brake for taking off any time there's a detectable incline ;)

It's the skilled driver's hill-assist feature :D

I should have proofread my previous post before posting . Leaving out a few words changes the whole meaning. I left out 'without using the parking brake' at the end of the 'PDG sentence'. Re clutch wear, using the parking brake probably is better than not using the parking brake. In past cars, especially my Suzuki, I could stay at a standstill in gear on a pretty good incline and have no 'backward lag' on launch...and I've been fortunate enough to never have to replace a clutch (with two of those seven MT cars going over 195k miles and three of them over 150k miles. I was worried about backward lag on that ramp because of the guy behind me...almost right on my bumper. IMO, the only state worse than Texas re tailgating on the road (including the hunt for parking spaces) is Florida. Neither Texas (at least re major population centers) nor Florida is a hotbed of encountering these situations.....I don't know if that is good or bad . One doesn't have to think about it much, but there's not as much opportunity to keep the skill in practice.