after about 20 days since bought this 2.5i, I stalled engine again twice today. Seems that my driving habit was changed a bit that I no longer throttle it to 2000RPM then release the clutch, instead, I release the clutch then give throttle. It now starts to stall the engine again, since the idle RPM is a bit too low to catch up even clutch is not fully released.
So which habit is better? giving throttle before releasing clutch or during clutch engagement?
my idling speed is around 600RPM, is it a bit too low?
BTW, why people have no patience once I stalled the car?! I got hell a lots horns from behind :P
I still think of clutching as a bit of an art, and it varies enough between cars I don't think I can advise you on that. But have you tried a bottle of injector cleaner? I had a couple of cars (a 1970 Volvo and a 1984 Nissan) that would get really touchy about coming off the line if the engine was weak. In the Volvo it was the points that always gave trouble, and in the Nissan it was always the injectors.
I consider the practice of honking at stalled cars an indication of low intelligence. When I am at a disabled car and somebody honks as they go past I call back, "Honk louder! It still won't start!" Disabled motorists need a chuckle anyway :-)
Basically, the engine needs enough output to balance the load you are putting on it. Since you can adjust the load (clutch) as well as the engine output (throttle), it takes practice. Also, of course, you don't want to slip the clutch more than a minimum, so as to avoid wear.
So, rev the engine up a bit, say 1500-2000 rpm, smoothly release the clutch while at the same time increasing the throttle, so as to pull away smoothly with minimum clutch slippage. You shouldn't have to slip the clutch more than a second or so, and you shouldn't have many excess revs at any point.
Yeah, that is kind of vague. You will just have to keep practicing!
600 rpm is okay for an idle, but not enough to move the car reliably from a stop.
No biggie, really! You're just learning the characteristics of that particular engine, clutch and gearbox combo (and of impatient rude people!)
But, to make it easier than sitting at an intersection with idjits honking at you, see if you can find an empty parking lot (abandoned, store's closed, way out yonder?) where you can start, stop and stall to your heart's content with nobody bothering you. You'll soon learn how much throttle you need to apply for smooth starts.
Some cars can be started straight from idle. I taught a few people to use a clutch on big American V-8s from back in the '60s that had enough low end torque you could just gently let the clutch out without ever touching the gas and off they'd go, smooth as silk. Your car probably isn't gonna like that, though. While 2000 rpm is probably a bit higher than needed, leading to more clutch wear than you'd like, you will probably find smooth starts DO take a bit of throttle. Try 1000 rpm as a starting point, then work up or down as required. You'll soon get the "feel."
Is 600 rpm low? Don't know--check the stickers under the hood. If it's a US model, there should be one that gives the proper idle speed. I can't speak for cars sold in other countries.
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