I am going to try this for myself.

i always cruise at 2krpm and always shift at 3k. no problems with the clutch yet.

who buys a car like this and learns to drive on it.......I DID THE SAME THING :twothumbs

I have 30xxx mi. On my I brought this and learned to drive on it. I although have sporadically driven stick before. It was vehicles for work. I will agree the little bit more you put into atround 2500-3000k rpm, it seems to be more responsive. This includes some spirirted driving, couple several trips down the strip and severalauto cross laps, I also heel toe and rev match.

+1...

He's definitely on to something. Tried it in my 2.4, no more slippage!! Thanks!!

Dude that's exactly how I drive, my shift point is 3K. I have only slipped the clutch once, but my tires were mad spinning in first so it was expected!

I say this is a fix.

Ryan

lawl!

Well, when I bought my first REAL car (my Probe SE dont count LAWL) I was sitting at the dealership with my parents and I was attempting to choose from a 2004 SE-R Auto and a 2004 SE-R Spec-V 6 speed. Somehow my parents talked me into getting the Auto. I regreted that decision from day 1. Every Spec-V I raced, even when my SE-R was modde, I lost too. I even lost to a stock 2.2 Cobalt w/ a 200 sub box (LAWL ORT). At that point I decided I wanted a stick, and I wanted to go fast. I was looking at V6 tiburon, SRT-4, and Cobalt SS. Also regular WRX. Well I went w/ my balt, and have been happy ever since.

Ill be honest and say at first i was the ABSOLUTE WORST stick driver on teh planet, I mean seriously, I sucked bad. Took me like a week to get fluent with it.

Now IM glad, I drive stick, atleast when I am outside of bumper to bumper traffic. Its fun when you race, and to be honest it keeps me from falling asleep. Yes, I had problems falling asleep in my car (knock on wood I aint crash) but ever since I started driving stick, i have never had that issue. Durring my rental time a few days ago w/ the 2.2 I almost fell asleep... Damn auto's!

almost 50'000km and no slips ever and yes I beat the shit out of my car.
Shifting over 3 k most of the time at least in 1st to 2nd, 2nd to 3rd.
It's a Chevy they work better if you beat the shit out of it from day one!
Drive it like you stole it!

I learned on my SS/SC
I mean I knew how to drive stick and had before but never owned a stick vehicle.
Piece of cake I didn't even ride the clutch up the underground parking ramp at my dealership.

I always shift at 3,000 and have never had any problems with either car.

WTF is LAWL? and WTF is LAWL ORT??? :wtf:

I worked for a clutch oem manufacturer. My car has 23k on it when I replaced the clutch...the car had over 110 drag passes 8 of which were stock the rest were intense stage 3 or higher.

The clutch looked brand new
My buddies is holding the same way

The key is quick deliberate shifts. Do not slip it unless u have to...Just get it going then let it out. Dont drag the clutch to slow down on downshifts...rev match ur downshifts

DJT81185, wtf is a quick deliberate shift?!? You mean clutch in, upshift, clutch out, and a little gas? But just really really fast? Everytime i do that the car just doesnt shift smooth as i want it too.

I think that is exactly the point some are trying to make. I learned to drive stick in my cobalt, I only slip the clutch to get going, after that the clutch is 100% or 0%, no slipping for the sake of smoothness, shifting at 2.5k-3.5k most of the time, but running out first and second to 6k at WOT every so often.

Why do you want to use your clutch to make your shifts smooth?
Does it make you go faster? No, Does it help fuel efficiency? No, Does it make passengers more comfortable? Probably, Is it because it's what you were told to do? Probably

Wouldn't it be better to eliminate the clutch wear by timing your shifts to not need to slip the clutch to make a smooth shift? I'll admit my shifts are not perfectly smooth all the time, but still not overly harsh.

i learned stick on a AE86, so I know about harsh shifting during a daily drive. I just wanted clarification. I do admit, I slip the clutch uphill from a dead stop. But I have to in that case. During my daily drive I give it a little bit of gas as soon as the clutch is 90% out. So I know Im not slipping it, i just didnt think you could shift the way that Djt81185 mentioned without hurting the tranny a bit. Its refreashing to hear some shifting advice from someone who worked in the clutch industry.

First off clutches have to handle the torque (force applied about an axis) the car produces, which in our case is pretty close to the horsepower usually. And secondly if our clutches were made to handle ~300hp then they wouldn't do this at 300hp, it would happen at more like 450:

https://www.cobaltss.net/gallery/fil...ckedclutch.jpg


More pictures:
Destroyed clutch pictures.. Bottom line is that at more than 250ft.lbs. or so you need to upgrade your clutch. Period. You shouldn't have to slip and heat a clutch for it to grab, period.

engines idle down when the clutch is released. If you shift and wait the correct amount of time and let the clutch out the speed will match and the clutch does have to slip at all....ucan shift slow but be quick on ur clutch action...slipping kills clutches period...thats what it boils down to

hmmm its strange. Ive put about 29k miles on my 06 ss/sc and I have noticed that when i do shift at around 2k, the clutch slips ever so slightly. I normally shift at around 3500k and can't see any slippage what so ever. After reading this im glad that im driving/shifting the way i do :) Good write up munkey!!

If Badmonkey's explanation is correct then it is a problem which needs corrected. I have driven a manual transmission since day 1 of having my license and have had no problems on any of my vehicles. My first vehicle was a 1985 Chevy 3/4 ton 4x4 pickup with a 4 speed. The clutch lasted 12 years and ~95000 miles. It was slipped (intentionally) a lot sometimes when pulling or hauling heavy loads. It never slipped until it went out. If you guys are having clutch issues you need to file complaints with GM. It should not happen. I know Corvettes don't have clutch problems if you drive them easy. You shouldn't either.

Yah i have been shifting at 3k for a long time and i can blast 1-2 shifts
funny thing is i get better fuel econ when i shift a 3k if i shift lower it pulls the motor down too much.

almost 7k on my ss and no clutch slippage yet..i also shift between 3-4k every gear

Is this why the salespeople kept saying that the car had a self-adjusting clutch?

Hey can someone explain to me what clutch slippage is and what the heel toe double clutching is.
Thanks

the self adjusting clutch refers to the linkage. most cars (especially fords) use a braided wire cable with a self ratcheting aduster that shorten the linkage when the cable stretches after use or lengthens in cold weather. The cobalt's clutch linkage is hydualic useing brake fluid straight from the master cylinder resevoir. A brilliant move giving the thermal stability or blake fuild.

By the way i still didn't get and answer 3k + rpm for hard luanches, or just daily driving?
because when i first started driving my cobalt it was my first stick shift. I didn't know what that jerking was till i read this thread. by which time i realized if the clutch was too cold or i went from first to second at too low an rpm rate say under 3k it would jerk like i was about to stall minus the engine stutter. and now i shift 1- 2nd at about 4-4.5k and most other gears at 4 - 5k or higher if im on the highway. I was told i'd get the most power out and the least wear this way by a couple corvette owners.

i can shift at low and high rpm's and its all the same

i have a 2007, with 2000km on it, and i tried the 3k rpm thing today (even though thats what ive been doing since i got it). and after drviign for a bout 30 minutes i tried opening it up and it slipped worse then ever, it seemed like there was no 2nd gear it slipped so bad..

pisses me off so much that a brand new car does this, especially one with the SS label on it.

Nice post, I think your on the mark. I have had the clutch slip before when I just start out driving and it's still holding fine. If it was really toast it would only get worse, but it always gets better.

My clutch slipped for the first time tonight at 15k miles. I always downshift so I am thinking that is why...

I will lay off the down shifting and start shifting around 3k.

I'll see if it works

finally some info I can use not a box of kleenex :twothumbs

Sounds like how I drive normally, first manual tranny I've had. Occassionly hard take off, but mostly shift at 3k. Good advice and nice to know that I'm doing it right.

Nice post .....!!:twothumbs I drive pretty spirited and have minimal to no clutch slippage as i normally shift after 3000rpm (especially important in first to second)

Right on! I have over 27k on my SS and I generally shift just past 3k. Clutch still holds just fine.

wow, send that shit back dude, i would not be ok with that situation

does this just happen in the SS or SS/SC or does this problem also occur on the LT's or LS versions?

My 2.4 5spd has 975 miles on it. I read this thread a few days and a mere 150 miles ago. I did have a 1-2 slip and was babying my clutch. I have shifted at the higher rpm's since I read this post and ............ well....... IT IS GRABBING BETTER !!! I read this whole thread and am not sure any 2.4's tried this. I did and have noticed the difference. Maybe it took less time due to the newness of my clutch ??? Flame me for this question, I do not care, but......... I taught myself how to drive stick 20 years ago. Is it safer to downshift downhill or put it in nuetral ???? How about corners, do you wait till the last minute to downshift as to not stress the clutch, tranny and over-rev the motor ???? I ask cuz this is where I generally slip my clutch. I am too old for lessons. What is this *rev-matching* and *heel-toe method* stuff ?? Educate this old dude. FYI.... I did not drive stick for 10 years before I drove this SS off the lot. Help me out here. Sorry if I got off topic.

Well it looks like this is working for almost every one that tries it.

Rev matching is reving the motor a bit it get it to the RPM it would be at on a down shift if you just let out the clutch.

This is good for both the clutch and the trans.

I think we still need more people to test this and post befor we ask for it to be a sticky though.

Later

I think we should keep this going for a little while longer, and then send an email to GM with the link to this post attached.

Hopefully we will get some responses from GM? It may not be a warranty thing, but maybe they will ahve some insight on what we can do to help the problem

That's a good idea but this thread seams to have died off big time.

Any one els care to coment on this?

Later

Im gonna throw my .02 cents worth in. I tested this theory before ever reading the thread and I agree whole heartedly. These cars were designed to be fast and competitive. I drove it like my old civic, and like my moms tacoma... My clutch wouldm bog down like hell and I would take forever to get up in the rpms in 2nd and 3rd. I siwtched to extremely spirited driving (never allowing a shift below 3K, almost always redlining, but not hitting the limiter), and I have seen NO problems what so ever. Guess thats just the way the car is. Everyone told me I was going to break it within 5K miles by driving like that without babying the engine.... well, looks like if I baby it, it's gonna break! They can call me crazy, but they dont drive it and know nothing about it. YAY TO HIGH REVVING SHIFTS! :lol: