1st Gear Experience for a New FiST Owner

[Seijou]

Great. Thanks Intuit. I'll leave it at that and just give it time. I may go to a parking lot as suggested to work on 1st as much as I want. Other than that slight little "issue" I do love it. Thanks.

I would personally just recommend that you drive normally. Avoid the parking lot practice as it might just make you more self-conscious and possibly more frustrated. Adjusting to the clutch will just take you time (and muscle memory)... Give it a while to get down smooth. Oh yeah, and avoid engaging way too quickly because I don't really think that helps your timing, etc. at this point in time.

 

[Matt-78]

I apologize for just now updating this thread. My launching into 1st and shifting into 2nd have gotten much better with a little bit of practice. I realized I had some bad habits with my clutch pedal technique. In fact, when I nail the timing and revs just right it is very easy and feels as smooth as an auto. I'm not getting much, if any, lurching when I let the clutch out now. This car is so much fun. Thanks for all of the advise!

 

[Zormecteon]

Practice makes...... better.

 

[vwturbofam]

Hello all. I want to thank everyone for a warm welcome over in the New Members forum. I'm wondering what 1st gear was like when you first started driving your FiST? I've been driving my new to me 2014 FiST for a just a few days now. I'm struggling keeping my starts in 1st quick and smooth. This is just in normal driving. Granted I haven't owned a manual in over 10 years. I find that all the other commuters around me get going quicker, while I'm jerking getting started slower and don't really get going until 2nd. I just want a quick smooth start. I either have to launch very slow or launch like I'm racing to be smooth. It's probably me, but I wanted be sure and get some feedback from you guys and girls. I have no issues in 2nd and higher gears. Thanks in advance!

LOL, and i thought it was just me...Just got a FiST a few days ago, and had this same exact experience. It's the high clutch release. I just have to get used to it. I still think to this day out of all the manual cars i've had and driven that Honda makes the best stickshifts period, very low clutch release and smooth as silk.

 

[M-Sport fan]

The Focus RS, or at least the one I test drove this past summer, also grabs right off of the floor, to the point that I stalled it the first time I started out on the test drive (being so used to our 'soft', and high engaging clutch).

 

[OggiSiMangia]

All you need is like 20% pedal travel to successfully change gears. Anything more is just unnecessary clutch and transmission abuse. 1st gear with a stock fiesta st is just the worst. It’s useless, unless reved high in the rpm to match second gear. (3k+rpm). With a tune it’s much better IMO. Launches, shifting and over all driving in 1st/2’d feel better.

 

[Zissou]

You’ll get used to it. I personally didn’t have this problem with my Fiesta, because the clutch engagement was very similar to my Mini Cooper. But I sure had the problem when I first got my Mini.


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[Intuit]

All you need is like 20% pedal travel to successfully change gears. Anything more is just unnecessary clutch and transmission abuse. 1st gear with a stock fiesta st is just the worst. It’s useless, unless reved high in the rpm to match second gear. (3k+rpm). With a tune it’s much better IMO. Launches, shifting and over all driving in 1st/2’d feel better.

I'll do this for 1 to 2 gear on my sequential shift motorcycle. (has clutchless shifting capability)

But proper technique for a daily driven direct shift transmissions is to put the clutch pedal to the metal between all shifts. If you're racing and don't care about longevity yeah, don't bother flooring it...

 

[LaserWhisperer]

IME, the FiST also benefits greatly from double clutching, always.

I've noticed that when double clutching on an upsift, the revs don't drop as quickly, and re-engagement is smoother and quicker, more precise.
Also, installing a short shift kit GREATLY helps with the feel of shifting overall. I know your issue is with the clutch, but that's just m $0.02

 

[OrangeFiST]

Yes, its trickly. It grabs very close to the top. Correct me if I'm wrong but I think it has a bit of throttle lag which makes it all the more difficult. I always give the throttle a slight blip and then start out. That helps me a lot. If you can drive a FiST, you'll be able to drive anything else.

 

[Matt-78]

Sorry that I'm just now replying to my own thread. Practice has made things a lot better, however I discovered I'm having an intermittant problem. When I'm not having this problem I can shift like butter in all gears, especially 2nd and up. But I'm going to start another thread for the issue I'm having. Thanks everyone!

 

[Intuit]

I *really* appreciate the lower ratio first gear in traffic jams. The higher first gear ratio in my other vehicle required hanging significantly farther back to buffer the annoying 'move twenty feet stop,' then 'move ten feet stop'. Then of course you got people constantly cutting into that space meaning you then have to burn a little clutch anyway. This is on top of the fact that some people who don't know what stick is, get annoyed at your buffering the stop and go.

 

[TimF]

Hi folks, sorry to revive an old thread! I just bought a new Fiesta ST and I came to ask the same thing as the OP. In my case I've been driving stick forever (pickups, Honda Fit, Civic Si) and I was surprised that first gear is relatively short and under-powered. After reading this thread I think I understand why - Ford makes it short so you can coast in traffic without wearing out the clutch (or your left leg), but that means they cut back some HP in 1st to keep from over-jerking the car in a cold start. This seems like it would explain why the FiST performs better when it's already rolling (ie auto-x) and less well in a straight line drag race. Second and third come on a lot stronger, something my passengers and my tires should equally appreciate.

 

[XR650R]

Correct. They cut the torque in 1st and 2nd so people wouldn't be frying their drivetrain.