hi ,

i was stuck in traffic on an uphill freeway going about 2-5mph, staying at 1000rpm and under for about 15 mins (or maybe more). I stayed in 1st gear the whole time, just gently accelerating every once in a while to keep moving. After about 10-15 mins of this, i accelerated slightly to keep moving, but my car shook like crazy for maybe 5 seconds or more. i didn't have the clutch depressed and this was all in a high uphill incline.

Is this shaking normal for this situation?

 

Trying to drive the car at or below 1000 rpm is dicey, especially if you try to put load on it like taking off suddenly or proceeding up a hill. To complicate matters somewhat, you were idling around for 15 minutes, which most likely made your intake charge very hot. During this type of driving, you need to do more clutch work, just like if you were taking off from a dead stop.
When in similar situations, I input power (clutch and throttle) just long enough to give the car enough momemtum to keep up and catch up to the slow moving traffic. I spend a lot of time just "coasting" at speeds that, if the clutch were out the whole time, would bring the engine speed near or below its normal idle.

 

It's fine.

 

Try using more clutch and more gas in this situation.

If you are forced to drive in bumper to bumper traffic, just sit stopped longer and let the guy in front of you creep along and develop a larger gap between you and him, before you move forward to fill the gap, and then stop and rest again. Don't get excited about someone pulling into the gap, just let them go. This will happen occasionally and it will only lengthen your trip a few seconds.

Whatever you do, don't get yourself worked up and try to keep other cars from jockeying around -- it's just not worth it. Remember, in the S you are driving a lightweight high performance sports car. Always keep in mind that you always have more to lose than the other guy does (you need to get to where you are going without the delay of an accident, care of your passengers means more to you, your car means more to you, etc.).

If this is hard for you to become used to, try to slip-in behind someone you know is also driving a manual transmission, like a big truck -- since they have the same problem.

Hope this helps!

Kind Regards, Chris

PS: FYI, I've been driving stick shift cars for 27 years, for many years in/around NYC traffic, and it took me a long time to develop this more patient attitude towards traffic driving. Now driving in traffic is never problem for me (regardless of the car I'm driving). In fact, friends and family always ask me to drive whenever traffic might be expected...

 

One other thing you can try is just raising the revs for a couple seconds before you move. This clears out the hot intake charge and brings in slightly cooler air. Then use the clutch a little more as others have suggested.

 

I have always had a hard time driving really slow in 1st gear in all my non-automatic cars. A very small change in throttle position will generate enough acceleration to move my body, which will change the throttle postition a bit, which will change the acceleration, and change the throttle position more, etc. etc ...

 

[QUOTE]Originally posted by ChrisfromRI
[B]Try using more clutch and more gas in this situation.