7 months? Well, you might just tell the Service Department about what you wrote here. You've been driving standard for a long time too, so you naturally believe something is wrong. They might even have someone sit next to you to see how you drive and maybe even swap the seat and have them drive it.

 

Its the drive by wire and low engine torque. You'll find a lot of people on other forums complain about the DBW. You'll have to observe and get used to.

 

Ah !! I will check out posts on DBW and low engine torque. Thanks. :chug:

 

Your car probably only has 115 foot pound of torque or less; not a lot when carrying passengers. The DBW has a delay, so the throttle pedal and throttle plate don't directly communicate. It makes it tricky to balance the clutch and gas, when accelerating from a stop or inclines.

 

yeah I have had the same problem, just getting use to the DBW it sucks along with zero low end power.

 

Finished reading some posts on the DBW and low torque.

That is the exact situation.

So, I'm not bothering to take it to the dealer. It's just "a feature" of my Corolla. LOL. Part of its charm and personality.

The manual trans is something I had to have. Driving is just not the same in an AT. When I test drove a AT at the dealer's, I noticed it was very noisy and I said to the salesguy that the AT needed another gear, because it was crying on the highway to change.

When I got my manual trans car, yes, the 5th gear quiets things down on the highway. But the salesman gave me a stern look over his glasses and said, "You'll have a hard time selling this car with a manual tranmission. No one will want it. Are you SURE you want to order that."

:lol:

yes sir, I'm sure.

 

1) The AT actually revs lower on the highway than a MT does, thus a couple of hundred RPMs quieter. The AT has 4 speeds + overdrive, so your sales guy is an idiot.

2) My AT is so quiet many people I have driven with think my car is a hybrid because they can't hear it...well that and its phenomenal fuel economy

People buy what they want. Toyota's DBW system took all the fun out of what traditional manuals delivered. Perhaps a throttle controller can lessen the effects of the issues you experiencing.

 

moved to engine sub forum

 

I have an '11 with a manual and it is a bit hard to get it rolling. I'm used to it now, but did stall it a few times when I first got it. I've been driving manuals since '73 and this is one of the more difficult ones I've owned to get off the line.

I also have a '12 Kia Soul (base model) with a 6 speed manual and it is much easier to get going.

 

Very strange, my 09 S 5-speed is the easiest MT & clutch I've ever owned. It takes so little of the gas pedal to get going from a stop. That being said every clutch is different & will take a little time to adjust too. I have many different MT cars & every single clutch is different.

 

If you are grinding then you are letting out the clutch before you have finished shifting. I find my Corolla very easy to shift & the clutch engages the same every time. I'm not sure what others are noticing but I don't know how the clutch could be changing that much from how it engages each time.

 

For the past two days, I left the house a bit earlier in the morning and left work later in the evening to avoid the busy traffic while conducting a simple driving experiment; that is, drive normally but consciously shifting and clutching out.

The first thing is to clutch in, wait for half a second, fully engage the next gear, wait for a tiny little moment before clutching out and balancing the gas pedal. I tried it a few times and felt no grinding. Then, I repeated it like I would normally drive and nothing unusual. Finally, I tried to release the clutch a bit before the next gear fully engages and I did feel the grind under my left foot. Immediately, I disengaged and re-engaged the same gear completely before clutching out and the grind disappeared.

I think, in my case, I may have been a bit impatient along with a lazy left foot and not finished shifting before clutching out. Thanks for the tip :thanks: However, the "grabbing" point still eludes me. Maybe my left foot has Alzheimer disease causing the muscle memory not registering properly. :headbang:

 

same boat here. my clutch engages at random points (sometimes high, sometimes low) that seems to compound this issue. strange that i have more problems with the stock toyota than with the autocross car with a lightweight flywheel and a 6 puck clutch but that car is spot on every time.

 

I have driven manual trans cars for over 35 years now. This was the worst car I have driven in relation to the clutch. It also seems like the flywheel on these cars are really light. Some years ago, Ford started using stamped flywheels. They are cheap, light, and make the car rev easy. The way the car revs, I am thinking it might have this type of flywheel to improve mileage.

As for what the salesman mentioned about resale, he was probably correct. My car sat on the lot for almost a year. Another dealership had 2 manual Corollas that had been sitting the same amount of time. Both said that was the last manuals they would ever stock order. Nobody wants them since most autos now get the same mileage. On the flip side, I got a heck of a deal on it! I couldn't touch an auto car with the same options for anywhere near what they unloaded this car to me for. Yeah, resale may be down, but considering I got about $2400 off what an auto was selling for, I'll take the beating on the trade-in.

 

I'm wondering if it is just a thing on a few of these. My Corolla doesn't show anything like this & is super easy to use the clutch with engagement being the same every time. I've asked other manual owners about this but they haven't noticed anything like this either on their 10th gen manuals.

 

I will try switching the clutch system to super blue fluid. On my Nissan this did wonders on the feel of the clutch and the brake systems. until i put willwood semi floating superlights on the front. now THAT did wonders to brake feel and engagement, but i am hoping the nicer fluid and a quality bleed will iron out any issues i have.

 

Let us know what the new fluid does. Sounds like a great option. I've never used any other type of clutch fluid on any car.

 

The changing clutch engagement point was also a problem on 9thgens. A lot of the c-xrs noticed it and some 1zz. The problem went away after: clutch, flywheel, extended pushrod and higher quality brake fluid.

 

I was wondering about that, but my 9th gen feels very similar to my 10th gen & engages in the same place all the time. It has 68k miles now compared to 38k miles on my 10th gen.

 

I've had a '94 Corolla wagon, a 2003 Matrix and now a 2011 Matrix, all manual, and I can see easily that the feel of the electronic gas pedal on the 2011 is radically different from the previous 2 generations. Essentially, my car is always on a virtual or real cruise control with the speed setting coming either from the lever on the steering wheel or from the sensor on the gas pedal.

Gone is the cable that links the pedal to the throttle plate on the carburater. So now all the behavior is controlled by computer which can set how tightly or loosely the electronically controlled throttle plate moves in relation to how quickly your foot is pressing or releasing the gas pedal.

So it comes as no surprise that these new cars behave differently in the way the engine rpm's rise and fall when under load or not. Which makes up-shifting and down-shifting a whole different game.

 

They are referring to the clutch pedal & engagement & not the electronic throttle control which can be played with & controlled with a throttle controller like the Pivot. I have a 07 Matrix that was no problem with the clutch engagement either.

 

Had a 2011 for 30,000 miles and now a 2012 both 5spds and have gotten very smooth with the clutch finally but agree with DBW and inconsistent pedal making for an extended learning process. Almost as fun as keeping them straight in a crosswind.

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You will NEVER get use to it. It is a crappy design. We fought with our 2006 till a few months ago - got rid of it.
Approached Toyota - "that is the way it is made". Found that there had been a law suit in the US over this and a limited recall. I found that if I left the air on - the rmp at ilde was about 200 more - it stalled less.
It was a miriacle that we were never rear ended in an intersection when it stalled.
We had manual transmissions 57 VW, numerous other VW's, Datsun 510, Toyota Tercell, 1991 Corolla - all were excellent.
It felt like they forgot that the clutch plates should slip and gradualy grab. Ours would just grab and stall - like 2 pieces of cork.
It was a great car except for the stalling problem but we had enough and as I said got rid of it.
Good Luck

 

I've also found that if I let off the throttle a split second before pushing in on the clutch it makes for a smoother up shift.

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Good to know.

 

Also i just found out that my stock battery (from 2009) was crap. it finally deep cycled on me. load tested at slightly over 7 volts. Now it is easier to recover from a sputter, and doesn't stall when the RMP dips low anywhere near as much as it used to.