# Eco 6MT Clutch question



## Pablo Honey (Jul 3, 2012)

I just got my new 2012 Cruze Eco 6spd Manual last week and have been enjoying the car, especially the mileage. The car I had prior to this was a 6SPD higher performance sports coupe that drove much differently than this. As a result, I've been going through a bit of a transition period, especially when I'm on hills, as my old vehicle idled very high and could go from stop to go on a hill with hardly much gas. The ECO needs some goosing. 

That said, the other day, I was stopped on a fairly steep hill coming out of a parking lot. I fumbled and did a piss poor job getting it going in gear. It got me going, but it resulted in the "burning clutch" smell that lasted several seconds.

Any idea how much damage this could have caused the clutch? Hasn't happened since as I've now become more accustomed to the way this car drives. Just hoping I didn't cause any damage. 

As a side note, I am no stick shift novice. I've driven (though not owned!) many different stick cars (jetta, audi, civics, NSX, BMW, etc) and every car I've ever owned has been a stick, and for some reason, this one is the TRICKIEST to get going on an incline. Can't figure out why.


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## weimerrj (Dec 4, 2011)

The 1.4T has terrible low-speed torque, curse of a small engine. It definitely is a transition - you have to keep the revs about 1500 or so to get a good start. Below that and it feels like the car is driving the engine.

My problem is turns - I want to find a gear somewhere between 2nd and 3rd. I imagine that's the same throughout the line - 1st thru 3rd ratios are the same for the regular transmission.


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## sciphi (Aug 26, 2011)

Drop the money on the tune after a few thousand miles. Taking off is a lot easier since the car makes power sooner. 

It does need some fair revving to get started on hills. And, there's no anti-rollback on this car.


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## Pablo Honey (Jul 3, 2012)

sciphi said:


> Drop the money on the tune after a few thousand miles. Taking off is a lot easier since the car makes power sooner.
> 
> It does need some fair revving to get started on hills. And, there's no anti-rollback on this car.


What tune?


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## Pablo Honey (Jul 3, 2012)

weimerrj said:


> The 1.4T has terrible low-speed torque, curse of a small engine. It definitely is a transition - you have to keep the revs about 1500 or so to get a good start. Below that and it feels like the car is driving the engine.
> 
> My problem is turns - I want to find a gear somewhere between 2nd and 3rd. I imagine that's the same throughout the line - 1st thru 3rd ratios are the same for the regular transmission.


Thanks.. I'm glad I'm not the only one who feels this way. I find that on hills, I just have to keep the clutch in much longer which is tricky to do without rolling back excessively, which I would imagine could wear on the clutch life.

As for turns, I go straight for 2nd. Otherwise it'll take some time to get back to speed in 3rd. I find myself downshifting to 1st after speedbumps with this car whereas I've never had to do that with others.

Willing to learn to live with that all as the rest of the car is great and I figure, it's just a compromise for fuel efficiency.


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## weimerrj (Dec 4, 2011)

Pablo Honey said:


> What tune?


Trifecta. Everyone who has it raves about it. [email protected] is a member here and an authorized vendor. He's testing a 'budget tune' version with users here.


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## weimerrj (Dec 4, 2011)

@Pablo - I end up going for second, but it leaves the revs a bit too high - quite a change from the torquey Audi 2.8 I had before; 3rd was the sweet spot and I could even work 4th without too much problem. I'm just used to 3rd and have to adjust. 

I find I have to generally be a gear lower than the Audi in the same situations. Curse of a small engine; gotta keep the revs up. Hey - I get immensely better gas mileage, so the tradeoff is worth it.


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## jblackburn (Apr 14, 2012)

The clutch on this car seems to bum very easily when new. I got that smell all the time reversing uphill. 

My dad said this was normal until the clutch "wears in" since he's owned many more new cars than me. Indeed, the smell seems to have gone away. 

Launching the cruze is easy without the AC on. With it on, slip the clutch at 13-1500 RPM and you'll get a start without bogging. Most 4 cylinders I've driven are like that anyway. 


Sent from my Autoguide iPhone app


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## obermd (Mar 3, 2012)

You can also regap your plugs to 0.035". If you have (or are planning to install) the Trifecta Tune, regap to no more than 0.028". A lot of Cruzen have inconsistent plug gaps, which causes all sorts of low RPM issues such as no power. After regapping mine my low end torque improved considerably.


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## weimerrj (Dec 4, 2011)

Gapping the plugs helped - using premium gas in the summer helped, too. Still short on low-rpm torque, but that can't be helped too much. I still wish 2nd was a bit taller or 3rd a bit shorter.


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## jblackburn (Apr 14, 2012)

Agreed, gapping plugs, airbox resonator removal, and 93 octane all made significant improvements with mine too. Take off is now much better, but 2nd and 3rd now bog if you shift too early. I don't like the space between gears 2 and 3, as they have a larger gap in RPM when shifting around 2000 than any of the other gears do on my LT's transmission. 


Sent from my Autoguide iPhone app


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## obermd (Mar 3, 2012)

It took me almost 5,000 miles to get used to the gearing on the ECO MT. In order to get the really long legs for 6th, Chevy made some interesting adjustments to 3, 4, and 5. The ECO MT's 5th gear has the same ratio as the other 1.4T MT trims' 6th gear. The other thing to keep in mind is that without the Turbo, the 1.4 engine has very little power. The turbo doesn't get fully engaged until 1850 - 2150 RPM, depending on the trim level. I did find OPs initial complaint to be interesting - most people who have complained on CruzeTalk about the gearing in the MT Cruzen have complained about stalling in 2nd and how unforgiving the car is when it starts to stall.


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## sciphi (Aug 26, 2011)

Agreed with all the sentiments in this thread. Re-gap the plugs to 0.030" if you're getting a tune, use premium gas, break in the engine some more, launch higher in the RPM range, and wait for a group buy or other discount on a rocking tune. 

Oh, and having the A/C on makes the car difficult in stop/go traffic. The A/C takes up lots of power, and the engine winds down faster between shifts. That makes shifting much less predictable too.


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## blk88verde (Apr 30, 2011)

Agreed - break in car fully, use 93 octane, correctly gap the plugs and learn this clutch and gearing of the car. I have a K&N drop in so intake is less restrictive and a little noisier. My tune is on eco 99.9% of the time. Car is 100% better than stock. And yes when Air is on you need a little more clutch with the A/C on from take off. My other car is a 2004 GTO 6M. Heavier clutch and tons more low end torque (and high end).


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## Pablo Honey (Jul 3, 2012)

A lot of good advice here, thanks all.


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## Chevy Customer Care (Oct 29, 2011)

Pablo Honey said:


> I just got my new 2012 Cruze Eco 6spd Manual last week and have been enjoying the car, especially the mileage. The car I had prior to this was a 6SPD higher performance sports coupe that drove much differently than this. As a result, I've been going through a bit of a transition period, especially when I'm on hills, as my old vehicle idled very high and could go from stop to go on a hill with hardly much gas. The ECO needs some goosing.
> 
> That said, the other day, I was stopped on a fairly steep hill coming out of a parking lot. I fumbled and did a piss poor job getting it going in gear. It got me going, but it resulted in the "burning clutch" smell that lasted several seconds.
> 
> ...




Pablo Honey,
I would like to congratulate you on your new Cruze! I would also like to welcome you to the forum! As you can already see this is a great place to get some very useful information from a really great community of people!!  I am always here to help. So please feel free to contact me anytime with any questions, comments or concerns that you may have. Enjoy your Cruze!! 
Thank you,
Stacy Chevrolet Customer Service


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