I fielded a question recently about Ford Festiva Clutch Pedal slack - and it was about a kid that had a Mustang that you had to push the clutch pedal down halfway to the floor to disengage the clutch. A hydraulic system, I think.

In Ford Festivas, it's a cable operated system, and clutch action is in the top two inches of pedal travel, as in:
The first inch takes up slack, the inch or so after that disengages the clutch.

The kid was totally unused to that, and wondered if he should adjust it, but I said NO - it's working perfectly.

The thought train is that if the clutch responds on high pedal, it makes you quicker with it once you get used to it, but what I wondered is if Mustangs have a soft pedal that MAKES you push it down that far - or if the kid has ruined his clutch in the Mustang...

Like maybe he wore it out without knowing how to adjust it..

Far as I know, you want fast pedal response. Adjusted correctly it makes your gear changes faster.

 

A properly adjusted clutch should let out near the bottom
There should be some "free play" at the top, about an inch, that keeps the throw out bearing from riding on the pressure plate.

None of this counts on the hydraulic clutch, as all of that is "figgured in"

Early model fox body Mustangs were cable clutches

 

Yeah, but I would still figure a race car clutch to operate at pedal top so that you don't have to slam the pedal all the way to the floor (or most of the way) for every gear change.

For one thing - it would wear the driver out faster than a top pedal clutch.

For another, it would make clutching quicker. And speed is the "God of All" in racing, you want 'quickness' in everything...

It also seems to me that if the clutch lets out "Near the bottom" then when the clutch begins to go south, you don't have any extra throw to take up the slack, in a manner of speaking.

I can see mid-way through the stroke, but all the way down seems risky to me.

 

Wolfie, in a race setup you only use the clutch to get moving or stopping. Once moving, it is a power shift up or down unless you are a candy ass. LOL

 

Same method in driving a big truck Paul

 

Sure is!

 

Sounds hard on the synchros...

 

Not if you know what you are doing. I drove my 01 like that all the time. As the left knee is bad, clutching at times is very damn painful.

 

If the rpms are right, it will slip right out of gear, and right into the next upper gear, no problem.
shift like you have a raw egg between your hand and the shifter. Don't break the egg. Listen to the engine, it will tell you when to shift.......

Down shift is the same way, sometimes you have to"goose" the throttle a smidge, and it will go right in

Try it, you will surprise yourself first time it goes in gear.

I used to drive an old duce and a half with NO syncros like that. No one else could drive it, they all wanted to double clutch it, and by the time they got the clutch in/out the second time the truck had lost so much momentum, they had to start over.

 

Yes speed match the shift points to rpm and load.
I drove my 5 speed Kia that way. I usually only used 3 gears in my drive to work. 1,3,5 .I drove it like a three speed. I only used the clutch at take off.