The Friction Point
Driving a manual transmission vehicle is something that not many people appreciate these days. For most people, it’s an unwelcome inconvenience. Vehicles serve as something to get us from point A to point B, potentially comfortably, and sometimes to make us look good. But for most of us, that’s about it.
However, there are certain people who don’t value driving as just a means of transportation, but rather something to be enjoyed. It’s something like working out—some people do it begrudgingly, only for the end result of [hopefully] looking or feeling better, while others do it, at least in part, because they enjoy the very act of doing it. You can often figure out what category people fit in by looking at them at the gym. Some people have the TV on, headphones in, and a magazine in front of them, as they plug away at the machine of their choice. Other people are in a zone, completely focused on what they’re doing.
And this brings us back to the beginning topic, driving a manual transmission car. I purchased my first stick a few weeks ago, and I feel like I’ve finally hit the point where I’m at a bit of a flow with the machine. Unlike an automatic, where you stab at the gas and the brake while electronics whir and buzz and make the magic happen, in a manual, you have to do a little bit of the work yourself. My car isn’t going anywhere unless I can ease the 3,000 lb+ weight of my car onto the 2.0 liters of engine that are just trying to keep running.
At this point, you may be wondering where I’m going with this. I assure you, there is a point coming.
In order to start off from a stop, you must put the transmission into first gear, and ease out on the clutch until you reach the friction point. The friction point is the place in the pedal travel where the engine, which is spinning at roughly 800 rpms, meets the transmission and wheels of your car, which are not moving. This is where most people screw up, because often they blast past the friction point, and suddenly there is something that’s going to happen—either 200 horsepower is going to win, or 3,000 lbs+ are going to win. And the answer is that the weight of the car is going to win every time.
You can’t just throw all of that weight at the engine all at once. That’s why, when you reach the friction point, you must pause, and give the engine a few moments to start muscling all of that weight up to speed. If you get to the friction point, and just pause for a moment—do not add any more gas, do not move the clutch anymore, the car begins to move. All that’s required of you is that you just pause, and hold things as they are. The engine and transmission, after a moment, will be ‘hooked up,’ and you can be on your way down the road.
There is, of course, another side to this, that those manual-drivers out there will point out. You can, instead, give the engine a ton of gas, and drop the clutch, and what’s going to happen is that your tires will squeal, and wear out. Your clutch will wear out. And your engine will wear out.
There are a lot of things in life that are like this. There are so many things in life that just require a moment at the friction point. Sure, lots of problems can be powered through, with heavy application of gas and lots of tire squeal, but that makes things wear out very, very quickly. And you can just ignore the friction point altogether, but then you’re going to stall, and then you’re not going anywhere.
There are conflicts in life that require this same sort of treatment. One side or the other can overpower and win, but things aren’t going to last that way. The better solution is to find some sort of equilibrium, where you must hold things (often in discomfort) for a bit before they settle out. It is this discomfort of just holding things as they are, not applying any more gas, not feeding any more clutch, that is so very hard to do sometimes. But often, it is necessary for things to go smoothly down the road.