I drive a 1997 5th Gen base 5 spd and lately I have found that it is very difficult to smoothly engage a gear in 1st and 2nd and even 3rd. I always seem to lurch the car when shifting. It is not the shifting of the gearlever itself which is bad, it is engaging the clutch after the shift which seems lurchy. One way I can get a smooth shift between gears is if I ride the clutch for a fraction of a second after shifting before taking my foot off the clutch. Another way that seems to work well is if I match the engine rpms carefuly when shifting (letting it rev down when upshifting and revving it up when downshifting).
I cant recall any one point of time when it got difficult to shift smoothly. It just seems to have got progressively worse..and its not too terrible now, just very annoying. I guess what I am trying to find out here if this is a normal characteristic of clutch wear or if my synchromesh is not doing what it is supposed to do (in which case the synchro is worn..).. The car currently has 68000 miles on it and is a 1997 5th Gen 5-spd. Any comments would be appreciated..