1st gear start

[florida Tom]

Question, 2001 boxster has started to buck and chatter when going from a standstill to moving in 1st gear, is this a transmission or a clutch problem...or me

[thstone]

I have the same problem on my Miata. I believe that this is most likely an early sign that the clutch is on its way out. The clutch on my Miata doesn't slip in gear, it just chatters at engagement from a stop. My workaround has been to be smoother with the pedal engagement and give it a little bit more throttle to get a smooth start, but I expect that the clutch will start to slip in the future and ultimately need replacement.

[san rensho]

If you do a search, many people with good clutchs report chatter when launching. I get a bit of chatter launching at low rpms, around 1000-1500 rpm. Above 2000, it is perfectly smooth.

I think part of the problem may be glazing of the clutch/pp/flywheel. If I launch 3 or 4 times at about 3000-3500 rpm, keeping the rpms up until the clutch fully engages, it seems to clean up the glazing and I get silky smooth starts at low rpms for about a week or so, then the chatter slowly starts to come back.

[Bruce Wayne]

[QUOTEI think part of the problem may be glazing of the clutch/pp/flywheel. If I launch 3 or 4 times at about 3000-3500 rpm, keeping the rpms up until the clutch fully engages, it seems to clean up the glazing and I get silky smooth starts at low rpms for about a week or so, then the chatter slowly starts to come back.
][/QUOTE]

do you do much stop/start driving in traffic ?

[san rensho]

I do about 60/40 city/highway driving.