[Murugan]

Is the Left leg usage for pressing the clutch while changing gears in Manual transmission cars (in India) to be considered an Exercise to the leg or wear and tear of the leg?

[johnruben]

Driving in Bangalore's bumper-to-bumper traffic with legs on brakes and clutch, gives hard time on your legs, i am frustrated and my legs hurt a lot :(

I dont see wear and tear of legs unless driving in traffic becomes a routine.

[camchennai]

Originally Posted by johnruben

Driving in Bangalore's bumper-to-bumper traffic with legs on brakes and clutch, gives hard time on your legs, i am frustrated and my legs hurt a lot :(

I dont see wear and tear of legs unless driving in traffic becomes a routine.

True, calf muscle pain will be horrible and in some case even the ankle will pain. In long journey's I would get knee pain due to the position of knee :(, at that time I would feel why the hell I dint buy a AT??
I have seen people with swollen legs due to excessive usage.

[prince_pervez]

Excessive driving/ long time driving to the effect of 12-13 hours can take a toll on your knee and calf and the heel. I have expereinced pain in my heels and knees more in both Auto and Manual Transmissions. But I was driving for 2-3 continuous days in the auto box car. More damaging than the clutch pedal is the accelerator pedal which gets more used.

[alpha1]

Adjust the seat so that your foot rests comfortably at the clutch engaged position.

I keep two seat settings: 1. city - which is primarily comfortable for the clutch pedal (but not the accelerator)
2. highway - which is primarily comfy for accelerator pedal, but the clutch pedal becomes a stretch.

[Daewood]

any excessive repetitive action is bad for the joints.
be it clutch in car/bike or computer mouse or even bowling in cricket, etc
After a period of time there will be side effects if done excessively.
Afterall we are machines too!!

[Murugan]

My point is, Is the pain due to clutch usage to be considered an exercise or otherwise - as they say in body building parlance, "No Pain, No gain."

[camchennai]

I am not sure why do you want this to be considered as an exercise when it ends up in pain and swelling.

[ghodlur]

Its definitely a wear and tear of the leg with usage if clutch and in no means its an exercise. I know it since many a times my ankle hurts like hell. These days I have started wearing the ankle pads for protections whenever I am driving.

The same thing applies to even the right foot where its always at an incline on the accelerator.

How I would love to have an auto accelarator similar to ACC. Once you reach and the required speed, swicth to auto control and relax the foot.

[JustCause]

I was just thinking of a new post on left knee pain. Excessive clutch usage caused the arch to fall in my left foot(a condition called flat foot) & I have been in unbearable knee pain since the past two days.

I have observed that tall drivers(am 6'1) get very less thigh support in low slung hatchbacks, and our long body makes us push the seat back farther and farther, making the leg almost straight when we depress the clutch. It is useful to note that the knee should go down, and the clutch should be pressed in going down motion, not like straightening knee motion.

The repeated straightening and bending of legs is similar to doing squats. But as the force and the angle is awkward, it leads to pain in ankle->knee->hip etc.


@ ghodlur,

do you use pads on both feet?
Were the pads custom made or were of silicone?

[zaks]

The clutch should be firm but smooth which doesn't make it hard on your ankles and apart from that the leg posture should be optimum for no strain. Both or either of these points are some what compromised in our cars.

If this is our case think of the drivers of public transport buses

[Mr_Bean]

A very important missing here, what kind of seating causes the pain?.

A low slung car with a slightly hard clutch when driven in peak traffic for around 40-50 kms on a daily basis will cause pain in the calf muscles & eventually back pain.

I have driven the swift(good according to me) and here the knee stays inline with the thigh muscle unlike the low slung where the knee goes up to change clutch. If the accelerator pedal is placed up, it adds to the misery.

It is definetely a wear and tear, by 40 this may lead to knee surgery. Two options here:
1.) Buy an AT
2.) Stay close to office & use the vehicle sparingly

[Neilguy]

I beg to differ. Not all ATs offer convenience of NO leg pain. It's the seating position and driver seat comfort that matters the most. I'm not very tall (5'7") but still I find it more comfortable to drive my manual transmission Fiesta 1.6S as opposed to my dad's Santro AT, especially because in the Fiesta, I can adjust seat distance, height and the steering position to the position I feel comfortable in while in the Santro AT, my legs are cramped even if the seat is pushed back to the farthest position.

And if there are passengers sitting behind the driver's seat in the Santro AT, then I can't even push the seat to the farthest position, because then there is no leg space left for the rear passenger!

On the opposite side of the spectrum, I had been driving the Nissan Murano for the past 3-4 years in the US and its driving position and seat comfort was so fantastic, that I could drive for 10 hrs flat with absolutely no discomfort or fatigue, which I used to suffer with when I drove rental cars.

[ghodlur]

Originally Posted by JustCause

@ ghodlur,
do you use pads on both feet?
Were the pads custom made or were of silicone?

@Just cause

Its not custom made nor of silicon (No implants for my ankles )

Actually they are are not pads but are a kind of ankle supports something similar to the knee supports (the pinkish kind of bandaged ones but elastic in nature) which you will get in a chemist shop. These can be put on around the ankle area, gives a tight grip. Got a pair for 200+. Pls find the link attached.

Ankle Support

[Daewood]

Originally Posted by zaks

If this is our case think of the drivers of public transport buses

Most of the public transport buses have an organ type Accelerator which is much more comfortable. The only car that i've driven that came with such an accelerator is Civic.
Don't know what's stopping manufacturers from giving the same in all cars.