I am new to the forums here. I just bought a 2009 VW Jetta Gas 5 speed. I 'upgraded' from a '99 chevy prizm, also 5 speed. I've noticed the clutch is COMPLETELY different than with my old car, but its similar to my first car which was a '91 jetta so it must be a volkswagen. I actually stalled it out while test driving it. It was embarrassing. With my prizm, you had to have a strong left leg. The VWs have really light clutches.

I've also noticed that the psychology of the transmission, and therefore how it should be shifted is different. On my other car, I tended to favor the lower gears for city driving. Most the time 2nd and 3rd. Especially driving around a curve, I'd be in 2nd. Though a lot of times neutral then second. I use neutral quite often because I live in a hilly area. But I've noticed if I do this with my new car, often it will jump as if the engine was suddenly put under stress because its in too low of a gear.

I've noticed often it shifts smoothest if I get going in 1st, quickly get up to around 15-18MPH then bypass 2nd and go to 3rd. Its weird.

I've stalled it out several times since I bought the car last Saturday, but I think I'm getting the hand of it. I was wondering if probably I'm just not used to the clutch and/or perhaps there's special ways that you guys like to shift VWs.