Clutch non-responsive???

[scape]

i'm not a big fan of first gear on my yaris either, and sometimes I feel like it simply won't downshift until the engine is ready and fine...but that said and among other problems, I've tried a few things to get off the line quickly. the best thing I found is make sure the clutch is fully engaged with the engine, a nice solid connection and blast it out to maybe 3-4500 (I don't have a tach but I'm pretty sure this is the speed I get it to) and shift to 2nd, make sure the connection is fully engaged again, then accelerate out of second-- sometimes the stick almost pops into 2nd by itself.
if the clutch is partially engaged in first when I take off too, too fast, 2nd gear never connects correctly and the clutch ends up skimming and not getting good grip. I would agree, don't race this clutch, I've smelt some nasty transmission burn once or twice from not having the clutch fully engaged and revving it out too much; poor dry clutch ;-\

interesting to note the fluid change, perhaps that's in store for my next maintenance.