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#1
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Downshifting
Downshifting: yes or no?
Double-clutching: necessary or not? Comments and suggestions welcome... Since there are fewer 5/6-speed manual transmission autos sold in the U.S. these days, perhaps it is a lost skill? |
#2
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Downshifting
In article >, CR > wrote:
>Downshifting: yes or no? huh? Of course you need to downshift. Not sure what specific circumstance you are asking about. Downshifting when slowing for a light? Not necessary. Downshifting when performance driving, of course. >Double-clutching: necessary or not? Not necessary. If you want to do it for aesthetic or whatever reasons, by all means. >Comments and suggestions welcome... Heal-toe is a worthwhile skill, one I'm pathetic at. But only needed for racing. Basically, rev-matching on a downshift when braking to smooth out the transition (avoiding upsetting the car) and getting it ready for accelerating past the apex. A necessary skill for serious racing. On the street? Nah, but an enthusiast would practice the skill. >Since there are fewer 5/6-speed manual transmission autos sold in the >U.S. these days, perhaps it is a lost skill? Yes. Though sales are actually on the increase, albeit from sadly low #'s. |
#3
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Downshifting
On 2006-11-03, Dave > wrote:
>>Downshifting: yes or no? > > huh? Of course you need to downshift. Not sure what specific > circumstance you are asking about. Downshifting when slowing > for a light? Not necessary. Downshifting when performance > driving, of course. > >>Double-clutching: necessary or not? > > Not necessary. If you want to do it for aesthetic or whatever > reasons, by all means. > >>Comments and suggestions welcome... > > Heal-toe is a worthwhile skill, one I'm pathetic at. I could do it in my Alfa Spyder, but I've never been able to do it in a Miata. I just can't get my foot on both pedals in a useful manner. >>Since there are fewer 5/6-speed manual transmission autos sold in the >>U.S. these days, perhaps it is a lost skill? > > Yes. Though sales are actually on the increase, albeit from > sadly low #'s. I sometimes practice up/down shifting without the clutch. Now that's pretty much a useless skill, but it's sort of fun. -- Grant Edwards grante Yow! Yow! We're going to at a new disco! visi.com |
#4
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Downshifting
In article >,
Grant Edwards > wrote: > On 2006-11-03, Dave > wrote: > > >>Downshifting: yes or no? > > > > huh? Of course you need to downshift. Not sure what specific > > circumstance you are asking about. Downshifting when slowing > > for a light? Not necessary. Downshifting when performance > > driving, of course. > > > >>Double-clutching: necessary or not? > > > > Not necessary. If you want to do it for aesthetic or whatever > > reasons, by all means. > > > >>Comments and suggestions welcome... > > > > Heal-toe is a worthwhile skill, one I'm pathetic at. > > I could do it in my Alfa Spyder, but I've never been able to do > it in a Miata. I just can't get my foot on both pedals in a > useful manner. > > >>Since there are fewer 5/6-speed manual transmission autos sold in the > >>U.S. these days, perhaps it is a lost skill? > > > > Yes. Though sales are actually on the increase, albeit from > > sadly low #'s. > > I sometimes practice up/down shifting without the clutch. Now > that's pretty much a useless skill, but it's sort of fun. You'll not think it useless if/when the clutch slave cup goes away on you 50 miles from the middle of nowhere... Being able to get it home without needing the clutch is a *MAJOR* Good Thing <TM> that a whole bunch of people who drive sticks never learn to do. (I learned it "the hard way" when the clutch cable on a '78 Honda Civic wagon broke on me as I clutched to grab second coming out of a parking lot. *MUCH* better to learn it ahead of time if at all possible, trust me!) -- Don Bruder - - If your "From:" address isn't on my whitelist, or the subject of the message doesn't contain the exact text "PopperAndShadow" somewhere, any message sent to this address will go in the garbage without my ever knowing it arrived. Sorry... <http://www.sonic.net/~dakidd> for more info |
#5
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Downshifting
On 2006-11-03, Don Bruder > wrote:
>> I sometimes practice up/down shifting without the clutch. Now >> that's pretty much a useless skill, but it's sort of fun. > > You'll not think it useless if/when the clutch slave cup goes away on > you 50 miles from the middle of nowhere... Being able to get it home > without needing the clutch is a *MAJOR* Good Thing <TM> that a whole > bunch of people who drive sticks never learn to do. How do you handle stopping and starting? -- Grant Edwards grante Yow! We just joined the at civil hair patrol! visi.com |
#6
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Downshifting
In article >,
Grant Edwards > wrote: > On 2006-11-03, Don Bruder > wrote: > > >> I sometimes practice up/down shifting without the clutch. Now > >> that's pretty much a useless skill, but it's sort of fun. > > > > You'll not think it useless if/when the clutch slave cup goes away on > > you 50 miles from the middle of nowhere... Being able to get it home > > without needing the clutch is a *MAJOR* Good Thing <TM> that a whole > > bunch of people who drive sticks never learn to do. > > How do you handle stopping and starting? When you stop the car, you stall it. When you want to move again, you can put the car in first gear, turn the key, and the car will start and begin to move all together. -- 'It is Mac OS X, not BSD.' -- 'From Mac OS to BSD Unix.' "It's BSD Unix with Apple's APIs and GUI on top of it' -- 'nothing but BSD Unix' (Edwin on Mac OS X) '[The IBM PC] could boot multiple OS, such as DOS, C/PM, GEM, etc.' -- 'I claimed nothing about GEM other than it was available software for the IBM PC. (Edwin on GEM) |
#7
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Downshifting
In article >,
Grant Edwards > wrote: > On 2006-11-03, Don Bruder > wrote: > > >> I sometimes practice up/down shifting without the clutch. Now > >> that's pretty much a useless skill, but it's sort of fun. > > > > You'll not think it useless if/when the clutch slave cup goes away on > > you 50 miles from the middle of nowhere... Being able to get it home > > without needing the clutch is a *MAJOR* Good Thing <TM> that a whole > > bunch of people who drive sticks never learn to do. > > How do you handle stopping and starting? First, defeat whatever %(*#^^%#%%$ interlock the idiots put on the car to prevent cranking while in gear/clutch engaged. (Second thing that happens with any stickshift vehicle I own, after changing the oil and filters on taking possession) After that, stopping is a matter of clutchless downshifting (play with the throttle to match revs to current gear/ground speed to allow popping it out of gear. Play with throttle some more to match revs, ground speed, and target gear. Pop in. Sounds harder than it is, once you're familiar with the car, and once you get even REASONABLY good at it, can be done with little or no grinding.) until you get to first. Brake, and either stall it out, shut it off, or pop it out of gear and then shut it off as you come to a stop. Another alternative is to just pop it out and coast into the stop. Starting is dead-simple: Put it in first, and crank until it fires. Tough on the starter, among other things, so not recommended for more than emergency "get it home/someplace to work on it" situations, but works. After you're rolling, it's just a matter of matching revs, ground speed, and gears. Like I said, it's much easier than it sounds - *IF* you're familiar with the vehicle. If you don't *KNOW* your shift-points, you're never going to manage it. But then, by my standards, if you don't have at least a real good idea of what your ground speed should be when revving (for instance) 2500 in third gear - for my 626, that would be somewhere between 34 and 37 MPH, depending on what size tires I've got on the rear end at the time - you're not "familiar enough" with the vehicle to be trying it. -- Don Bruder - - If your "From:" address isn't on my whitelist, or the subject of the message doesn't contain the exact text "PopperAndShadow" somewhere, any message sent to this address will go in the garbage without my ever knowing it arrived. Sorry... <http://www.sonic.net/~dakidd> for more info |
#8
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Downshifting
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#9
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Downshifting
In article >,
Lanny Chambers > wrote: > In article >, > (Dave) wrote: > > > Heal-toe is a worthwhile skill, one I'm pathetic at. > > No biggie, just don't bother applying for a residency in podiatry. > > [the devil made me type that] Now you're just being podantic... -- Don Bruder - - If your "From:" address isn't on my whitelist, or the subject of the message doesn't contain the exact text "PopperAndShadow" somewhere, any message sent to this address will go in the garbage without my ever knowing it arrived. Sorry... <http://www.sonic.net/~dakidd> for more info |
#10
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Downshifting
Don Bruder wrote:
> In article >, > Lanny Chambers > wrote: > >> In article >, >> (Dave) wrote: >> >>> Heal-toe is a worthwhile skill, one I'm pathetic at. >> No biggie, just don't bother applying for a residency in podiatry. >> >> [the devil made me type that] > > Now you're just being podantic... > You really shoedn't have said that..... Pat |
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