Do we need to step on the clutch when shifting from any gear to neutral?
Or is it sufficient just to ease lift throttle while doing it?
The point of me posting? Well if I can take away some steps on double declutch it's worth investigating.
Don't have to, no. ease up on the throttle so that there is no strain on the driveline and simply slip it into neutral.
A double clutch (also called a double declutch) is a driving procedure primarily used for vehicles with an
unsynchronized
manual transmission.
I have never understood why that is the case. I can slip into neutral in the garage when the car is not running, for example. What gives?
I always thought it best to engage the clutch to disengage the gear before selecting neutral.
in a transmission with syncromesh, you let the cones do the gear speed equalization. Which is indeed what it was designed to do, at the cost of the syncro cones.
If you DD on a syncromesh transmission, you spin up the cones (and gears) to the proper speed then engage, saves wear and tear on the syncro cones, AND it allows you to shift faster.
If you're interested in this stuff, pay a visit to
How to Drive a Car with a Manual Transmission
and be introduced to the wonders of the manual transmission.
Yes it is always safer to press the clutch pedal before shifting to neutral. After considering the mechanism, as mentioned by Chris, when the driveline is loaded it's not really easy to do it. I tried it yesterday, and the force required makes me want to stick to using the clutch to put to N.
Thanks for the input everybody.
There are a number of books on competitive driving that will describe the use of a clutch in all cases, upshifting etc as optional, but depending on highly accurate rev matching. You can drive without using the clutch (except for starting the car out) but you have to be good at it and you have to accept more wear on the tranny. All that said, I lack the balls, the desire and the need to try it, so all the above is just what I have read.
I can attest from experience with being too poor long ago to fix old civics with broken clutch cables that you can drive without a clutch. What fun. =) You don't even need a clutch to start out, that's what a starter is for! =)
yes one can drive without a clutch but the rev match is precise and you have to shift much more slowly ...
GREAT LINK!!! Thanks alot! Had I known about this 2500miles ago, I probably would've saved my poor
Cayman
from alot of grinding and abuse. Also, I may not have won the "least number of miles needing a new clutch in a
Porsche
" award!!
Jim
What are the namesof these books?? I am familiar with the Vic Elford book.
Thanks for sharing.
the skip barber book, the traction circle book, every book, tells you to use the clutch.
Speed Secrets by Ross Bentley, page 24, paragraph in the middle of the page for example.
So, to clarify, this is described as an "option" in the context of full race gearboxes. It is not per se a recommendation. What is recommended by Ross is that a race driver know how to do it so if there is a clutch problem during a race, you can use the option and not lose the race.
None of this applies to driving a
Cayman
around town.
I only point it out to answer the original question by the example. If you can shift without using the clutch, it must be OK to move it from gear into neutral.
I use my clutch, except every now and then when the car is off and parked.
