basically just don't milk the clutch. cut down on the time b/w the clutch being fully engaged and disengaged.

 

This is "normal."

I first noticed it putting the car in first after sitting in neutral at a red light.
Clunk.. haha
There's a good explanation of it somewhere on this site, but no need to worry.

 

Go to hear, thanks!

 

I may be stupid but the idea of not put in neutral to coast is becuase?

a. it hurts the clutch? (from understanding how it works, it should not...)

b. it is danger when emergency happens and you need to move out of the way quickly.

c. others.

 

Rev-matching down 1 gear, won't give you much engine braking. Rev-matching down 2-3 gears where the car is constantly at redline, will give you a lot more engine braking. Also, rev-matching alone is pretty worthless. It's only half the equation -- the true benefits (and the part where you take back more control of the car, will be when you Heel-2-toe). A rev-match is really only good for increased acceleration and you need to d/s a few times.

It's worth noting, that I don't think you're using engine braking from where the engine is winding down but using the clutch as another brake pad by 'slipping' it down. An engine, without being fed gas, wants to idle. That's its natural state. A lower gear, will call for higher RPMs, which will want to return to idle even faster. Technically, it's called compression braking. If your slipping the clutch as it comes back down to idle naturally you're using the clutch as the brake pad against the flywheel rather then using the natural state of the engine for braking.

It's also worth noting, that these rules probably came in the days when clutches were really weak. I'm sure today's materials are a lot stronger, therefore we are seeing increased mileage even if you "ride" the clutch.

It's still a technique I would bypass though.

 

Coasting in neutral is dangerous because if an emergency arised, you wouldn't be able to escape accordingly. It dosen't harm the clutch though. When disengaged, the clutch dosen't touch the flywheel. So it couldn't harm the clutch.

 

While we're on the subject, what's the difference in clutch configs between an AP1 and an AP2? I seem to remember reading somewhere about a clutch delay? What in the world is that?

 

Asked and answered on "many" other conversations but:

As far as I know, the clutch's between the two cars are essentially identical. The delay valve was installed in the slave cylinder on the AP2's. It's a protective measure, installed by Honda, that's designed to protect the drive train from the transmission back from overly aggressive drivers, particularly the one's who like to do repeated clutch drops.

It only effects the release of the clutch, not it's application. It can be removed without too much trouble. Do a search, there's lot's out there to describe what it does and how to get rid of it.

Drive Safe,
Steve R.

 

There is no reason when coasting to a stop to have the clutch in instead of putting the car in neutral. While moving, to take evasive action, you can easily put the car in second gear. It's only 1st gear that's sometimes difficult. You can also judge your surroundings. While coasting to a stop in traffic there's usually no place to go to if the car behind you is going to hit you. There's likewise no good reason to sit with the clutch in at a red light. Though the clutch is not wearing down when sitting on the clutch at a light or while slow breaking, it is heating up.

Rev matching while accelerating up the gears will improve acceleration and avoid lurching. Getting off the clutch ASAP will reduce clutch wear and also hook up the tranny sooner. True enough. But it is not a good idea to drive around slamming the car into each gear all the time. You still need to feel the car engage the gear and hook up the clutch. This discussion I think could be misunderstood. The fraction of a second it takes to do this, to finess the car into the next gear, is not riding the clutch to an extent that will cause any significant wear and is more likely to result in a proper shift. To learn this at first you'll slip the clutch a bit, but will learn to minimize the slippage. The finess, like starting from a stop in 1st gear, is still there, but it's smaller and faster. Don't slam the car into gears.

I sometimes, though rarely, will shift in a turn or brake in order to enduce intentional oversteer. Don't say never shift in a turn. Sometimes you want to. Sometimes I am accelerating on a big turn, like an onramp I know of, and have to shift at redline in order to continue to gain speed. It's delicate, but can be done safely. Never say never.

Carefully rev matching while downshifting can have less of a destabalizing effect on the car on curvy roads than braking, so I sometimes do this. There are some stretches of road that are one curve after another with no straight parts to brake in. I like to be in a tight gear for a tight turn. I'll downshift to the lowest gear that I'll be able to stay in for the speed I think I'll take the turn at. This is alot more fun than braking for a turn. Braking takes no skill, unless you're braking in a tight turn.

Toe heal shifting allows you to brake way late before entering a turn. It allows you to save time by rev match shifting and braking at the same time. This is only necessary when racing and can be very dangerous on the street. It only saves a fraction of a second. Proper rev matching technique is easier to learn, safer, and all you need for a fun drive in the country. When I'm going for a drive I'm not, usually, racing the straight parts to brake down for the curve. I'm not trying to see how quickly I can get down a given stretch of road. I'm enjoying the handling of the car on the curves and don't brake as if I was on a race course. You shouldn't either. There's fast, there's fun, and then there's stupid.

 

OK so I got the car back today - clutch is great...

here are examples of things I've been practicing:


Downshifting:

Coasting on the street at 60MPH in 3rd, slow to 40 MPH, clutch in, stick to neutral, gas to about 5.5k rpm and stick to second, clutch out

Upshifting:

Accelerating in 2nd gear to about 50 MPH, clutch in, stick to neutral, revs drop to about 5.5k, gas to hold that RPM, stick to 3rd, clutch out.

THe gas to hold the RPM and stick to 3rd happen at same time about

Am I describing the correct technique in these examples?