say you're going 40 mph, if you try to put it in 3rd w/o reving, there is lots of resistance. when u rev the engine to the "right" speed, it's like a window opens up that lets the stick move easily. what happens that opens that window?

sorry if it's a stupid question

 

It's normal... you can shift gears without using the clutch but I wouldn't recommend it.

 

thanks, tim, i know it's normal, but i wonder why and how it works.

i tried shifting with no clutch and was amazed that it worked (but there was some decent grinding at times too)

 

Back in the day there were no clutches and you'd have to match revs to get the gears to mesh easily.

 

CKit Posted on Jan 11 2007, 09:56 AM
You mean : Back in the day when there were no synchromeshes

That is what the synchromesh does: it synchronizes the rotational speeds until the speeds are equal to make it easier to go from one gear into the other.
The ratio differences between the gears (and therefore the rotational speed differences) are taken into account to design the size of the synchro's.
That's why its not good to skip gears, you're using a synchro to synchronize a rotational speed difference it wasn't designed to deal with.

If you synchonize the speeds with the throttle, its possible to get into gear without using the clutch.
To get out of gear you'll have to "feather" the clutch to minimize the load on the synchro ring / hub / sleeve and the gear.

 

Check this out... it explains everything.

Clutch/Synchros


Tim