I always thought double clutching was when you keep your right foot at full throtle and you tap the clutch real fast with your left foot, which helps the rpms climb faster.

 

It's actually not that easy.

I suck at the heel-toe stuff, but I'm working on it. I really want to improve for the next time I go to the track.

FWIW, I double-clutch *all* the time now, even in my Suzuki truck that I drive in the winter. Yes, it's easier on the synchros.

 

No, I don't think that's right. Saki GT described it perfectly. The objective is to get the car in "neutral" for a very brief time, then match revs and shift into gear. This is the easiest thing for the gears. However, I do concur, it's really mostly unnecessary and does slow down your shifts a bit (but not that much when you get good at it).

 

You guys use the clutch??

 

You're hardcore. Now I'm tempted to try and teach myself to do that.

 

Double Clutch: Depress the clutch pedal, shift to neutral, lift up on the clutch pedal, blip the throttle (accelerator), then depress the clutch pedal again and shift to the next gear.

Heel and Toe: A driving technique where the driver places the left side or the toes of his right foot on the brake pedal and the right side or the heel of his right foot on the throttle pedal so that he can simultaneously brake and blip the throttle for a downshift. This is done to lessen the strain on the gearbox, to keep the engine in its powerband for good corner-exit speed, and to keep everything smoothe.

Clutch Dump: Holding the gas down and lifting off of the clutch as fast as possible.

Side-Stepping the Clutch: Holding the gas down and sliding your clutch foot off of the side of the clutch allowing it to spring up as fast as possible.

Speed-Shift (also called a Power-Shift): Not releasing the accelerator between shifts.

The most important thing to remember is to be smooth, if you're not, then you're not driving correctly. Do a few excercises for me.

1. Drive at about 50 mph, stab the brake as hard and fast as possible. As the vehicle slows down, evenly release the brake pedal pressure to the point that when you stop there is no backward inertia. After you practice a few times, see if you can do it at a stop sign. You want to be able to brake as HARD and FAST as possible, but be able to control the inertia of the car at the moment of stopping.

2. Practice trying to make your car feel as if it has a CVT (Continuously Variable Transmission), if you can feel yourself shift from one gear to the other, you've failed.

These techniques will be hard at first, but over time will become easier and easier. Your goal is to be able to control your car, not let your car control you.

 

Never thought of myself as hardcore, but thanks, Koala!

And, yes Cubby, we do use the clutch (makes mental note not to buy Cubby's '02 when he sells it. )

 

When I shift up, I push in the clutch pedal, let revs drop to match while shifting, then let the pedal out.

When I shift down, I push in the clutch, hit the accelerator to match revs while shifting, and let the pedal out.

However, on most downshifts (when I'm not trying to shift as fast as possible) I depress the clutch pedal the whole way. Does that still cause wear on the syncros, as opposed to barely disengaging the clutch and downshifting then engaging it again?

 

Actually, you don't even need the clutch to pull the car out of gear - just be sure you have the clutch pedal down before you try to re-engage the gears.

 

It still causes wear, but its normal. You don't want to excessively "ride" the clutch - where the clutch is neither totally disengaged or locked up, which will burn it out sooner. The best things to do are to try and rev match and step on and off the clutch as fast as you can while still being smooth.