1. Lift foot off gas
2. Push clutch in
3. Shift to next gear
4. Lift foot off clutch
5. Push foot on gas
OR
Theory #2
1. Push clutch in at same rate as lifting off gas
2. When foot is completely off gas, shift to next gear
3. Now do the opposite step 1: Lift clutch pedal off at the same rate as pushing down gas.
When it comes to numerous Youtube videos/Wikis I've seen both theories explained. I think theory #2 may allow for smoother shifts but theory #1 sounds like it would be easier on the clutch. No matter how gentle you are, in theory #2 it sounds like you would burn up your clutch.
Of course you would need to do theory #2 when getting into first gear obviously.
When track driving I do a combo of the two. I lift off the gas, clutch, shift, then as im easing off the clutch I give it gas so when the gear catches it's just a smooth transition.
On the street I do #1 though. No need to do anything more.
My style, after roughly 30 or so years of driving, most closely resembles option 2. That puts far less stress on the clutch, what with the whole rev matching thing.
If you separate every action into steps taken one after the other, instead of together, that wouldn't be a very smooth ride.
yesterday i drove my 78 year old aunt and 79 year old uncle in law in my dad's manual camry. I realized option 1 will give you a very smooth shift, especially from 1st to 2nd and 2nd to third.
in my car, i'll do option 2 occasionally if i'm feeling happy on the gas.
Impossible on a Carrera GT .... it's a bit counter-intuitive, but you've got to slam the clutch and lift off as fast as possible instead of slowly and no gas until full engagement felt, then slam the power pedal to the floor ..... opcorn:
When I was racing my GTO a few years ago I just ended up not even letting off the gas, kept the revs up there and when the clutch was in, I shifted quick enough for it to maybe have a 100rpm increase?
Otherwise I always find option #2 to be smoother depending on the vehicle.
Whatever is the smoothest and causes least amount of slip on the clutch (comes hand in hand with smoothness... so it's a win win) is the best. Ideally you need to use the throttle to match engine rpm with new road speed. Using a bit of throttle is not going to burn up the clutch - but having a massive difference in engine to road speed will (in either direction... over revving, or under revving).
It's best when the shifts are almost imperceptible, and the rpm looks correct; it should fall towards where it needs to be in the next gear, then you will 'catch' it by applying just enough throttle to prevent it dropping furthur. Of course you can only apply sufficient throttle to really accelerate the car when the clutch pedal has been released.
Operating any machinery the key to longevity is smoothness, smoothness, smoothness.
Assuming you're upshift rev-matching, I don't get why people think option 2 would be less wear on the clutch.
With 2 you're slipping the clutch with each upshift, which does it make it smoother (less shock from just releasing the clutch), but means more wear, no?
Not so, if you get the timing correct. Simultaneously disconnecting the clutch as you are taking load off the engine (releasing accelerator pedal) means it's not slipping on the first step. Re-engaging the clutch after the engine has come down in revs during the shift to roughly the same speed, so that there is not a major step in engine speed that the clutch has to take up, means there's absolute minimum slippage on re-engagement. Done correctly, the gear change is very smooth with next to no slippage.
I've put 400,000 km on two different manual transmission cars and never had to change a clutch. The Jetta is going to need a clutch soon, but only because of the crappy DMF mechanism (which wears itself out regardless of what the driver does).
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