Thanks. I was about to ask if getting different pedals helped in doing the "heal toe" shifting. The stock pedals are lousy for doing this.

 

Yup. You don't have to downshift to slow the car down so it dives forcefully forward, just don't let it coast. That very slight bit of resistance makes a huge difference in reducing the load on the brakes. The heel-toe stuff for street use is cracking me up.

 

I do it a lot on the street, not because i'm a wanna be racer, but because i can and it is a LOT smoother. I started out at 16 drag racing a 4 speed, low 12 second 65 GTO. Compared to that, my stang is very easy to shift. As far as power shifting, I have about 60 passes at the strip on her, and have missed a gear 3 times. These things are pretty durable, don't be afraid to manhandle it occasionally.

 

Well maybe some people just want to understand it or learn how to do it. No harm. Yeah you don't need to do it for normal street driving, but its fun to mess with it once and awhile.

 

no drivers ed classes in your neck of the woods?

 

I don't remember driver's ed ever covering manual transmissions.

 

It's weird. I could never get my ex girlfriend to "get it" in high school. She just could not drive a stick. I, on the other hand, jumped in my dad's car when I was 14 and just drove it. Granted, it was a 1991 Mercury Capri, which had a very easy clutch and shifter. But, nonetheless, I jumped in and drove off on my own. No stalling, or nothing. I don't know if it comes from playing Cruisin' USA at the arcade when I was a kid, or just watching my dad drive. I was always fascinated, watching him drive our dunebuggy. Anyway, that's my story.

 

I have another question:

I find that I tend to prefer to downshift coming to a stop if I know I might have to take off soon (or if I need to slow down right before making a sharp u-turn). I let the RPMs drop to 1k or slightly below and simply downshift (no double clutching, rev matching, heel-toe, etc...) but usually there's a "clunk" that follows but it's not that far off from my 4R70W automatic in the Crown Vic with added shift line pressure.

Will this type of downshifting hurt or wear anything faster in my TR-3650? I'm trying to get comfortable with it but also drive it "properly".

 

nope just ease the clutch out a little more just like when you uphsift to smooth it out. Its only a split second of manipulation but it becomes second nature over time.

You have to be smooth any time you connect the trans/engine together. Just think of it as the exact reverse of smooth brake application, it's basically the same concept.

 

Thanks Kevin.

I've heard from people that downshifting (like I described) will increase fuel consumption versus just coasting in neutral. Is there any truth in this?

 

nope. May be a little less mileage, but something like 1 gallon every 2 years...

If the car is in motion, it should always be in gear. Coming up on traffic at 40 in neutral, if someone pulls in front of you, you want to have a car you can still drive in an instant.

 

I agree with you Kevin! Thanks for the info!!

 

s it ok if I open the throttle just a tad right before I fully let off the clutch pedal after an upshift? I find that if I do a pure granny shift (gas out, clutch in, shift, clutch out, gas in), there's a huge clunking racket (2-piece steel driveshaft, ring and pinion gear slop - all factory equipped) when the ratio difference is high (1st-2nd) Now if I gas in just a tad right before I fully let the clutch out, it seems that the clunking is significantly reduced like I am loading the drivetrain just enough for the slack to be taken away.

I've read up on powershifting and speedshifting, and the method I explained doesn't seem (at least on paper or theory) that it would cause abnormal clutch or drivetrain wear. Any ideas? I'm trying to find a way to shift smoothly under normal driving conditions.

 

Sure, you should be giving a little gas to smooth it out, that's pretty normal for shifting, especially 1-2 2-3 shifts, pretty much have to carry rpms to be smooth. As long as you are not feathering the clutch for long periods of time taking too long to shift it won't hurt anything. You just speed up or slow down the footwork based on how aggressive or slowly you are trying to shift/drive. You are pre-loading the engine so that everything matches when the next gear engages. Shifting from 2-3 even normal driving at 40mph if the motor returns to idle in the shift it's going to be jerky.

Speed shifting is just doing everything faster when driving fast. You also can short-stroke the clutch just to it's disengagement point(instead of the extra 1-2" of slack to the floor) to speed it up more, but of course you also risk missing a shift. Powershifting without a clutch is not recommended without a drivetrain sponsor.

 

recently i have been driving without the clutch.

I use the clutch for first. but upshifts i just let off the gas shift out of gear and put pressure on the next gear. As soon as the rpm drops to the right place the shifter just slides right into the next gear.

To down shift i take shifter out of gear blip the throttle up and keep pressure on the next lower gear and then once rpm matches again it slides right in.

very easy done and no need to wear the clutch at all.

and of course this only works from street driving. you would never be able to do this for racing cause it would take forver to shift.

 

uh, I don't think that will a good long-term habit. Sparing the wearable part so you can directly wear out the metal parts doesn't make much sense. I've never replaced a clutch for wear, only for when one is modded beyond the clutch's capabilities. Its not a YZ125

 

What wear on the metal parts? its sycronized with the transmission. there is no wear on anything if done correctly.

 

well 30+ cars(over 15,000 cars driven) and 500K miles later, I think I will stick to the way I do it. I would fall asleep shifting that slowly anyway.

 

I wasn't telling you to do it. I'm just saying thats the way i do it and its not harming anything. We were discussing different shifting techniques in this thread are we not?

 

a couple of good pointers, if no one said them already


- the lower the rpm for daily driving, the better
the higher the rpm, the more gas you use (worse mileage)

- i always try to shift before 3k, but sometimes its hard in this car cause you get there so fast!

-cruising at around 35-40 im in 4th, anything over 40 and i go into 5th

- i always feel like i am bogging the engine down a little, but i would rather do that than run it at higher rpm and waste all my gas!!!

-any time it doesnt need to be in gear, i take it out. stoplights, slowing down, you name it.


a few questions for the rest of you guys----

how do you park it?
- i put it in 1st or reverse, no ebrake.

i know some people like to park them in neutral, with ebrake, or in gear with ebrake.