Letting the clutch out slowly, good or bad?
Letting the clutch out slowly, good or bad?
I was taking my foot off of the clutch as quickly as I could, and the car would shake a little bit. When I let my foot off of the clutch in a slow, gradual motion, I don't get any shake or less of a shake. Is letting the clutch out slowly or too fast good or bad?
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+1. Not too fast, not too slow, and pause lifting the clutch for a second as the clutch (wheel speed) matches the flywheel (engine speed).scionkid wrote:Moderation is best. If you let the clutch out way too slow, you wear the clutch. On the other hand, causing jerking and shakes stress the transmission, joints, and the engine. A little bit of shake is fine but no bucking. Try to let the clutch out as quickly as you can w/o jerking the car around.
2007 Mazda3
Mods: 15% tint, Eibach ProKit
2006 Ninja 636
Mods: NOS & sidecar
Mods: 15% tint, Eibach ProKit
2006 Ninja 636
Mods: NOS & sidecar
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- Master Standardshifter
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If you want minimal damage to the clutch, simply dump it. If you want minimal damage to the driveline, take your foot off the clutch VERY slowly. It's true, but don't drive like that. My friend has a 1990 Toyota Tacoma (or whatever those pickups are called) that has 245,000 miles on it, and he still hasn't replaced the clutch. Do what scionkid and Johnf514 said.
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- Master Standardshifter
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Lately, I've been doing my 4th to 2nd shift using double-clutch. I do it on the fly with no braking and minimal coasting. I do a big gas blip as the car is in neutral/clutch out and another "buffer" blip as the clutch is at the FP. I release the clutch relatively slowly here. But I'm still getting what feels like too much engine braking. Not jerking, just strong braking effect. Is this normal?
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- potownrob
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You have to let the clutch up quicker on rev-matched downshifts, or you might as well have not rev-matchedjvf1mikey wrote:Lately, I've been doing my 4th to 2nd shift using double-clutch. I do it on the fly with no braking and minimal coasting. I do a big gas blip as the car is in neutral/clutch out and another "buffer" blip as the clutch is at the FP. I release the clutch relatively slowly here. But I'm still getting what feels like too much engine braking. Not jerking, just strong braking effect. Is this normal?
ClutchFork wrote:...So I started carrying a stick of firewood with me and that became my parking brake.
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potownrob: Your post inspired me to go out and practice just downshifts (4th to 3rd, 4th to 2nd, and 3rd to second). Good thing I have the day off. I did about 15 "laps" around a long loop of road that has a bit of traffic and a stop sign and a light. All my turns were rights but the entire route was ideal for using 1st to 4th gears. I worked on the co-ordination and quickness of gas blip, clutch down, gear in, clutch up. It's amazing how the car gives you feedback and tells you whether you've given enough gas on the blip. Anyway I found that a bit of a slowdown in gear helps when readying for the double-clutch downshift sequence. You're right, once the downshift sequence is started, you gotta be really quick -- foot poised above clutch ready to floor it then release it, right hand moving really fast on shifter. I managed to pull off a few very good downshifts where no second gas applcation was necessary to cushion the outcome. This took many many tries, as I'd somehow trained myself to give just a moderate first blip followed by a second gas application. After breakfast it'll be back to the drawing board for more. I also need to perfect the rolling downshift to first. By the way, I find 4th to 3rd a real breeze on the double-clutch sequence, where a second gas application is just overkill. I'd imagine 5th to 4th would be the same as the gear ratios are pretty similar. I need some highway practice.
Thanks for your help.
Thanks for your help.