Lets learn to drive manual! Save my clutch Season 1

[extrashaky]

Originally Posted by DriftFreak

I hear a lot of ppl say that on the streets no one really uses heel toe and it is really more for racing. So braking and downshifting at the same time is uncommon for a lot of people?

Yeah, it's pretty uncommon because it's not all that easy to do. If you can do it, you can downshift in more situations while saving wear on your clutch. If you can't do it--which is fine--you just use your brakes instead of engine braking.

I bought one of the Cusco heel/toe pedals for my car to make it easier to hit the accelerator with the side of my foot. My heel/toe technique still sucks though. One of these days I'm going to find a deserted industrial park and practice for a couple of hours to see if I can't improve a bit.

[SirBrass]

Just practice heel toe like you do rev matching when you need to brake & downshift at the same time (instead of braking earlier then rev match downshift) and you'll find yourself doing it rather easily soon enough. Just make sure you start with using good shoes which allow good pedal feel. That'll help you learn.

On phone I am. Therefore, if mistakes I make, Frank Oz blame you should.

[daiheadjai]

Originally Posted by extrashaky

Yeah, it's pretty uncommon because it's not all that easy to do. If you can do it, you can downshift in more situations while saving wear on your clutch. If you can't do it--which is fine--you just use your brakes instead of engine braking.

I bought one of the Cusco heel/toe pedals for my car to make it easier to hit the accelerator with the side of my foot. My heel/toe technique still sucks though. One of these days I'm going to find a deserted industrial park and practice for a couple of hours to see if I can't improve a bit.

I was like that too.
One thing to point out: heel-toe is actually easiest when you are braking HARD.
One mistake I made (initially) was trying to heel-toe while gently braking to decelerate - that is much harder to modulate (at least initially).
Just make sure you have lots of room to recover/stop safely if it goes sour (empty big-box parking lots are fantastic - watchout for curbs and shopping carts)

One downside: Having since gotten the hang of it, I now find myself heel-toeing all my right turns. My gas consumption has suffered significantly.

[AznKirby]

I find that heel-toe'ing in the streets is easier when I use the side of foot & toe method.
Unless I'm braking hard, I always seem to over rev when I use my heel.

It's also probably because I have dress shoes on for work and they have a different heel.

My 0.02

[Manic]

Originally Posted by DriftFreak

I hear a lot of ppl say that on the streets no one really uses heel toe and it is really more for racing. So braking and downshifting at the same time is uncommon for a lot of people?

Like others have said, it's a lot easier when braking hard so it's not as common on the street.

I've however begun using it for hill starts. Instead of using the hand brake method or riding the clutch to hold position on a hill, I just blip the throttle and "catch" revs as I let the clutch slip a little bit. That way I don't have to fiddle around with the hand brake as much. On steeper hills, I'll still use the hand brake, but for most gentle inclines, it works perfectly.

[DriftFreak]

Thanks for the replies. When you brake how do you know when to clutch in or do you clutch in the moment you hit the brake pedal? I try to clutch in at the last possible moment, which gets harder in higher gears as I don't know how low of a speed they can go without damaging the transmission.

[nyfries]

Originally Posted by daiheadjai

I was like that too.
One thing to point out: heel-toe is actually easiest when you are braking HARD.
One mistake I made (initially) was trying to heel-toe while gently braking to decelerate - that is much harder to modulate (at least initially).
Just make sure you have lots of room to recover/stop safely if it goes sour (empty big-box parking lots are fantastic - watchout for curbs and shopping carts)

One downside: Having since gotten the hang of it, I now find myself heel-toeing all my right turns. My gas consumption has suffered significantly.

true if you use stock pedal. added the cusco pedal now i can heel toe under any braking condition. hence i been heel toeing a lot on the street.

as for when to clutch in when braking. i usually don't unless it a emergency braking situation where the car must be stop asap than i press both the brake and the clutch.

let say i see a red light up ahead. what i do is brake the slow down, when i am almost to the red light i clutch in a put the car in neutral. you shouldn't need to clutch in all the way to the stop light

i'm only 5 months into driving manual though so would appreciate input too

[dodah]

when coming to a stop u can coast in neutral at any point, i wouldnt recomend leaving it in gear the whole way n then last minute popping the clutch in neutral.am pretty sure when you get to or below 1 rpm ur engine will start to bog n u might risk stalling out. I was taught, only downshift to speed up, use ur breaks to slow down since breaks cost less than tranny..so in the above example, if traffic piks up, just rev match from neutral into desired gear.One problem I am having with this car is having trouble hearing the engine since at low rpm its rather quite, hard to gauge apppropriate gears but i guess you can look at ur speed at get an idea but i would rather listen than see.iono , just my 2 cents.

[dodah]

Originally Posted by DriftFreak

Thanks for the replies. When you brake how do you know when to clutch in or do you clutch in the moment you hit the brake pedal? I try to clutch in at the last possible moment, which gets harder in higher gears as I don't know how low of a speed they can go without damaging the transmission.

Hard or sudden breaking are usually instances wher you would clutch +break or in parking lot as well when ur at very low speeds or rpms. Pretty much anywher wher u think engine might stall on u cause of low rpms.

[daiheadjai]

Originally Posted by dodah

when coming to a stop u can coast in neutral at any point, i wouldnt recomend leaving it in gear the whole way n then last minute popping the clutch in neutral.am pretty sure when you get to or below 1 rpm ur engine will start to bog n u might risk stalling out. I was taught, only downshift to speed up, use ur breaks to slow down since breaks cost less than tranny..so in the above example, if traffic piks up, just rev match from neutral into desired gear.One problem I am having with this car is having trouble hearing the engine since at low rpm its rather quite, hard to gauge apppropriate gears but i guess you can look at ur speed at get an idea but i would rather listen than see.iono , just my 2 cents.

Actually, coasting in neutral has a few disadvantages:
1) It wastes gas, because your fuel injectors must now feed fuel to keep the engine running (idle) - if you leave it in gear and coast to a stop, your wheels will turn the engine (keeping it running, and allowing the injectors to stay off).

2) It can be dangerous - not being in gear leaves you vulnerable in case someone behind you doesn't stop/slow down - at least you are in gear so you may have enough power to move out of the way.

Side note: Leaving it in gear to decelerate doesn't harm your car - I think what people advocate against is constantly downshifting in order to engine brake to a stop. If I coast to a stop in 3rd (and leave it in 3rd), there is no harm to the transmission or clutch.

[sato]

Originally Posted by daiheadjai

Actually, coasting in neutral has a few disadvantages:
1) It wastes gas, because your fuel injectors must now feed fuel to keep the engine running (idle) - if you leave it in gear and coast to a stop, your wheels will turn the engine (keeping it running, and allowing the injectors to stay off).

2) It can be dangerous - not being in gear leaves you vulnerable in case someone behind you doesn't stop/slow down - at least you are in gear so you may have enough power to move out of the way.

Side note: Leaving it in gear to decelerate doesn't harm your car - I think what people advocate against is constantly downshifting in order to engine brake to a stop. If I coast to a stop in 3rd (and leave it in 3rd), there is no harm to the transmission or clutch.

To add to #1:

I'm not sure if this applies to this car, but my current vehicle does not add fuel while coasting until lower than 1500rpm. Thereby, only pumping air and saving fuel, which is also perfect if you are.going downhill for a long while.

Sent from my C6906 using Tapatalk

[DriftFreak]

Originally Posted by daiheadjai

Actually, coasting in neutral has a few disadvantages:
1) It wastes gas, because your fuel injectors must now feed fuel to keep the engine running (idle) - if you leave it in gear and coast to a stop, your wheels will turn the engine (keeping it running, and allowing the injectors to stay off).

2) It can be dangerous - not being in gear leaves you vulnerable in case someone behind you doesn't stop/slow down - at least you are in gear so you may have enough power to move out of the way.

Side note: Leaving it in gear to decelerate doesn't harm your car - I think what people advocate against is constantly downshifting in order to engine brake to a stop. If I coast to a stop in 3rd (and leave it in 3rd), there is no harm to the transmission or clutch.

I've heard it is recommended to leave the car in gear until the last possible minute. So should I just slow down to maybe 20mph and then clutch in and keep it clutched in until full stop?

[AznKirby]

I know some of you are just starting out and have a lot of questions - which is fine - but I do believe you're putting too much thought into it.

[Simon99]

I wanna learn to hell toe that bitch. Am i in the good thread ?