Clutchless shifting

[whaap]

When I was young and dumb I used to do it a lot. Now that I'm old and wise I don't. Some where along the way I've learned that when there's nothing to be gained and the penalty for failure is costly things like this are foolish.

[FRSPirate]

Did it on accident today but i have up shifted and down shifted w/o using the clutch a few time already. Had to try it.

At my old job, my coworker had a B2000 that he would let me take to get lunch. That thing didn't even need a clutch. That little truck was so bad ass. It's a good thing to learn, saved my friend a very expensive tow to our local Z shop once. Buddy blew his T/O bearing and the clutch in his Z wouldn't engage. Told him i could drive it but he would have to push me down a hill to get it to go into 2nd (easier). Drove it 45 min on streets and highway to the shop without a grind...just had to plan the route with the least stops.

[mangostick]

this car has a very smooth transmission.. I've gone 1st to 5th and back down without clutch aside of start and stop. Really just to see if it would do it. I imagine 6th will go too but I wasn't going fast enough to need to change. I went from 0-45 or so.

subaru definitely DID NOT have anything to do with the trans in these cars lol. My WRX made sure the clutch was needed in every gear change. No shifting on the rpm in that car.

[Mr.Jay]

You can clutchless shift any stick as long as the revs are high enough

[grostoine]

You can do it on any cars. But If you don't want to damage the gearbox you must not shift at 7000 rpm too... lol. I tried some time on my BRZ and didn't damaged anything. Not even close! there is a time and a rpm to do it and it will be like you used you're cluctch!

[Dispect]

can someone give me some clarification as to how it damages the transmission? thanks!

[onthemove]

Could grind the gears pretty bad if you fckk it up!

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[2point0]

Now I'm tempted to try...did this all the time in my first car (Karmann Ghia). Old VWs were so easy. Also did it in my 67 'Stang once when the lower clutch rod snapped during driving. Saved my ass!

[Grip Ronin]

Originally Posted by Laika

Hah actually I had been driving our ancient ford ranger at work more recently an that thing (once warmed up) is easier to drive without the clutch. And yup, as you said, with a proper rev match its extremely smooth.

The very first time I clutchess shifted this car it was while rev matching a tight turn and going into second...a few seconds later it had hit me that I never used the clutch for that shift. Tried second a few more times, pretty easy but 3rd and 4th? No problem!



Maybe grip ronin can educate on this given his experience. I would imagine its still not good for the synchros

yea sometimes i cant remember if stepped on the clutch or not so i just hope that i did.lol As for it being bad for the synchros i cant say if it is or isnt because we get alot of trannys at work with gears chipped and popping out due to poor shifting but, with hundreds of thousands of miles on them. the difference is with trucks stepping on the clutch makes it very difficult to get into gear. It grinds and fights if it loses rpm. id say step on the clutch for cars you care about.

[ElectronSpeed]

Driving clutchless helped us get a 2nd place in class at the Daytona 24hr last weekend in a Porsche. The last 2 hours were predominately clutchless.

I certainly don't recommend clutchless for everyone. However, my experience is that learning to drive clutchless properly teaches the skills to shift well with a clutch. And it is a skill that may save your day.

I would expect it to be more wear in the short run as you learn. However, I would expect less wear in the long run.

Most of the key is feel. If it is not smooth and low effort, there is something wrong.

I can say that much of our stress during the 24 hour race stemmed from the way drivers were using the clutch.

have fun,

Eric Schieb

[Huehuecoyotl]

seriously?

[FRSFirestorm]

I had a 1985 Ford Ranger. 5MT. At one point I realized I could clutchless shift with it. Rev match and any gear would slide in just as smooth as it gets. It became habit and basically I only ever used the clutch starting from a dead stop. Drove it that way for years. Had no issues with the transmission.

[mangostick]

Originally Posted by FRSFirestorm

I had a 1985 Ford Ranger. 5MT. At one point I realized I could clutchless shift with it. Rev match and any gear would slide in just as smooth as it gets. It became habit and basically I only ever used the clutch starting from a dead stop. Drove it that way for years. Had no issues with the transmission.

This is how big trucks are driven primarily. Ask any semi driver how often they use the clutch. Its usually only to stop and start.

I guess driving old beat up cars/trucks with bad synchro's and a few large trucks is what really got me used to not using the clutch. I had a 85 Jeep cherokee with a Aisin-Warner AX4 and I could shift that all day long in 2wd or 4wd without the clutch.
Found that one out the hard way one night, the tab on the clutch pedal that moves the master cyl rod broke right off. Had to start it in gear and shift on the rpm's all the way home. GF at the time thought it was the coolest thing (In lots of ways, she wasn't real bright ).

[draggin_az]

i clutchless up-shift all the time in the FRS esp when im feeling lazy

like others have said, if you rev match properly its fine. its all about the "feel" of the car.

clutchless downshifting.....thats a different story. i fuck that up half the time lol.