A friend of mine says that whenever he is shifting into neutral he doesn't use his clutch (his original clutch went 140k miles btw). I kind of didn't believe him at first but then I tried it in my car and found that there was no grinding at all, just a smooth disengagement if you do it right. To all of those tranny gurus out there, does this make sense to you? It sort of makes sense to me because the transmission gears and half shaft are spinning at the same rate right when you let off the gas so they should disengage smoothly, so you shouldn't need to use the clutch - I thought this may help conserve the clutch and the throw bearings

 

I had a 79 VW Scirocco that I could do the 1-2-3-4 shift w/o any clutch at all! Just took a little modulation on the gas and it'd slip right in.

 

Yes, it's possible. But normally you don't have the time to do it right. And if you do it wrong you'll ruin your synchros. It doesn't conserve your clutch if you use your clutch correctly....

 

How could it not conserve your clutch? Everytime you engage your clutch you're wearing the bearings .. I know that the clutch only really gets worn on upshifts when the clutch needs to speed up the transmission gears to the engine speed. How can the synchros get worn if the gears and the halfshift are going at the exact same rate?

 

Sure. Some cars slip out of gear into neutral when you don't want them to. Technically, you should be able to get ti back into gear without the clutch, too. it's all about rev matching...

 

All you need to do is pull it out of gear right when you let off the gas. This releases any force on the gears and lets it slip out. This is basicaly what the clutch is doing, its just releasing the presurre of the motor on the gears. In my old GSR I could change gears with out using the clutch at all, you just needed to rev match perfectly. If you did not rev match it would not go in and if you forced it, say good bye to your gears. Also I had 60k miles on my GSR with no tranny problems at all.



[Modified by AssPenny, 10:14 AM 1/3/2002]

 

How could it not conserve your clutch? Everytime you engage your clutch you're wearing the bearings .. I know that the clutch only really gets worn on upshifts when the clutch needs to speed up the transmission gears to the engine speed. How can the synchros get worn if the gears and the halfshift are going at the exact same rate?

PS. Time to do it right? How can you not have time to do it right if you're simply pulling the gear shift lever right when you're taking your foot off the gas?

I'm not trying to argue, I'm just trying to figure out what the *exact* consequences are - I don't do this on a regular basis

 

I've played with my car too, I find that even when shifting into a gear, I can do it without the clutch, as long as the RPM's are perfect. Mind you, I've only tried a couple of times for kicks. Not on a regular basis...

 

I've downshifted 4-3 w/o using the clutch, but upshifts don't seem to be as easy.

 

If you're coasting to a stop, right before your car starts to jump up and down and rattle, just slip it out of gear. That's the easiest way to do it. If you do it while you're still at speed, it feels real notchy and you have to force it out. If you do it just before it's ready to stall it slides out almost effortlessly.

 

Try driving around w/ two snapped springs on your pressure plate as I did before my Toda clutch

 

only thing it will do is ruin the shifter forks inside then tranny.

Use the DAMN pedal!

 

I do it every single time before I come to a complete stop. Going into neutral I never use the clutch.

I don't see a problem with it. Actually I do it with every manual car that I own.

-Nick

 

You will see a problem over time. Broken/bent shifter forks are not fun!

 

You forgot one thing. If you let the throttle off completely, the car is slowing down using the engine piston compression and friction. So there is some force on the gears at that moment. To do it correctly, you should apply a little gas so that the car maintain its speed. So, I won't bother taking the risks..... Just use the clutch. It's made for it.....