i've been driving stick for about a year, and it's still not silkey smooth, i.e. it still jerks a little bit, today i found out that when you engage the clutch you have to simultaneously give it some gas as it hits the catch point, similar to moving from a stop, except you have to do this in every gear, i haven't practiced it much, but i did find smoother shifting, i double checked this against multiple sources and they confirmed it. my question is why does one have to do this, i mean first gear fine, but why do you have to do this in every gear?, anyone have a technical explanation?

thanx

 

The engine is going to require more fuel to move the car in gear rather than just spin in neutral. The technique is called rev matching. Lucky for us our cars have synchonized trannys. An open gearbox requires much more matching to even go into gear.

 

I have never used that technique because I was told that it causes more clutch wear. Regardless it should only be necesary on lower gears(1-3). On those gears your car does not have enough momentum and causes jerking when the synchros spin down the engine. At freeway speeds shifting between 4 and 5 should not be a problem.

I just release the clutch more slowly to compensate.