I recently got a ride in a '78 Jeep with a 360 V8 and a 3 speed manual transmission. The guy driving it kept trying to show off about how he can shift gears without using the clutch. What he would do is get his rpm's up to where he would normally push in the clutch, but instead, he would just change with no left foot involved. I asked him if you could do this in any car, and he said yes. What I want to know is can you do this in any car, and will it mess it up? he said that it actually is better for your tranny if you dont use the clutch because it doesnt have to instantly jump to the same speed as your engine when you let off the cluch pedal. Also, is it any faster to shift without the clutch, or is it just for show?

 

You still have to match the engine revs perfectly to what they should be in whatever gear you are selecting at your given road speed for this to work properly, you have to shift quickly as well.

If you don't get it right you will probably damage your gearbox synchros in the first instance. Clutches are usually cheaper and easier to fix than transmissions or motors.

Champ car and other race drivers use this technique but in my opinion it is more likely you will harm your car by trying clutchless shifting than by just using the clutch.

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by Aussie B16A &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">You still have to match the engine revs perfectly to what they should be in whatever gear you are selecting at your given road speed for this to work properly, you have to shift quickly as well.

If you don't get it right you will probably damage your gearbox synchros in the first instance. Clutches are usually cheaper and easier to fix than transmissions or motors.

Champ car and other race drivers use this technique but in my opinion it is more likely you will harm your car by trying clutchless shifting than by just using the clutch.</TD></TR></TABLE>


Correct. This works because instead of using your clutch to match the RPMS of the gears, you just jam the gear in when its rotating at the same speed. This can and does work on all trannies. But the when you **** up, you hear that nice sound of greech, and at that point, just grind it till you find it.

 

This is what you do.

Pop it out of gear, and push it near the gear that you want it to go into. Dont force it, just apply some pressure. Then rev match it.

A hole will open in the sychro, and then you will be able to put the car in gear without using the clutch.

 

thanks for the info. so in a drag racing situation, could clutchless shifting be an advantage if you can do it consistantly? does it improve your acceleration at all? or is it just for show?

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by highschooler &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">thanks for the info. so in a drag racing situation, could clutchless shifting be an advantage if you can do it consistantly? does it improve your acceleration at all? or is it just for show?</TD></TR></TABLE>

NO

unless you can do it like a 6th sense.

Me, I take my time at it so I dont mess anything up. I hate the sound of gear griding and ****.

When you drag, just shift as fast as you possibly can. It'll be 1000 X faster than clutchless shifting w/ rev matching.

 

About the only time you will see someone doing it is when they are showing off. Even when you do it correctly it can still harm your syncros and especially if you grind it. Why ruin a expensive tranny, just learn to shift fast with the clutch.

 

I do it all the time, definitely not for show. My sons don't need to be impressed. I do it cause I'm lazy. I try not to grind gears though.

 

You will also need to blip the throttle when its in neutral if you are down shifting w/o your clutch.. bring the revs up to match the RPMs of the lower gear.

 

The clutch is there for a reason, just use it and be nice on your synchros and gears... Just my $0.02

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by Kataku2K3 &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">The clutch is there for a reason, just use it and be nice on your synchros and gears... Just my $0.02</TD></TR></TABLE>
Agreed!!

 

me too...

 

Use the clutch. Its cheaper to replace!

 

It's a good skill to have if something breaks in the clutch. I had a VW with a cable clutch and the cable broke nowhere near home, at night, on a weekend. I was at least able to get it home without needing a tow.

The CART and F1 cars use a trans that works totally differently from a standard car type. Theirs work more like a motorcycle trans. Plus they have a system that kills the motor during the shift so there is no load on the trans, so they just keep it wide open and grab gears. And remember, they have whole crews to build new transmissions every race and they still don't always last long enough.

 

We can run it on our Honda's too, it's called running a sequential tranny with Hondata WOT shifting, hehe Sequential is bad *** tho!!

 

Sure, all you need to do is put as much $$$$ in the trans as the rest of the car! Sport Compact Car did an article last winter on a sequential installed in a VW. I seem to remember $14,000 but I'm not sure that included everything to install it. Way cool, but too rich for my pocket.

 

there was a suggestion to put pressure against the gear that you want to go into and then rev match to get it to go in. while this works, its terrible for your transmission. when you push your gear selector into the slot for the gear, what you are doing is moving that selector fork against the synchro sleeve. since this is spinning and rubbing against the selector fork, this will eventually wear the fork and the synchro hub making shifting rough initially and then impossible later needing to be rebuilt not worth it.